IBM Understanding FICON Support and Connectivity for Systems

Wave Division Multiplexor and Optical Amplifi ers that sup- port 2 Gbps FICON Express links are: Cisco Systems ONS 15530 and 15540 ESP (LX, SX) and optical amplifi er (LX, SX), Nortel Networks Optera Metro 5100, 5200 and 5300E and optical amplifi er, ADVA Fiber Service Platform (FSP) 2000 system and the IBM 2029 Fiber Saver.

The raw bandwidth and distance capabilities that native FICON end-to-end connectivity has to offer makes them of

FICON Connectivity

FICON

Bridge

ESCD 9032 Model 5

FICON

Bridge

ESCON

CU

ESCON

CU

ESCON

CU

ESS

F10, F20, 800

interest for anyone with a need for high performance, large data transfers or enhanced multi-site solutions.

FICON CTC function

Native FICON channels support channel-to-channel (CTC) on the z990, z890, z900 and z800. G5 and G6 servers can connect to a zSeries FICON CTC as well. This FICON CTC connectivity will increase bandwidth between G5, G6, z990, z890, z900, and z800 systems.

All FICON Channels = 100MB/s

= LX ONLY

= LX or SX

		140
		or
64			Enterprise
32,		PORT
2032			Tape
			Controller
			3590 A60
		256
		or
		128
64,		PORT
2042
			Enterprise
			Tape
			Controller
			3590 A60
		ESS
	F10, F20, 800

Because the FICON CTC function is included as part of the native FICON (FC) mode of operation on zSeries, FICON CTC is not limited to intersystem connectivity (as is the case with ESCON), but will also support multiple device defini- tions. For example, ESCON channels that are dedicated as CTC cannot communicate with any other device, whereas native FICON (FC) channels are not dedicated to CTC only. Native can support both device and CTC mode definition concurrently, allowing for greater connectivity fl exibility.

FICON Support for Cascaded Directors

Native FICON (FC) channels now support cascaded directors. This support is for a single hop confi guration only. Two-director cascading requires a single vendor high integrity fabric. Directors must be from the same vendor since cascaded architecture implementations can be unique. This type of cascaded support is important for disaster recovery and business continuity solutions because it can help provide high availability, extended distance connectivity, and (particularly with the implemen- tation of 2 Gbps Inter Switch Links), has the potential for

fiber infrastructure cost savings by reducing the number of channels for interconnecting the 2 sites.

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