Although it's always nice to have WebSphere loaded on the remote machine, it's not necessary. Rather, most standard AS/400 configurations (and yes, there are still loads of people using these systems) run with DB2.

You can connected to the AS/400's DB2 environment with drivers found in the JTOpen, the Open Source version of the IBM Toolbox for Java, located at http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/oss/jt400/. You'll want to look for the drivers found in jt400.jar.

Don't forget you may have to open a hole in your firewall if you're doing a remote (outside the LAN) query, or use a VPN to punch your way through.

Product availability and resources For more information on JTOpen, visit http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/oss/jt400/.

For more than 20 years, David Gewirtz, the author of Where Have All The Emails Gone? and The Flexible Enterprise has analyzed current, historical, and emerging issues relating to technology, competitiveness, and policy. David is the Editor-in-Chief of the ZATZ magazines, is the Cyberterrorism Advisor for the International Association for Counterterrorism and Security Professionals, and can be reached via email at david@zatz.com.