<s>
Connect:Direct	B-Protocol
—	O
originally	O
named	O
Network	B-Protocol
Data	I-Protocol
Mover	I-Protocol
(	O
NDM	O
)	O
—	O
is	O
a	O
computer	O
software	O
product	O
that	O
transfers	O
files	O
between	O
mainframe	B-Architecture
computers	I-Architecture
and/or	O
midrange	B-Device
computers	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
developed	O
for	O
mainframes	B-Architecture
,	O
with	O
other	O
platforms	O
being	O
added	O
as	O
the	O
product	O
grew	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NDM	O
was	O
renamed	O
to	O
Connect:Direct	B-Protocol
in	O
1993	O
,	O
following	O
the	O
acquisition	O
of	O
Systems	O
Center	O
,	O
Inc	O
.	O
by	O
Sterling	O
Software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1996	O
,	O
Sterling	O
Software	O
executed	O
a	O
public	O
spinoff	O
of	O
a	O
new	O
entity	O
called	O
Sterling	O
Commerce	O
,	O
which	O
consisted	O
of	O
the	O
Communications	O
Software	O
Group	O
(	O
the	O
business	O
unit	O
responsible	O
for	O
marketing	O
the	O
Connect:Direct	B-Protocol
product	O
and	O
other	O
file	O
transfer	O
products	O
sourced	O
from	O
the	O
pre-1993	O
Sterling	O
Software	O
(	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
Traditionally	O
,	O
Sterling	O
Connect:Direct	B-Protocol
used	O
IBM	O
's	O
Systems	B-Architecture
Network	I-Architecture
Architecture	I-Architecture
(	O
SNA	O
)	O
via	O
dedicated	O
private	O
lines	O
between	O
the	O
parties	O
involved	O
to	O
transfer	O
the	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
early	O
1990s	O
TCP/IP	B-Protocol
support	O
was	O
added	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Connect:Direct	B-Protocol
'	O
s	O
primary	O
advantage	O
over	O
FTP	B-Protocol
was	O
that	O
it	O
made	O
file	O
transfers	O
routine	O
and	O
reliable	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
IBM	O
Sterling	O
Connect:Direct	B-Protocol
is	O
used	O
within	O
the	O
financial	O
services	O
industry	O
,	O
government	O
agencies	O
and	O
other	O
large	O
organizations	O
that	O
have	O
multiple	O
computing	O
platforms	O
:	O
mainframes	B-Architecture
,	O
midrange	O
,	O
Linux	B-Application
or	O
Windows	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
terms	O
of	O
speed	O
,	O
Connect:Direct	B-Protocol
typically	O
performs	O
slightly	O
faster	O
than	O
FTP	B-Protocol
,	O
reaching	O
the	O
maximum	O
that	O
the	O
interconnecting	O
link	O
can	O
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
CPU	O
cycles	O
are	O
available	O
,	O
Connect:Direct	B-Protocol
has	O
several	O
compression	O
modes	O
that	O
can	O
greatly	O
enhance	O
the	O
throughput	O
of	O
the	O
transfer	O
,	O
but	O
care	O
must	O
be	O
exercised	O
in	O
multi-processing	O
environments	O
as	O
Connect:Direct	B-Protocol
can	O
consume	O
large	O
amounts	O
of	O
processing	O
cycles	O
,	O
impacting	O
other	O
workloads	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Connect:Direct	B-Protocol
originally	O
did	O
not	O
support	O
encrypted	O
and	O
secure	O
data	O
transfers	O
,	O
however	O
an	O
add-on	O
,	O
Connect:Direct	B-Protocol
Secure+	O
,	O
provided	O
such	O
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Encryption	O
can	O
be	O
accomplished	O
with	O
Transport	B-Protocol
Layer	I-Protocol
Security	I-Protocol
using	O
SSL	O
,	O
TLS	O
or	O
Station-to-Station	B-Protocol
protocol	I-Protocol
(	O
STS	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Connect:Direct	B-Protocol
file	O
transfers	O
can	O
be	O
done	O
in	O
two	O
formats	O
:	O
Binary	O
mode	O
(	O
where	O
no	O
translation	O
occurs	O
)	O
or	O
in	O
a	O
mode	O
where	O
translation	O
is	O
used	O
to	O
convert	O
an	O
ASCII	B-Protocol
file	I-Protocol
to	O
EBCDIC	B-Language
as	O
it	O
is	O
moved	O
to	O
a	O
mainframe	B-Architecture
or	O
vice	O
versa	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
conversions	O
are	O
handled	O
automatically	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
local	O
systems	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
a	O
significant	O
concern	O
with	O
other	O
file	O
transfer	O
software	O
when	O
moving	O
between	O
distributed	O
and	O
mainframe	B-Architecture
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
new	O
company	O
was	O
going	O
to	O
develop	O
a	O
mainframe	B-Architecture
systems	O
management	O
tool	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Thus	O
Network	B-Protocol
Data	I-Protocol
Mover	I-Protocol
(	O
"	O
NDM	O
"	O
)	O
was	O
created	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Originally	O
developed	O
to	O
support	O
high	O
speed	O
file	O
transfer	O
between	O
mainframes	B-Architecture
using	O
IBM	O
's	O
MVS	B-Application
operating	I-Application
system	I-Application
,	O
later	O
support	O
was	O
added	O
for	O
IBM	O
's	O
DOS/VSE	B-Application
(	O
mainframe	B-Architecture
DOS	O
,	O
not	O
PC	O
)	O
and	O
VM/CMS	B-Application
operating	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
System	O
Center	O
merged	O
with	O
VM	B-Application
Software	O
of	O
Reston	O
,	O
Virginia	O
to	O
form	O
"	O
Systems	O
Center	O
,	O
Inc.	O
"	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
new	O
headquarters	O
in	O
Reston	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1996	O
the	O
company	O
was	O
split	O
back	O
into	O
two	O
separate	O
divisions	O
,	O
NDM	O
and	O
VM	B-Application
.	O
</s>
