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FICON cascaded directors have the added value of high
integrity connectivity. New integrity features introduced
within the FICON Express channel and the FICON cas-
caded switch fabric to aid in the detection and reporting
of any miscabling actions occurring within the fabric can
prevent data from being delivered to the wrong end point.
FICON cascaded directors are offered in conjunction with
IBM, CNT, and McDATA directors.
FICON Bridge Channel
Introduced fi rst on the 9672 G5 processors, the FICON
Bridge (FCV) channel is still an effective way to use FICON
bandwidth with existing ESCON control units. FICON
Express LX channel cards in FCV (FICON Converted)
Mode of operation can attach to the 9032 Model 005
ESCON Director through the use of a director bridge card.
Up to 16 bridge cards are supportable on a single 9032
Model 005 with each card capable of sustaining up to
eight concurrent ESCON data transfers. 9032 Model 005
ESCON Directors can be fi eld upgradeable at no charge
to support the bridge cards, and bridge cards and ESCON
cards can coexist in the same director.
FCP Channels
zSeries supports FCP channels, switches and FCP/SCSI
disks with full fabric connectivity under Linux on zSeries
and z/VM Version 4 Release 3 and later for Linux as a
guest under z/VM. Support for FCP devices means that
zSeries servers will be capable of attaching to select FCP/
SCSI devices and may access these devices from Linux
on zSeries. This expanded attachability means that enter-
prises have more choices for new storage solutions, or
may have the ability to use existing storage devices, thus
leveraging existing investments and lowering total cost of
ownership for their Linux implementation.
For details of supported FICON and FCP attachments
access Resource Link at ibm.com/servers/resourcelink
and in the Planning section, go to z890/z990 I/O Connec-
tion information.
The support for FCP channels is for Linux on zSeries and
z/VM 4.3 and later for Linux as a guest under z/VM. Linux
may be the native operating system on the zSeries server
(note z990 runs LPAR mode only), or it can be in LPAR
mode or, operating as a guest under z/VM 4.3 or later. The
z990 now provides support for IPL of Linux guest images
from appropriate FCP attached devices.
Now, z/VM V5.1 supports SCSI FCP disks enabling the
deployment of a Linux server farm running under VM con-
fi gured only with SCSI disks. With this support you can
install, IPL, and operate z/VM from SCSI disks.
The 2 Gbps capability on the FICON Express channel
cards means that 2 Gbps link speeds are available for
FCP channels as well.
Two site non-cascaded director
topology. Each CEC connects to
directors in both sites.
Two Site cascaded director
topology. Each CEC connects to
local directors only.
With
Inter Switch Links (ISLs),
less fiber cabling may be needed
for cross-site connectivity
IBM
IBM