IBM eServer zSeries 990 Technical Guide

Chapter 3. I/O system structure 93

Table 3-9 lists the required connectors and cable types for each I/O feature on z990 servers.

Table 3-9 I/O features connectors and cables types

1. SM is single mode fiber.

2. MM is multimode fiber.

3. OSA-E refers to OSA-Express.

4. Brought forward to z990 on an upgrade only.

5. The OSA-Express GbE features brought forward from an upgrade have a different connector (SC

Duplex) than the new OSA-E GbE features.

6. 1000BASE-T is the new Ethernet feature.

7. UTP is Unshielded Twisted Pair.

8. STP is Shielded Twisted Pair.

3.4.2 ESCON channel

What follows are z990 connectivity options in the ESCON I/O interface environment.

z990 16-port ESCON feature

The z990 16-port ESCON feature (feature code 2323) occupies one I/O slot in the z990 I/O

cage. Each port on the feature uses a 1300 nanometer (nm) light-emitting diode (LED)

transceiver, designed to be connected to 62.5 micron multimode fiber optic cables only.

The feature has 16 ports with one PCHID associated with each port, up to a maximum of 15

active ESCON channels per feature. There is a minimum of one spare port per feature, to

allow for channel sparing in the event of a failure of one of the other ports.

The 16-port ESCON feature port utilizes a small form factor optical transceiver that supports

a new fiber optic connector called MT-RJ. The MT-RJ is an industry standard connector which

has a much smaller profile compared with the original ESCON Duplex connector. The MT-RJ

connector, combined with technology consolidation, allows for the much higher density

packaging implemented with the 16-port ESCON feature.

Feature code Feature name Connector type Cable type

0219 ISC-3 link LC Duplex 9 micron SM

1

6154 ETR MT-RJ 62.5 micron MM

2

2324 ESCON channel MT-RJ 62.5 micron MM

2319 FICON Express LX LC Duplex 9 micron SM

2320 FICON Express SX LC Duplex 50, 62.5 micron MM

1364 OSA-E GbE LX

3

LC Duplex 9 micron SM

2364

4

OSA-E GbE LX SC Duplex

5

9 micron SM

1365 OSA-E GbE SX LC Duplex 50, 62.5 micron MM

2365

4

OSA-E GbE SX SC Duplex

5

50, 62.5 micron MM

1366 OSA-E 1000BASE-T

6

RJ-45 Category 5 UTP

7

2366

4

OSA-E Fast Ethernet

6

RJ-45 Category 5 UTP

2367 OSA-E Token Ring RJ-45 UTP or STP

8

94 IBM ^ zSeries 990 Technical Guide

ESCON channel port enablement feature

The 15 active ports on each 16-port ESCON feature are activated in groups of four ports via

Licensed Internal Code - Control Code (LIC-CC), by using the ESCON channel port feature

(feature code 2324).

The first group of four ESCON ports requires two 16-port ESCON features. After the first pair

of ESCON cards is fully allocated (by seven ESCON ports groups, using 28 ports), single

cards are used for additional ESCON ports groups.

Ports are activated equally across all installed 16-port ESCON features for high availability. In

most cases, the number of physically installed channels is greater than the number of active

channels that are LIC-CC enabled. This is not only because the last ESCON port (J15) of

every 16-port ESCON channel card is a spare, but also because several physically installed

channels are typically inactive (LIC-CC protected). These inactive channel ports are available

to satisfy future channel adds.

If there is a requirement to increase the number of ESCON channel ports (minimum

increment is four), and there are sufficient unused ports already available to fulfill this

requirement, then IBM manufacturing provides an LIC-CC diskette to concurrently enable the

number of additional ESCON ports ordered. This is illustrated in Figure 3-10 on page 95. In

this case, no additional hardware is installed.

Note: The z990 16-port ESCON feature does not support a multimode fiber optic cable

terminated with an ESCON Duplex connector. However, 62.5 micron multimode ESCON

Duplex jumper cables

can be reused to connect to the 16-port ESCON feature. This is

done by installing an MT-RJ/ESCON Conversion kit between the 16-port ESCON

feature MT-RJ port and the ESCON Duplex jumper cable. This protects the investment

in the existing ESCON Duplex cabling plant.

Fiber optic conversion kits and Mode Conditioning Patch (MCP) cables are not

orderable as features on z990. Fiber optic cables, cable planning, labeling, and

installation are all customer responsibilities for new z990 installations and upgrades.

As mentioned, IBM Fiber Cabling Services offer a total cable solution service to help with

your cable ordering needs, and is highly recommended.