Plan for Universal Connection

You need to make some decisions before running the Universal Connection wizard. During the configuration process, you are asked to choose the type of connection you want to use for IBM® customer support. That decision depends on your network and accessibility to the Internet from your iSeries™ server. With NAT-compatible IPSec, iSeries servers support a connection even when there is an intervening NAT firewall. Support for HTTP and HTTPS allow connections through most firewalls and through customer- or IBM-supplied proxies.

Consider the following points before you select a Universal Connection configuration scenario:

• Your hardware, software, and network configuration:
  • If your server is not on a network, or is only on a private network and has a modem, you may want to select the A dial-up connection using the AT®&T Global Network Services option. This option provides you with a secure dial-up connection to IBM services and support and all data is protected using a VPN or SSL.
  • If your system or partition has access to a partition, system, or HMC that has a modem, you can configure that system with the Connect through another system or partition option using a remote AT&T Connection.
  • If your server has direct access (broadband with a fixed IP address or LAN with a globally routable IP address) to the Internet (without an intervening firewall), or if your server has a private IP address but can access the Internet through a firewall using NAT, you can select the A direct connection to the Internet option. This is the recommended option, as it allows for the fastest, most secure access to IBM services and support.
  • If you have an Internet service provider (ISP) that your server dials into and acts as a connecting point for other servers or partitions, you may want to select the A connection using an Internet Service Provider option. This option supports a secure connection to IBM services and support at the same time and over the same dial-up connection that is currently used by your iSeries server to access the Internet.
  • If your server is located on a private network, does not have a global IP address, and has access to a router or server that allows the iSeries server to establish a connection to the Internet through an ISP, select the A multi-hop connection to the Internet option.
  • In addition to one of the above configurations, if your enterprise contains an HTTP proxy or you configure a Service and Support proxy on one or more of your logical partitions, you can also configure so that service applications that support HTTP and/or HTTPS proxies can use these proxies.
  Note:
  You can configure both a primary and a backup configuration and a primary and a backup proxy.
• Your company's network security policy
• Setting packet rules: You need to ensure that the Universal Connection traffic is allowed through your firewall. For details, see IP Packet Filter Firewall.
• SOCKS security: You need to ensure that none of the Universal Connection traffic gets directed through a SOCKS server. See the Client SOCKS support topic for more information.
• Domain Name Server (DNS): When possible, the service applications will use a DNS to look up service destination addresses. This allows for additional fault tolerance. This being the case, we encourage you to make your DNS available to the appropriate iSeries servers using the CHGTCPDMN CL command.