Overview

Overview

This section describes the HP ESCON PA, including channel attachment, the LED functions, the memory and cable requirements, and contains the following subsections:

Port Adapter Overview, page 5

ESCON Specifications, page 7

LEDs, page 7

ESCON Cable, page 9

Port Adapter Slot Locations on the Supported Platforms, page 9

Identifying Interface Addresses, page 10

Port Adapter Overview

The HP ESCON PA is a high-speed (100 bandwidth points) port adapter for Cisco 7200 series routers, including the Cisco 7200 VXR routers, that supports IP Datagram, TCP/IP Offload, TN3270 Server, TCP Assist, Cisco MultiPath Channel (CMPC), CMPC+, and Cisco SNA (CSNA) software applications.

The HP ESCON PA provides a single channel interface for Cisco 7200 series routers

A mainframe channel (referred to as a channel) is an intelligent processor that manages the protocol on the communications media and controls the data transfer to and from the main central processing unit (CPU) storage. Devices called input/output processors (IOPs) communicate between the host CPU and the channel. One IOP controls multiple channels. There is no relationship between the number of CPUs and the number of IOPs.

The channel relieves the mainframe CPU of direct communication with input/output (I/O) devices, which saves processing cycles and allows data processing and communications tasks to run concurrently. Channels use one or more channel paths as the links between mainframes and I/O devices. I/O devices are connected directly to control units, which provide the logical capabilities required to operate and control the I/O devices.

In some situations, this interface can eliminate the need for a separate front-end processor (FEP). The HP ESCON PA contains one ESCON I/O connector.

The HP ESCON PA (Figure 1) provides a single channel attachment interface for connecting Cisco 7200 series routers to an ESCON director or to a mainframe channel.

Note The Cisco 7200 series routers support the OIR of all port adapter types.

Figure 1

ESCON Channel Port Adapter, Faceplate View

PRESENT LOADED

EN

 

SIGNAL

ONLINE

HP ESCON PA

45335

The HP ESCON PA has a single female duplex connector and has 128 MB of DRAM. There are no memory options for the HP ESCON PA.

PA-4C-E 1-Port High-Performance ESCON Channel Port Adapter Installation and Configuration

 

OL-3743-02

5

 

 

 

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Cisco Systems PA-4C-E 1 manual Port Adapter Overview