AMQP and JMS are two messaging protocols commonly used for integrating business applications and messaging systems.

AMQP (Advanced Message Queuing Protocol)

is an open standard messaging protocol that defines a common language for message exchange between applications or systems. It is designed to enable secure and interoperable messaging across different platforms, programming languages and messaging technologies. AMQP supports functions such as message routing, queuing and transactions and is often used in messaging systems that require a high level of reliability and performance.

JMS (Java Message Service)

is a messaging API for Java. The service provides a standard method for Java applications to create, send, receive and read messages. It defines a set of interfaces and messaging models that allow Java applications to communicate with each other or with messaging systems. JMS supports both point-to-point and publish-subscribe messaging models and can be used with various messaging technologies such as JMS providers, AMQP brokers and message queuing systems. The JMS connection in Lobster_data already contains all the information needed to connect to a specific JMS provider. It supports both general JNDI connections and connections to a number of common JMS providers.
While AMQP is a messaging protocol that defines rules for exchanging messages between applications, JMS provides an API and a standard way for Java applications to interact with messaging systems and protocols including AMQP. Regarding Lobster_data, it requires an existing AMQP server that can be used as an AMQP client to receive messages (AMQP input agent) or send messages to Lobster_data (AMQP response route).

AS2 (Applicability Statement 2) is a widely used protocol for the secure and reliable internet exchange of electronic business data (invoices, orders, etc.) between companies. Regardless of which platform or software is used by the sender or recipient, AS2 offers a transmission procedure with digital certificates/signatures and efficient encryption algorithms using HTTP.

In order to protect data from unauthorised access or manipulation, Message Disposition Notification (MDN) is exchanged between the communication partners for unique proof in AS2 connections.
Lobster_data’s AS2 service is also Drummond-certified.

The structure of AS4 (Applicability Statement 4) is based on AS2 and ebMS 3.0. AS4 is a secure message protocol based on web services and is permanently accessible, allowing incoming messages to be actively retrieved. The authorship of the message is ensured by digital signature, and data security is ensured by encryption. The sender receives a digital receipt of delivery, which serves as proof of timely delivery of their data.

In contrast to AS2, AS4 has a pull function in addition to the push function. The HTTP connection is established in case of communication, so that connected systems can receive and send data at any time, regardless of business hours and server availability:

• AS4 (Input Agent)
• AS4 (Response Route)
• AS4 (Channel Settings)

In Lobster_data, certificates for encryption, signing, or authentication through client certificates are managed at a central location in the partner management. AS4 communication takes place in accordance with RFC 4130.

is a function of the IBM AS/400 (IBM i) operating system for asynchronous data exchange (messages up to 64K) between programs, which can then send and receive data without having to wait for each other to be ready. Programs write messages to a data queue or read them from there according to a FIFO order.
Programs running on the same or on different AS/400 systems can exchange data without being directly connected to each other. Data queues are also used for communication between processes. Lobster_data offers input agents as well as dedicated configurations for the writing process.

Lobster_data supports cloud storage providers AAWS S3, Box, DropBox, Google Cloud Platform, Google Drive, Microsoft Azure. It can be used both to transfer or delete files (cloud storage as an input agent) and towrite data.

Lobster_data offers S/MIME with certificates for decrypting or encrypting messages using a specified encryption algorithm, for secure e-mail exchange and confidentiality. In order to verify the authenticity of messages and maintain their integrity or immutability, all certificates are electronically signed with a signature algorithm.

SMTP – Simple Mail Transfer Protocol

SMTP is used to transfer electronic messages between an e-mail program and an e-mail server or between two e-mail servers. Lobster_data can be extensively configured for receiving and/or transferring e-mails via SMTP protocol.

For secure communication with SMTPS üvia SSL/TLS, certificates can be stored for the SMTP server. SMTP authentication (ASMTP) as access control through the respective identifier and password is an integral part of this.

POP3 – Post Office Protocol Version 3

A list of the e-mails waiting on a mail server can be retrieved, downloaded and deleted from the server via the POP3 protocol. Lobster_data offers POP3 with SSL/TLS encryption and POP3S data exchange.

IMAP – Internet Message Access Protocol

The mail (IMAP) connection represents and contains all information necessary for connecting to and logging into an e-mail server. Connection options include the incoming/outgoing host, port, respective authentication type for incoming/outgoing connections (Basic Authentication, OAuth 2.0), connection security (SSL/TLS, StartTLS), whether login credentials are required for authorisation on the e-mail server, and the username and password for incoming/outgoing connections. Connections to the e-mail server can be made using SMTP for outgoing messages and IMAP for incoming messages. The e-mail server must support e-mail delivery via SMTP and e-mail retrieval via IMAP.

X.400 – MailBox

X.400 is a form of communication frequently used in professional electronic data exchange. In contrast to internet e-mails, in the worldwide X.400 network there are only domain operators known by name and clear, contractually secured connection paths on which the messages move through the network. X.400 is a fee-based e-mail system offered worldwide through X.400 service providers.

Lobster_data has fully integrated the X.400 message protocol and collects the data through the X.400 incoming agent. The access data for an X.400 MailBox is maintained centrally in a partner channel in order to reuse the connection data configured there in a response path if necessary.

Engineering Data Message (ENGDAT) is an industry standard for automated data exchange of CAD files between CAD workstations of different companies and at the same time a defined workflow for the exchange of technical documents, primarily in the automotive sector.<(p>

The user data is combined into a message in a structured metadata file and sent. Among other things, it contains information about the sender and recipient, optionally also about the purpose, status and the possibility of free text.

A supplement to ENGDAT is the ENGPART (Engineering Partner Message) standard, which defines messages for the exchange of partner master data of CAD workstations. ENGDAT and ENGPART are based on the transport protocol Odette File Transfer Protocol (OFTP). The current version of ENGPART is version 4.1 and is supported by the ENGDAT module in Lobster_data.

In an event-driven architecture, participating systems communicate by transmitting, processing, and storing events. The event is triggered in one system and produces a corresponding response event in another system.

For example: In an online shop, a customer’s payment triggers the sending of a confirmation e-mail and the submission of a purchase request to the warehouse, which then fulfils and ships the order.

Event-driven actions are changes of state that become messages, but whose processing is asynchronous and not serial via brokers and queues. This procedure offers the advantage of being able to execute several event-driven processes simultaneously. Event-driven architecture also enables loose coupling of senders and recipients, simple setup and the addition of further recipients.

The Lobster_data connectors enable users to utilise event-driven technologies and applications to create more responsive and decoupled systems

Lobster_data uses the protocols FTP, FTPS, SSH, SCP, SFTP. On one hand, it can act as a client to download files from an FTP, FTPS, SSH, SCP, SFTP-capable server and subsequently process them as input agents, or to upload finished files back to a server for response after processing. On the other hand, Lobster_data also provides an integrated server for all of these protocols, allowing it to receive files or offer downloads. This enables Lobster_data to actively function as a distribution platform and provide various connection options for external interfaces.

The FTP client can be created as a communication channel centrally in partner management or directly in the interfaces for one-time use.

To let Lobster_data act as an FTP server , you only have to create a partner in partner management, activate it and create and activate an FTP channel for this partner.

A system interaction via HTTP/HTTPS using the REST API refers to communication between two computer systems over the internet. REST (Representational State Transfer) is a software architecture style that provides a standardised approach for creating web services using the HTTP/HTTPS protocol.

With this approach, a system sends a request over HTTP/HTTPS to another system, after which the receiving system responds with a structured data set in a format such as JSON or XML.

RESTful APIs are typically used for web applications and mobile applications to communicate with servers and databases. They are also used for integrating different systems or services that need to exchange data in a structured way. Examples of RESTful APIs include Facebook Graph API, Twitter API, Google Maps API, etc.

Lobster_data offers a range of options for making system settings via HTTP, starting operations or reading information from the system. Lobster_data also includes the possibility to work both as an HTTP server and as an HTTP client. Due to the widespread use of data exchange via HTTP/HTTPS, Lobster_data provides a whole range of basic functions that make working with the protocol easier.

The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol ((LDAP) is used to locate data about organizations, people, and things in a network (whether it be on the internet or an intranet), to centrally provide authentication mechanisms, store passwords and usernames, or validate users in various applications. LDAP is used in Microsoft Active Directory (AD) and in the open-source LDAP application, OpenLDAP.

Lobster_data integrates different LDAP directory services in a very easy way. Using examples, the respective connection configuration and integration are explained in a user-friendly manner. In addition, with special LDAP functions, it is possible to access LDAP data without programming. Searching, creating, renaming, moving, and deleting LDAP objects can be done at any point in the process handling.

Message Oriented Middleware (MOM)provides a messaging service that enables communication between distributed applications and components within a system or between different systems – regardless of the programming language or platform used. MOM provides asynchronous communication where the sender and recipient do not have to be active at the same time. Messages are sent to a message broker or middleware server, which distributes the messages to the intended recipients. The decoupling of sender and recipient enables greater flexibility, scalability and reliability in distributed systems.

MOM is suitable for a variety of use cases.

• Integration of different systems and applications as well as standardised data exchange
• Implement event-driven architectures in which applications subscribe to specific events and receive notifications when these events occur
• Workflow management by sending messages to different components in a specific order
• Data transfer between applications so that they share information without needing a direct connection

MQTT ((Message Queuing Telemetry Transport) is a lightweight messaging protocol used for machine-to-machine (M2M) communication and Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications. MQTT is designed for use in resource-constrained environments and is suitable for IoT devices with limited computing power and memory. As an MQTT client, Lobster_data connects to an MQTT broker (server) via a network. The software uses the MQTT protocol to exchange messages with other clients that are connected to the same broker. This allows Lobster_data to send messages to specific topics of the broker as well as subscribe to topics to receive messages from other clients. For this purpose, Lobster_data configures several MQTT connections to different MQTT brokers.

Lobster_data supports the versions MQTT 3.1.1 and MQTT 5.

The Odette File Transfer Protocol (OFTP) is a secure, reliable and efficient file transfer protocol used by companies in the automotive and other industries to exchange electronic business documents. It was developed by the Organization for Data Exchange by Tele-Transmission in Europe (Odette).

OFTP uses encryption and digital signatures to ensure that data is transmitted securely and tamper-free to the recipient. OFTP also supports error detection and correction mechanisms to ensure the integrity of transmitted data.

In addition to these security features, OFTP is also known for its high performance and efficiency and is optimised for the transfer of large files so that files can be exchanged quickly and reliably over both dedicated and shared networks. The communication is initiated by a partner.

After exchanging so-called Odette IDs and passwords, files can flow in both directions.Lobster_data communicates via ISDN or TCP/IP. As of OFTP version 2, data can be transmitted encrypted or unencrypted.

OPC UA stands for Open Platform Communication Unified Architecture and is an important communication protocol in the context of Industry 4.0, industrial automation, and IoT.

OPC UA is a machine-to-machine communication protocol that provides a standardised interface between devices and software applications. It enables manufacturer-independent data exchange, is platform-independent, secure and scalable and is therefore suitable for a wide range of applications, for example in manufacturing, building automation or energy management.

It also supports the exchange of a variety of data types such as process data, events, alarms and historical data. OPC UA not only secures communication between machines, but also offers functions such as encryption, authentication and access control.

Lobster_data implements both an OPC UA server and a client. As an OPC UA client, Lobster_data can read and write data from OPC UA servers and link these data to a variety of systems.

The SFTP, SCP connector (Secure File Transfer Protocol) in Lobster_data is used to download files from an SFTP-enabled server or to upload files to such a server via SSH. In contrast to the standard FTP connector, the SFTP, SCP connector encrypts both data and commands.

In this way, it ensures that no sensitive data is disclosed during a network transfer. However, SFTP, SCP uses a different protocol than FTP, which is why you cannot use a standard FTP client to communicate with an SFTP, SCP server.

Nearly all current operating systems of modern computers support Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) as a network protocol uand use it for exchanging data with other computers. The protocol has proven to be a reliable, connection-oriented, packet-switched transport protocol and is part of the internet protocol family. TCP is particularly important as a protocol for directly connecting end devices or clients that do not rely on common industrial protocols such as HTTP(S).

Lobster_data also provides a good solution with TCP (client, server) in case the devices and machines to be connected do not support the protocols MQTT and/or OPC UA used in Industry 4.0.

WebDAV (Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning) is an extension of HTTP/HTTPS. It allows for the transfer of files and entire directories, and also specifies version control. Since the ports used for HTTP/HTTPS (80/443) are usually not blocked by firewalls, WebDAV has become widely adopted. Lobster_data supports WebDAV as a client, to retrieve files from a data source or to store files on a target computer zu speichern.