IBM z/OS manual Open Systems Adapter-Express Features OSA-Express, FCP Full fabric connectivity

Open Systems Adapter-Express Features (OSA-Express)

FCP Full fabric connectivity

FCP full fabric support means that any number of (single vendor) FCP directors/ switches can be placed between the server and FCP/ SCSI device, thereby allowing many “hops” through a storage network for I/O connectivity.

This support along with 2 Gbps link capability is being delivered together with IBM switch vendors IBM, CNT, and McDATA. FCP full fabric connectivity enables multiple FCP switches/ directors on a fabric to share links and there- fore provides improved utilization of inter-site connected resources and infrastructure. Further savings may be real- ized in the reduction of the number of fi ber optic cabling and director ports.

When confi gured as FCP CHPID type, the z990 FICON Express features support the industry standard interface for Storage Area Network (SAN) management tools.

With the introduction of the z990, its increased process- ing capacity, and the availability of Logical Channel SubSystems, the OSA-Express Adapter family of Local Area Network (LAN) features is also expanding by offer- ing a maximum of up to 24 features per server, versus the maximum of up to 12 features per server on prior genera- tions. This expands the z990 balanced solution to increase throughput and responsiveness in an on demand operat- ing environment. These features combined with z/OS, or OS/390, z/VM, Linux on zSeries, TPF, and VSE/ESA can deliver a balanced system solution to increase throughput and decrease host interrupts to help satisfy your business goals.

Each of the OSA-Express features offers two ports for con- nectivity delivered in a single I/O slot, with up to a maxi- mum of 48 ports (24 features) per z990. Each port uses

Fibre Channel

Directors

FCP

Device

FCP

Device

FCP

Device

FCP

Device

FCP

Device

FCP

Device

FCP

Device

FCP

Device

FCP

Device

FCP

Device

FCP

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FCP

Device

a single CHPID and can be separately confi gured. For a new z990 build, you can choose any combination of OSA- Express features: the new OSA-Express Gigabit Ethernet LX or SX, the new OSA-Express 1000BASE-T Ethernet or OSA-Express Token-Ring. The prior OSA-Express Gigabit LX and SX, the OSA-Express Fast Ethernet, and the OSA- Express Token-Ring can be carried forward on an upgrade from z900.

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