Kvm Running In Z Systems Lpars; F.2.1 Storage Connectivity - IBM z13s Technical Manual

work on physical CPUs. LPUs can be dynamically added to and removed from an LPAR.
LPARs can be added, modified, activated, or deactivated in z Systems platforms by using the
Hardware Management Console (HMC).
KVM for IBM z Systems also uses PR/SM to access storage devices and the network for
Linux on z Systems virtual machines as shown in Figure F-1.
Figure F-1 KVM running in z Systems LPARs

F.2.1 Storage connectivity

Storage connectivity is provided on the z Systems platforms by host bus adapters (HBA)
called Fibre Channel connection (IBM FICON) features. IBM FICON (FICON Express16S and
FICON Express8S) features follow Fibre Channel (FC) standards. They support data storage
and access requirements, and the latest FC technology in storage devices.
The FICON features support the following protocols:
Native FICON: An enhanced protocol (over FC) providing for communication with FICON
devices such as disks, tapes, and printers. Native FICON supports IBM extended count
key data (ECKD) devices.
Fibre Channel Protocol (FCP): A standard protocol for communicating with disk and tape
devices. FCP supports Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) devices.
Linux on z Systems and KVM for IBM z Systems can make use of both protocols by using the
FICON features.
F.2.2 Network connectivity
Network connectivity is provided on the z Systems platform by the network interface cards
(NICs) called Open Systems Adapter (OSA) features. The OSA features (OSA-Express5S
and OSA-Express4S, provide direct, industry-standard local area network (LAN) connectivity
and communications in a networking infrastructure.
OSA features use the z Systems I/O architecture, called queued direct input/output (QDIO).
QDIO is a highly efficient data transfer mechanism that uses system memory queues and a
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IBM z13s Technical Guide