IBM Z host attachment to the TS7700

Edit online

FICON® attachments between an IBM Z® host and a TS7700 can be single-mode long wave laser or multi-mode short wave laser.

These attachments are abbreviated as:
  • SM = Single Mode Fiber
  • LW = Long Wave Laser
  • MM = Multi-Mode Fiber
  • SW = Short Wave Laser
Note: Long wave cables attach only to long wave adapters and short wave cables attach only to short wave adapters.

Figure 1 shows typical FICON attachments between a host and a TS7700. The TS7700 supports IBM Z® servers by using 8 Gbps or 16 Gbps FICON at distances of up to 250 km (155 miles) by using dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) in combination with switches, or more extended distances by using supported channel extension products.

Figure 1. IBM Z® host attachment to TS7700 (at speed of 8 Gb/second)
Figure is a block diagram that shows the typical FICON attachments between a host and a TS7700.
Restrictions:
  1. The FICON long-wavelength attachment that is shown in Figure 1 is FC 3439, 8 Gb FICON Long Wavelength Attachment, which has a maximum cable length of 10 km.
  2. The distance between a TS7700 and the first powered or active switch, director, or host cannot exceed 10 km. Distances greater than 10 km require addition of switches or directors.
  3. Distances greater than 30 km require DWDM in combination with qualified switches or directors with adequate RAM buffer on line cards. Adequate RAM buffer is defined as being capable of reaching distances of 100-250 km.

FICON adapters can be upgraded in number (two to four) and kind (shortwave or longwave) by using FC 3402, 16 Gb SW FICON Adapter and FC 3403, 16 Gb Long Wavelength FICON Adapter or FC 3438, 8 Gb FICON Short Wavelength Attachment and FC 3439, 8 Gb FICON Long Wavelength Attachment.

FC 3402, 16 Gb SW FICON Adapter, FC 3403, 16 Gb Long Wavelength FICON Adapter, FC 3438, 8 Gb FICON Short Wavelength Attachment or FC 3439, 8 Gb FICON Long Wavelength Attachment is a prerequisite.

Important 8 Gb installation information: Due to higher sensitivity (increased FICON speed 4G -> 8G) before using a wrap plug or plugging a new or existing cable into any LC Duplex connector, ensure the cable ends and the adapter duplex connector laser transmit/receive ports in the SFP are also cleaned with Fiber Cleaning Tool P/N 54Y4392 before making a connection. Fibre cables to the affected FICON ports must be undamaged and clean. Use Fiber Cleaning Tool P/N 54Y4392 to clean FICON host cables and host adapter LC duplex connector. If errors that occur during installation of the 8 Gb FICON adapters and cables are not corrected during cable and SFP cleaning and card replacement then you must contact your cabling contractor.

For the most recent list of supported FICON directors, refer to the IBM® Techdocs Library web page linked in the Related information section.

In a base TS7700, 2 FICON cards are installed: one in the primary and one in the alternate I/O drawer. Each card is installed in slot C6 in the rear of the I/O drawer, as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2. TS7700 I/O drawer FICON Cable Connections
Diagram shows primary and alternate FICON cable connection ports from the rear view of the I/O drawers.
When an additional FICON attachment (FC 3402, 16 Gb SW FICON Adapter, FC 3403, 16 Gb Long Wavelength FICON Adapter, FC 3438, 8 Gb FICON Short Wavelength Attachment or FC 3439, 8 Gb FICON Long Wavelength Attachment) is installed on a TS7700. 2 more FICON cards are installed in primary and alternate drawers in slot C3, as shown in Figure 2 and listed on Table 1.
Table 1. TS7700 FICON Cable Connections
FICON Configuration First I/O Drawer (Primary) Second I/O Drawer (Alternate)
  Slot 3 (C3) Slot 6 (C6) Slot 3 (C3) Slot 6 (C6)
2 cards Not installed FICON Not installed FICON
4 cards FICON FICON FICON FICON
Each FICON card contains four ports, but only two ports can be enabled per card.