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- OSA-Express2 Gigabit Ethernet LX
- OSA-Express2 Gigabit Ethernet SX
- OSA-Express2 1000BASE-T Ethernet
- OSA-Express2 10 Gigabit Ethernet LR
Gigabit Ethernet features for fiber infrastructures
OSA-Express2 Gigabit Ethernet
The third generation of Gigabit Ethernet features is designed to support line speed — 1 Gbps/sec in each direction or 2 Gbps/sec full duplex and support the following functions:
- QDIO architecture
- Layer 2
- Spanned channels
- SNMP
- IPv4 and IPv6
- 640 TCP/IP stacks per CHPID
- Jumbo frames (8992 byte frame size)
- Large send, for TCP/IP traffic and CPU efficiency, offloading the TCP segmentation processing from the host TCP/IP stack
- Concurrent LIC update
- OSA-Express2 OSN (OSA for NCP)
OSA-Express2 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) operates in QDIO mode and supports full duplex operation, and jumbo frames (8992 byte frame size). The OSA-Express2 GbE features continue to be dual-port features occupying a single I/O slot and utilize one CHPID per port; two CHPIDs per feature. Each port can be independently configured as CHPID type OSD or OSN. The OSA-Express2 Gigabit Ethernet SX and LX features are offered on new builds while the OSA-Express Gigabit Ethernet features can be carried forward on an upgrade from a System z server. The OSA-Express2 GbE features are exclusive to the IBM System z9 Enterprise Class (z9 EC), IBM System z9 Business Class (z9 BC), IBM eServer zSeries 990 (z990), and IBM eServer zSeries 890 (z890).
OSA Express2 10 Gigabit Ethernet LR
The OSA-Express2 10 Gigabit Ethernet Long Reach (LR) can be use in an enterprise backbone, between campuses, to consolidate file servers and to connect server farms with z9 EC, z9 BC, z990 and z890 servers. The OSA-Express2 10 GbE LR supports:
- Queued Direct Input/Output (QDIO)
- One port per feature
- A link data rate of 10 Gbps/sec
- Full duplex mode
- Spanned channels
- SNMP
- IPv4 and IPv6
- Jumbo frames (8992 bytes frame size)
- Checksum Offload for IPv4 packets
- Layer 2 support
- Large send
- 640 TCP/IP stacks
- Concurrent LIC update
- SC Duplex connector
- Single mode fiber (9 micron)
- An unrepeated distance of 10 km (6.2 miles)
The 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10 GbE) feature does not support auto-negotiation to any other speed. The 10 GbE feature supports 64B/66B coding, whereas the GbE supports 8B/10B coding. The OSA-Express2 10 Gigabits per second (Gbps/sec) link data rate does not represent the actual throughput of the OSA-Express2 10 GbE feature. Actual throughput is dependent upon many factors, including traffic direction, the pattern of acknowledgment traffic, packet size, the application, TCP/IP, the network, disk subsystem, and the number of clients being served.
The OSA-Express2 10 GbE feature is exclusive to the z9 EC, z9 BC, z990 and z890.
OSA Express2 1000 Base-T Ethernet
IBM is expanding the family of OSA-Express2 features to include 1000BASE-T Ethernet, supporting a link data rate of 10, 100, or 1000 Mb/sec over a copper infrastructure. The OSA-Express2 1000BASE-T Ethernet feature continues to provide support for:
- OSA-Integrated Console Controller (OSA-ICC) — TN3270E and non-SNA DFT 3270 emulation
- Queued Direct Input/Output (QDIO), CHPID type OSD, for TCP/IP traffic when using Layer 3, and protocol-independent packet forwarding when using Layer 2 (z/VM and Linux on System z9)
- Non-QDIO, CHPID type OSE, for SNA/APPN/HPR and/or TCP/IP traffic
- Checksum Offload (exclusive to QDIO mode, CHPID type OSD)
- Spanned channels and sharing among logical partitions
- Jumbo frames in QDIO mode (when operating at 1 Gbps/sec)
- Auto-negotiation (the target device must also be set to auto-negotiate)
- Category 5 Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) cabling
The OSA-Express2 1000BASE-T Ethernet feature supports the following modes of operation:
- OSA-ICC (CHPID type OSC), for 3270 data streams
- QDIO (CHPID type OSD), for TCP/IP traffic when Layer 3, and for protocol-independent when Layer 2
- Non-QDIO (CHPID type OSE), for TCP/IP and/or SNA/APPN/HPR traffic
- OSA for NCP (CHPID type OSN), to provide channel connectivity between operating systems and CCL
The OSA-Express2 1000BASE-T Ethernet feature is a dual port feature occupying a single I/O slot and utilizes one CHPID per port; two CHPIDs per feature. Each port can be independently configured as CHPID type OSC, OSD, OSE, or OSN. The OSA-Express2 1000BASE-T Ethernet feature is offered on new builds while the OSA-Express 1000BASE-T Ethernet feature can be carried forward on an upgrade from a System z server. Refer to the System z9 Operating Systems Support section for further information.