Anzio Technical Description

Introduction

Anzio Lite and AnzioWin are terminal emulation programs from Rasmussen Software, Inc. They are used in situations where a PC needs to connect as though it were a terminal to a host system running a character-based application.

Anzio (meaning both versions) emulates many common terminal types, including VT100/220/320/420, Wyse50/60, Versyss C332, Viewpoint and many more, as well as having support for the SCOANSI, AT386, and Linux consoles. Connection to the host can be by telnet, rlogin, direct serial, or dial-up modem; AnzioWin also supports an SSH connection. Anzio is especially strong in its support for passthrough printing and international characters.

Anzio Lite is a very low-cost version that meets the needs of many users. AnzioWin, at a higher cost, has more features for key mapping, user macros, file transfer, programmability, and interaction with other Windows programs. AnzioWin also includes the Print Wizard logic for enhanced printing.

The Need

Many character-based applications still exist, running on various host platforms such as Unix, Linux, and VMS. These programs were written to be operated through dumb terminals, such as a Wyse 60, or through the character-mode consoles of Unix/Linux systems. To operate these programs from a Windows PC, some software must be run on the PC to emulate a terminal. That PC can then be connected to the host in a variety of ways, ranging from a short serial cable to a local area network to the Internet.

The terminal emulation program at a minimum must emulate a particular terminal correctly, including proper handling of control sequences, line-drawing characters, colors, foreign characters, special keys, etc. Beyond the basics, the user may require encrypted connections, programmability, auxiliary serial port support, mouse events, file transfer, and a variety of kinds of printing support.

An administrator who sets up terminal emulation for other users, even for public walk-up use, may need to “lock down” certain features of the emulator, to prevent the user from altering the setup.

The Solution

Anzio provides all of this, and more. It is easy to install and use, and technical support is excellent. Its affordable, always kept up to date with the latest from Microsoft and is packed with features, yet maintains the user friendliness.

Check out the feature chart for all the details!

Operation

Either version of Anzio can be downloaded and installed from www.anzio.com. It will install as a demo, with a 60-day lifetime, unless it is activated with a license code obtained from Rasmussen Software or through an authorized reseller.

When you start Anzio the first time, it will ask you a) what terminal type to emulate, and b) how to connect to the host (serial, telnet, etc.). Once it connects, the host login should appear. That is all. All other operating parameters are preset to reasonable values.

When you terminate Anzio , it will ask permission to save your parameters. If it does so, the next time you run Anzio it will connect automatically, without asking questions. If you need to connect to more than one host systems, there are mechanisms for doing that.

Platform Support

Anzio Lite and AnzioWin are Windows programs, and will run on Windows 95, 98, ME, NT4, 2000, 2003 Server, XP, Vista, 2008 Server, and Windows 7. Both products also run well in a Terminal Services or Citrix environment.

Licensing

Anzio is licensed by the number of PCs on which it will be installed. There are several volume breaks. We do not offer an unlimited site license, because sites vary so much in size.

Concurrent-usage licensing, update pricing, and discounts for libraries and educational users are available.

Features

Refer to the chart at the right for a summary of AnzioWin and Anzio Lite features. Note that many of these features may only be available in AnzioWin. For a complete list see the Anzio manual.

More Information

Anzio.com contains demos of both programs, as well as price schedules, policies, order forms, an online quote generation routine and a copy of the Anzio manual. Also there is extensive support documents in our knoweldgebase at our web site, and various whitepapers with many technical tips.