System Network Architecture (SNA) is an IBM networking architecture developed in the 1970s and 1980s to provide a standard way of connecting computers and peripherals. It was designed as a comprehensive communications model that allowed communication between different hardware, software, and networks. SNA provided reliable data transmission across multiple platforms with high availability through redundant links.
The main components of SNA are its network nodes which include workstations, servers, printers, etc., logical units (LUs), control points (CPs), physical units (PUs), and virtual circuits or sessions that connect the nodes. The LUs manage application-level traffic, while CPs manage system-level functions such as authentication and authorization protocols. PUs allows devices to communicate directly with each other without requiring any additional processing from either side. At the same time, virtual circuits provide point-to-point connectivity between two endpoints on the network regardless of their physical location within it.
Many organizations have used SNA over time due to its flexibility in terms of scalability; it can be easily modified according to changing business needs without having to invest heavily into new infrastructure or equipment upgrades every time something changes in your environment’s requirements. Additionally, because all components were standardized, this made maintenance much easier since there wasn’t any need for proprietary solutions like what you would find today when integrating disparate systems using modern technologies such as web services or APIs. Finally, one significant advantage was that SNA could support real-time applications very well, thanks mainly due to its ability to prioritize certain types of traffic over others depending on user-defined rulesets allowing mission-critical applications like banking transactions to get processed quickly and reliably.
Despite these advantages, technological advances have rendered some aspects obsolete, resulting in newer architectures being adopted instead. For example, TCP/IP provides more efficient routing capabilities than what could be done previously under an SNA setup, making them the preferred choice of most enterprise networks today. However, even though it may not be used large scale anymore remains popular amongst smaller businesses that don’t require complex features offered by newer alternatives but still want a reliable, secure solution at a reasonable cost.
