Defining a TCP/IP physical link

For TCP/IP physical links, the connection between the two IMS systems uses the TCP/IP connection and networking protocols that are used by the internet.

Usually used when the IMS systems are in different data centers. IMS Connect manages the TCP/IP connections and protocols for the physical links.

Communications between MSC and IMS Connect are managed by the Structured Call Interface (SCI) component of the IMS Common Service Layer (CSL) in an IMSplex.

You can assign multiple logical links to a physical link that uses the TCP/IP connection type. TCP/IP physical links always operate in MSC bandwidth mode and require a slightly larger buffer size than the other physical link types.

You can use either the CREATE MSPLINK type-2 command or the MSPLINK stage-1 system definition macro to define the physical link and its attributes.

To use the CREATE MSPLINK command, dynamic resource definition must be enabled in your IMS system. The CREATE MSPLINK command is logged.

If dynamic definition is not enabled in your IMS system, you must use the MSPLINK macro to define your physical links. During system definition, define all physical connections that might potentially be used, even if several might be for backup purposes or might not be intended for continual use.

For physical links that use TCP/IP, the specification on the NAME keyword of the MSPLINK macro must match the specification on the IMSID keyword of the IMSCTRL system definition macro of the remote IMS system.

The SESSION parameter indicates the number of parallel sessions, or logical links, that can be active for TCP/IP and VTAM® physical link types.