Link environments

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"
• Between two or more campuses

The following paragraphs describe and show an example of each environment. The major differences are the type (single mode or multimode) and location of trunk fiber, the purpose of the distribution panels, and the cable routing from the panels. Figure 1, Figure 1, Figure 1, and Figure 1 show examples of the four fiber optic channel link environments. In these figures:

• Trunk cables (dotted lines) attach to distribution panels. IBM® recommends use of ST or FC/PC physical-contact connectors.
• IBM jumper cables (solid lines) attach devices to distribution panels, using various combinations of connectors, adapters, and couplers within the panel.