Link, trunk, and IBM jumper cable planning

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This chapter discusses fiber optic channel link planning tasks and also contains considerations and recommendations related to planning for fiber optic channel links. Refer to Specifications for link specifications.

The physical location of the data processing equipment determines the link environment. This equipment can be located on a single floor within one building, on multiple floors or in multiple rooms within one building, between two or more buildings within a campus, or between two or more campuses. See Link environments for a more detailed description.

IBM® jumper cables are 9/125 μm, 50/125 μm, or 62.5/125 μm. Trunk cables used in a link can be 9/125 μm, 50/125 μm, or 62.5/125 μm. However, a fiber optic channel link cannot use both 9-μm and 62.5-μm cable or both 9-μm and 50.0-μm cable.

Certain IBM partners offer DWDM units to extend Coupling link distance beyond the 10 Km limit (6.2 miles). Please see your local IBM representative for more information.

The maximum OSA, FICON®, or coupling link distance, which includes both jumper cables and trunk cables, is determined by product features and cable size (Table 2).

With 9-μm cable on a single_mode coupling link, the maximum link distance is 10km (6.2 miles)
With 50-μm (2000MHz*km) IFB-O cable on a 12x InfiniBand coupling link, the maximum link distance is 150m (0.09 miles)
With 9-μm cable on an LX FICON link, the maximum link distance is 4km, 5km or 10km (see Table 2) (See Note 5)
With 50-μm cable on a SX FICON link, the maximum link distance is 70m to 860m (Table 2)
With 62.5-μm cable on a SX FICON link, the maximum link distance is 55m to 250m (Table 2)
With 62.5-μm cable on a SX OSA-Express2, OSA-Express3 and OSA-Express4S GbE links, the maximum link distance is 275 meters (0.17 miles)
With 50-μm cable on a SX OSA-Express2, OSA-Express3 and OSA-Express4S GbE links, the maximum link distance is 550 meters (0.35 miles)
With 50-μm OM4 cable on a SX OSA-Express3, OSA-Express4S and OSA-Express5S 10 GbE links, the maximum link distance is 400 meters (0.25 miles)
With 50-μm OM5 cable on a SX OSA-Express3, OSA-Express4S and OSA-Express5S 10 GbE links, the maximum link distance is 400 meters (0.25 miles)
Note: OM5 is Wide Band Multimode Fiber designed for increased data capacity using VCEL technology and SWDM (Short-Wavelength-Division-Multiplexing). It is designed to operate at wavelengths from 850-μm through 953-μm. It is backward compatible with OM4 applications. However, OM4 products are not compatible with OM5 wide band applications.
With 9-μm cable on a LX OSA-Express2, OSA-Express3 and OSA-Express4S GbE links, the maximum link distance is 5 kilometers (3.17 miles)
With 9-μm cable on a LX OSA-Express2, OSA-Express3 and OSA-Express4S 10GbE links, the maximum link distance is 10 kilometers (6.33 miles)

Certain IBM Partners offer DWDM units to extend Coupling link distances beyond the 10 Km limit. Contact the local IBM representative for more information.

Using an optical mode conditioner, the coupling links single_mode adapters may also operate over multimode fiber (50 μm) with a link range of up to 550 meters. Prior to May 1998, coupling facility channels were available for 50 μm multimode fiber at a range of 1 km; these have been discontinued.

Notes:

IBM will accept Request for Price Quotations (RPQs) for link distances greater than those specified above. Contact your marketing representative.
IBM does not accept Request for Price Quotations (RPQs) for Ethernet.
The distance between FICON capable devices can be greater than 10 km when using directors, channel extenders, or wavelength multiplexers. For more information, see Introduction to IBM S/390® FICON, SG24-5176.
The Fibre Channel Standard specifies a 4 hop limit for a network including directors.
FICON Express32S LX (FC=0461) supports a 32 Gbps link speed at distances up to 5 km between each channel and its nearest neighbor.

IBM offers assistance in planning, designing, and installation of Fiber Optic links through its Connectivity Services offering of IBM Global Services Fiber Transport Services. For more details, contact your IBM marketing representative. Also, IBM’s Fiber Transport Services (FTS) provides planning assistance, commodities, and installation for a multimode or single mode fiber trunk system.