IBM eServer zSeries 990 Technical Guide

Chapter 3. I/O system structure 97

3.4.3 FICON channel

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

FICON Express features

There are two types of FICON channel transceivers supported on the z990, a long

wavelength (LX) laser version, and a short wavelength (SX) laser version:

򐂰 z990 FICON Express LX feature (feature code 2319) with two ports per feature,

supporting LC Duplex connectors

򐂰 z990 FICON Express SX feature (feature code 2320) with two ports per feature,

supporting LC Duplex connectors

FICON channel features can be installed in the z990 server. The features can be connected

to a FICON-capable control unit, either point-to-point or switched point-to-point, through a

Fibre Channel switch. FICON Express LX (at 1Gbps) can also be connected to the FICON LX

Bridge port feature of an IBM 9032 ESCON Director.

Up to 120 FICON channels (60 features) can be installed in the z990. The model A08 can

have up to 96 FICON channels (48 features), which is limited by the number of STIs available

on model A08 servers.

FICON Express LX feature

The z990 FICON Express LX feature (feature code 2319) occupies one I/O slot in the z990

I/O cage. The feature has two Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) cards. Each PCI

card has a single port supporting an LC duplex connector, with one PCHID associated to

each port, and supports link speeds of 1 Gbps or 2 Gbps.

Each port supports attachment to the following:

򐂰 FICON LX Bridge one port feature of an IBM 9032 ESCON Director at 1Gbps

only

򐂰 Fibre Channel Switch that supports 1 Gbps/2 Gbps Fibre Channel/FICON LX

򐂰 Control unit that supports 1 Gbps/2 Gbps Fibre Channel/FICON LX

򐂰 FICON channel in Fibre Channel Protocol (FCP) mode

Each port of the z990 FICON Express LX feature uses a 1300 nanometer (nm) fiber

bandwidth transceiver. The port supports connection to a 9 micron single-mode fiber optic

cable terminated with an LC Duplex connector.

Note: Only FICON Express feature cards are available for FICON connectivity on z990.

FICON channel cards (z900’s feature codes 2315 and 2318), the original pre-FICON

Express cards, are not offered as a new build option and are replaced with new FICON

Express feature cards (feature cards 2319 or 2320) during an upgrade from z900.