Abstract: Exchanging electronic messages between an online transaction processing host computer system and a distributed computer system. This communication exchange encompasses both guaranteed delivery of electronic messages and non-guaranteed delivery of native terminal screen and printer messages, utilizing a message queuing facility. A two-tier architecture is used for all message translations, blocking and reassembling, queuing, acknowledgments and retransmissions, generally reducing necessary message processing and reducing use of system resources.

Abstract: A system for, and method of, off-loading network transactions from a mainframe to an intelligent input/output device, including off-loading message queuing facilities. A storage controller has a processor and a memory, in which the controller receives I/O commands having corresponding addresses. In the controller memory, a communication stack is provided for receiving and transmitting information on a network. In addition, a message queue facilities (MQF) is provided that cooperates with the communication stack and that is responsive to a message queue verb. The MQF causes the communication stack to provide information to a queue in the MQF or causes a queue in the MQF to provide information to the communication stack. Moreover, interface logic is provided in the controller memory and is responsive to the I/O commands, to determine whether an I/O command is within a first set of predetermined I/O commands.