HP StorageWorks XP Disk Array Mainframe Host Attachment and Operations Guide XP24000, XP20000 (A5951 - 96151, September 2007)

• Host channel controller v Peer controller host channel
• Peer controller with appropriate equipment
NOTE:
Appropriate retention hardware to support cable attachments that control bend-radius limits comes with
each ESCON host attachment.
Logical paths and path groups for ESCON adapters on zSeries hosts
Each ESCON adapter card supports two ESCON ports or links. Each port supports 64 logical paths.
At the maximum of 32 ESCON ports, the number of logical paths is 2048. Each controller image
supports up to 64 path groups. Each path group might have up to eight logical paths. Each controller
image supports a maximum of 512 logical paths per control unit image.
Data transfer for ESCON adapters on zSeries hosts
The ESCON host adapter supports all data input buffer sizes up to 256 bytes. During write operations,
the host adapter requests the minimum hexadecimal pacing count of X'02'. For commands whose
parameter data length is not determined by the parameter data itself, the full transfer count in the
command frame is requested in the first data request. The adapter supports an NDF-R count of 7 (that
is, a maximum of eight data requests).
Directors and channel extenders for ESCON adapters on zSeries hosts
The storage system supports IBM ESCON directors 9032 Models 1, 2, 3, and 5. The storage system
also supports IBM 9036 channel extenders to the distances that are allowed by the 9036 as described
in “Cable lengths and types for ESCON adapters on zSeries hosts”. The storage unit supports the
9729 Wavelength Division Multiplexer channel extender up to 50 km (31 mi).
Identifying the port for TSO commands on zSeries hosts
You can use the devserv command to identify ports on a zSeries or S/390 host. This command is
used to identify the port ID for the MVS TSO commands for S/390 and zSeries hosts. Numbers such
as 806, 804, 802, and 800 are internal microcode numbers. Numbers such as 00, 04, 08, and 0C
are tag numbers. You need tag numbers for the path setup. To determine the tag number, use the
devserv command with the rcd (read configuration data) parameter.
Attaching FICON Channel Adapters
FICON uses a mapping layer technique based on Fibre Channel and multiplexing technologies to
improve data-transfer rates, reduce the number of channel connections, and support greater distances
between storage systems and z/OS or S/390 mainframes.
By supporting full-duplex data transfers and allowing greater throughput rates over longer distances
than ESCON, FICON delivers faster data access, higher transaction rates, higher data movement
speeds between mainframe servers and storage devices. Infrastructure management is simplified, and
allows geographically dispersed data centers for optimal business continuity. This simplifies data
center operations and reduces hardware and storage management costs.
In summary, FICON provides the following key features:
FICON and ESCON Host Attachment24