Mainframe Event Monitoring via EBCDIC to ASCII Conversion
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Solution Overview
Problem
The complexity and specificity of mainframe event records, encoded in EBCDIC, pose challenges for third-party integration and analysis, as they are difficult to interface with due to their character encoding and high frequency, variety, and volume, making it hard to efficiently use this information for monitoring and management.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that includes a filter module to detect and filter mainframe events, a re-encoding module to convert EBCDIC to a generic character encoding like ASCII, and a routing module to send these events to a SIEM application, enabling integration with other event sources and providing a consolidated view.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If mainframe events are monitored and analyzed in their native EBCDIC encoding, then complete information is captured, but third-party integration and analysis become difficult due to character encoding specificity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary component that converts EBCDIC-encoded mainframe events into ASCII format. This intermediary translation layer enables third-party applications to access and analyze mainframe events without requiring direct EBCDIC support, thus maintaining information completeness while improving integration capability.
2Reliability
If all mainframe events are captured and transmitted, then complete monitoring coverage is achieved, but processing efficiency decreases due to high number, variety, and frequency of events
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and filters specific subsets of mainframe events based on predetermined criteria before transmission to third-party applications. By taking out only the relevant events rather than transmitting all events, the system maintains reliable monitoring coverage for critical events while improving processing efficiency by reducing the volume of data handled.
3Adaptability or versatility
If mainframe events are converted to generic character encoding, then integration with SIEM applications is improved, but additional processing steps are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the event processing system into distinct functional modules: an event source generating EBCDIC events, a conversion component translating to ASCII, and destination SIEM applications. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function independently, improving integration capability while managing complexity through modular design.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems, and devices are described for monitoring and managing mainframe events. In the methods, systems, and devices of the present disclosure, a stream of messages at a mainframe management console may be monitored to detect mainframe events. The mainframe events may be filtered according to at least one predetermined filtering criterion to identify a plurality of selected mainframe events. The selected mainframe events may then be converted from a character encoding specific to the mainframe to a generic character encoding, and routed to at least one destination Security Information Event Manager (SIEM) application.