Benefits of XCF/MRO
Cross-system MRO using XCF links offers a number of benefits.
- A low communication overhead between MVS™ images, providing much better performance than using ISC links to communicate between MVS systems. XCF/MRO thus improves the efficiency of transaction routing, function shipping, asynchronous processing, and distributed program link across a sysplex. You can also use XCF/MRO for distributed transaction processing if the LUTYPE6.1 protocol is adequate for your purpose.
- Easier connection resource definition than for ISC links, with no SNA (z/OS® Communications Server) tables to update.
- Good availability, by having alternative processors and systems ready to continue the workload of a failed MVS or a failed CICS®.
- Easier transfer of CICS systems between MVS images. The more straightforward connection resource definition of MRO, with no SNA tables to update, makes it easier to move CICS regions from one MVS to another. You no longer need to change the connection definitions from CICS MRO to CICS ISC (which can be done only if the CICS startup on the new MVS is a warm or cold start).
- Improved price and performance, by coupling low-cost, rack-mounted, air-cooled processors in an HPCS environment.
- Growth in small increments.
- Organizational benefits. Because regions in different XCF groups cannot communicate over MRO or XCF/MRO, each group of regions is effectively isolated from the others. This isolation can be useful if, for example, you want to prevent, possibly, access accidentally to production regions from development or test regions.