Specifications

FICON does not support a private connection. FICON performs frame (or packet)
multiplexing. A configuration with the serially connected controllers communicates
with the controllers simultaneously. It can multiplex I/O operations across all
controllers simultaneously. No interface cycles are wasted because of a private
connection. You can serially connect controllers with FICON without performance
degradation.
The next question though is whether or not it is permitted to serially connect DASD
control units with tape controllers. Tape generally performs much larger I/O
operations at any instant in time. Therefore, even with FICON, when you have tape
I/O running, you can temporarily “lockout” some DASD I/O. It is still better to put
tape and DASD on different FICON channels.
Attaching to a FICON channel with G5 and G6 hosts
You can use the following FICON adapters with the IBM S/390 Generation 5 (G5)
and Generation 6 (G6) host systems:
v Feature code 2314
Feature code 2314 is the longwave laser adapter.
v Feature code 2316
Feature code 2316 is the shortwave laser adapter.
You can use the following FICON adapters with the zSeries host systems:
v Feature code 2315
Feature code 2315 is the FICON longwave laser adapter. This adapter has two
ports per adapter. This adapter is a 9-micron single mode cable, but you can use
it with a 62.5-micron multimode cable when you attach mode-conditioning cables
at each end.
v Feature code 2318
Feature code 2318 is the FICON shortwave laser adapter. This adapter has two
ports per adapter. The shortwave laser adapter supports the 50- and 62.5-micron
multimode cable.
You can attach the FICON channels directly to an ESS or you can attach the
FICON channels to a fibre-channel switch. When you attach the FICON channels
directly to an ESS, the maximum number of FICON attachments is 16. Sixteen is
the maximum number of host adapters you can configure in an ESS. When you use
an ESS host adapter to attach to FICON channels either directly or through a
switch, the adapter is dedicated to FICON attachment. It cannot be simultaneously
attached to fibre-channel protocol hosts.
When you attach an ESS to FICON channels through one or more switches, the
maximum number of FICON attachments is 128 per ESS adapter. The directors
provide very high availability with redundant components and no single points of
failure or repair.
You can use the IBM 2032 Model G4 (McData ED-6064 Enterprise fibre-channel
director) or IBM 2042 Model 001 (Inrange FC/9000 fibre-channel director). You can
use either director to attach fibre-channel protocol hosts and devices in addition to
the FICON hosts and devices. For these configurations, the fibre-channel protocol
hosts should communicate only with the fibre-channel protocol devices. The FICON
hosts should communicate only with the FICON devices. IBM recommends that you
set up zones in the directors to guarantee that none of the fibre-channel protocol
hosts or devices can affect the FICON traffic.
80 ESS Host Systems Attachment Guide