Multiple control paths for IBM i attachment

The use of control paths for IBM® Power Systems running IBM i and the System i, iSeries, and AS/400 servers is unique. In general, every IBM i, System i, and iSeries input/output processor (IOP) based adapter must "see" the control path that is associated with the drives to which it is connected.

The following list presents possible scenarios for IOP adapters that recognize the control paths with which they are associated.
  • OS/400® V5R1 supports only one drive per IOP-based adapter and every drive requires a control path.
  • For OS/400 V5R2 and later, the IOP-based adapter supports multiple drives per adapter, so that only one control path for the group of drives is required.
  • For V6R1 and Power® 6 hardware using the IOP-less (Smart IOA), the adapter has two Fibre Channel ports and supports multiple devices per port. At least one control path is required per IOA and per set of drives within a library partition.
  • For V7R1 and Power 6 or Power 7 hardware using the IOP-less (Smart IOA), the adapter has two Fibre Channel ports and supports multiple devices per port. At least one control path is required per IOA port and per set of drives within a library partition.