VTAM® LU 6.2 support enables programmers to write or modify host application program protocols with less programming effort, encouraging the use of peer-to-peer protocols throughout a network. This, in turn, enhances the processing power of smaller systems used in developing distributed processing application programs.

VTAM LU 6.2 application programs run in a host processor. These application programs communicate with other host programs and devices in the network that support LU 6.2 protocols. VTAM's support for host LU 6.2 application programs enhances the connectivity between the host and non-host points in the network.

A personal computer or AS/400®, for example, cannot be a peer to a host application program without LU 6.2 support in VTAM or without its own implementation of the LU 6.2 architecture. Otherwise, it appears to the host as a terminal rather than as another application program. Many host application programs do not provide a complete LU 6.2 implementation. In such cases, non-host systems must emulate a terminal to communicate with the host programs that does not take full advantage of the processing power available in the nonhost system.