Introduction to Networking for NonStop S-Series Servers

HP NonStop S-Series Systems Network Architecture
(SNA) Network Connections
Introduction to Networking for HP NonStop S-Series Servers—520670-005
7-10
ES Connect
ES Connect
ES Connect enables NonStop S-Series processors to communicate with IBM
mainframes through IBM’s ESCON channel. Use of the channel means that bulk data
transfer to and from IBM machines will be significantly faster.
ESCON stands for Enterprise Systems Connection, the major high-speed channel of
IBM’s ES9000 series of mainframes. The channel to I/O connection operates at a
theoretical data rate of up to 17 megabytes per second (MBps).
Figure 7-4 on page 7-11 is a general diagram of the components that make up the ES
Connect product. Three computers are depicted: a NonStop S-Series server, a
Windows NT platform, and an IBM mainframe. The Windows NT platform contains an
ESCON card and the ES Connect software. ES Connect acts as an intermediary,
receiving and forwarding traffic from both HP and IBM.
In this example, a high-level application (BCOM, a file transfer program) running on an
HP server and its counterpart (BCOM) running on the IBM mainframe are used to
communicate with each other.
Stirling Software’s NetDirect product, the Network Data Mover (NDM), and ETI’s
product BCOM are the two major file-transfer programs used by HP customers in an
IBM environment. This example could have used either of these products.