> A - It's possible to connect Ficon channels directly to SAN switch? Not as FICON. FICON and FCP use the same physical hardware, but format the signals on the glass differently. You would install a FICON physical adapter with the FCP microcode (the only difference is the software in the adapter) into your z890 and attach the fiber from the FCP-microcoded adapter to the SAN switch.
> B - If A isn't true, there are an alternative. (A black box to convert signals) See above. > Sun support team say that this machine (SE-6320) is for mid-range environment with SCSI characteristics, > and isn't possible to connect Ficon channel to it, but and about FCP feature of z890? It's supported by > z/VM, right? See above. Sun/STK is correct that you cannot attach FICON adapters with the FICON microcode to that switch. FICON adapters with the FCP microcode will attach to that switch without problem. Note also that IBM doesn't guarantee that FCP switches that are not on it's tested hardware list will work with the FCP support in z/VM. I haven't had too much trouble getting non-approved hardware to work, but you should keep it in mind if your local IBM support isn't real flexible about such things. -- db
