“Market Insights provides an Internet-based Data Warehouse system to the Healthcare Industry.  New data is continuously loaded into our terabyte-class data warehouse. We process hundreds of 3480 cartridges at a time, representing tens of millions of records. 

Without the efficiency of the StorageTek tape handling and the data migration and processing automation of Mainframe Data Engine from Flatiron Solutions, I don't know how we would do it.”

Anthony Milano, Founder and Director
Market Insights
 
[Read more about our work for Market Insights]

ETL - Extraction, Transformation and Loading
ETL metadata support includes direct creation of output files and population of databases, field and record selection, filtering, character set conversion, numeric field conversion, and year-2000 date correction. Definition of source record structures is completely interactive and is similar to creating a new table in Microsoft Access or Paradox. Field names, types, and sizes are entered to describe a record. Create or add to Microsoft Access, dBASE, and Paradox tables, text files, and ODBC data tables, as well as database servers, such Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, Sybase, Interbase.
 
New - Support for MySQL Enterprise!

Data Migration and Media Conversion
Mainframe Data Engine supports 9-track tapes, 3480, 3490, and 3490E cartridges, 4mm cartridges, 8mm cartridges, QIC (1/4" cartridges), DLT, and automated cartridge tape libraries. Data transfer support includes both reading from and writing to IBM, ICL*, ANSI, and unlabeled tapes.
 
* In addition to the more common ANSI and IBM tape volume formats, Mainframe Data Engine also provides support for reading and writing ICL labeled tapes and ICL variable block data files. This capability is important in Europe and other parts of the world.

Year 2000 Data Remediation
Archive data may contain date fields that are not year-2000 compliant and even some newly originated data may come from systems that have not been made compliant. Mainframe Data Engine provides a simple means to address the handling of date fields on a case by case basis. Different rules may be used for separate fields even within the context of the same record structure.

Tape and Cartridge Volume Duplication
Mainframe Data Engine can archive the entire contents of tapes and cartridges, including label data, with support for automated tape libraries. These archives may be zipped for space conservation. Tapes or cartridges may also be regenerated from these archives.

Direct Support for SCSI Tape Subsystems
Mainframe Data Engine supports a wide variety of tape subsystem hardware including QIC, 4mm, 8mm, 9-track, 18-track and 36-track (3480 / 3490 / 3490E), DLT (Digital Linear Tape), and MagStar. Hardware manufacturers include Exabyte, HP, IBM, M4 Data, Qualstar, Quantum, and Storage Technology. Flatiron Solutions has worked closely with certain hardware manufacturers, including M4 Data* and Storage Technology**, to develop specialized support for certain subsystems. For example;
 
* Mainframe Data Engine supports the M4 Data 9906, 9914, M490E and M490L subsystems. We worked directly with M4 Data UK engineering staff to integrate the capability of the M490E/L to write 18-track cartridges, as well as the library capabilities of the M490L, into Mainframe Data Engine.
 
** Mainframe Data Engine supports the StorageTek 4220, 4280, 9490, and SD-3 subsystems. We worked directly with StorageTek engineering staff to integrate the capability of the 42xx ACL (automated cartridge loader) to position to specific cells in its magazine. We have incorporated this support, which enables the 42xx with ACL to function as a small library, into Mainframe Data Engine.

Data Mining and Analytical Tools
Integration of the Flatiron data mining and analytical tool set into Mainframe Data Engine enables our users to select, group, present, and deliver, on demand, the data they need.

Select fields to summarize and you’re one click away from a live data mining grid of your project data.
Just one more click displays a graph based on the grid data.
One click also generates a live Microsoft Excel worksheet directly from your data mining grid.

Operating System Support
Mainframe Data Engine runs under current and legacy versions of Microsoft Windows, including Windows NT, 98, ME, 2000 and XP.

Our Organization
Flatiron Solutions develops Internet-hosted database applications and performs conversion and migration of mainframe data for some of the world's largest financial, insurance and media organizations.

Our Clients
We are proud to name Arthur Andersen, BankAmerica, BellSouth, Colliers ABR, Comag Marketing Group, Credit Suisse First Boston, DeutscheBank Securities, First Union Capital Markets, Goldman Sachs & Co., ING North America, JP Morgan Chase & Co., Lehman Brothers, Lucent Technologies, NYC Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, PaineWebber, PrimeMedRx Pharmacy Services, Reader’s Digest, Storage Technology, Sungard Shareholder Systems, and Transamerica as our clients.