Integrated Coupling Adapter (ICA SR)

Edit online

The z17 supports the Integrated Coupling Adapter (ICA SR), a two-port short distance coupling fanout that implements a coupling channel type: CS5. The ICA SR utilizes PCIe Gen3 technology. The ICA SR is designed to drive distances up to 150m and support a link data rate of 8 GBps. It is also designed to support up to 8 CHPIDs per port and 8 subchannels (devices) per CHPID. The maximum number of ICA SR fanout features is limited to 48. The limit on the number of ICA SR fan out features depends on whether it is a high end machine (48 features) or midrange machine (24 features).

Note: The link data rates do not represent the performance of the links. The actual performance is dependent upon many factors including latency through the adapters, cable lengths, and the type of workload.

The ICA SR can only be used for coupling connectivity between servers, and the ICA SR can only connect to another ICA SR. It is recommended that you order ICA SR 2.0 (FC 0216) on the z17 used in a Parallel Sysplex® to help ensure short-distance coupling connectivity with future processor generations.