HostFront

The HostFront architecture is designed for high availability, scalability, and security. The core components include the HostFront Server, Screen Scraping Engine, API Gateway, and Web Interface. The HostFront Server acts as the central control point, managing all other components.

The Screen Scraping Engine captures and interprets 3270 screen data, converting it into a structured format. The API Gateway exposes this data as REST APIs, allowing external applications to interact with the mainframe. The Web Interface provides a user-friendly web-based interface for accessing mainframe applications.

Communication between components is primarily over TCP/IP. The Screen Scraping Engine communicates with the mainframe using 3270 protocols. The API Gateway communicates with the Screen Scraping Engine and the Web Interface using HTTP/HTTPS.

Data storage is primarily in memory and does not rely on a persistent database. The system supports horizontal scaling by deploying multiple instances of the HostFront Server behind a load balancer. Security is a key consideration, with support for HTTPS, RBAC, and integration with external authentication systems like LDAP and Active Directory.

The administrative console provides tools for monitoring system performance, managing users, and configuring security settings. The architecture is designed to minimize latency and maximize throughput, ensuring optimal performance for web-based and API-based access to mainframe applications.