The Service Access Facility (SAF) is the tool used for administering terminals, modems, and other network devices. In particular, the SAF enables you to:
The SAF is an open systems solution that controls access to system and network resources through TTY devices and local-area networks (LANs). The SAF offers well-defined interfaces so you can easily add new features and configure existing ones.
The SAF is not a program. It is a hierarchy of background processes and administrative commands. The top-level SAF program is the SAC. The SAC controls port monitors that you administer through the sacadm command. Each port monitor can manage one or more ports.
You administer the services associated with ports through the pmadm command. While services provided through SAC may differ from network to network, SAC and the administrative programs sacadm and pmadm are not tailored to network types.
Table 2-2 illustrates the SAF control hierarchy. The sacadm command is used to administer the SAC, which controls the ttymon and listen port monitors.
Table 2-2 SAF Functions and Associated Programs
Function |
Program |
Description |
---|---|---|
Overall administration |
sacadm |
Command for adding and removing port monitors |
Service Access Controller |
sac | |
ttymon listen |
Monitors serial port login requests Monitors requests for network services |
|
administrator |
pmadm |
Controls port monitor services |
logins, remote procedure calls, and so on |
Services to which SAF provides access |
The services of ttymon and listen are in turn controlled by pmadm. One instance of ttymon can service multiple ports and one instance of listen can provide multiple services on a network interface.
See Chapter 11, Managing Printers, Terminals, and Modems for more information.