Fibre Channel overview for the DS8000 series

Each Fibre Channel adapter has either four or eight ports, and each port has a unique worldwide port name (WWPN). You can configure a port to operate with either the SCSI-FCP or the FICON (FC-SB-x) upper-layer protocol by using the DS8000® Storage Management GUI or the DS CLI. You can add both shortwave and longwave Fibre Channel adapters.

For details on the host systems that support Fibre Channel adapters, go to the IBM® System Storage® Interoperation Center (SSIC) website.

Fibre Channel adapters support the following configurations:
  • A maximum of eight 8-port host adapters on the DS8870, Model 961 (2-core)and a maximum of 16 8-port host adapters on the DS8870, Model 96E (4-core), which equates to a maximum of 128 Fibre Channel ports
    Note: If 4-port host adapters are used in combination with 8-port adapters, the maximum number of ports varies from 64 to 128, depending on the combination of adapters.
  • A maximum of 506 logins per Fibre Channel port, which includes host ports and PPRC target and initiator ports
  • Access to 63700 LUNs per target (one target per host adapter), depending on host type
  • Switched-fabric or point-to-point topologies, if 16 Gb adapters are used.
  • Arbitrated loop, switched-fabric, or point-to-point topologies, if 2 Gb, 4 Gb, or 8 Gb adapters are used.