How fast does the MVS Download xfer data to an ESCON

ITEM: RTA000098440



Q:                                                                              
ABSTRACT:     How fast does the MVS Download xfer data to an ESCON              
              attached AIX system? Is this the fastest method availabl          
SEARCH ARG:   psf/mvs download escon                                            
TOPIC THREAD: PRINT                                                             
              PSF/AIX                                                           
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I have a customer who is looking at OnDemand for AIX.  His concern is           
that he must move 5GB/day to the AIX machine from his MVS system. I             
believe the most efficient method would be through MVS Download to an           
ESCON attached AIX system. How fast would the xfer be?  I believe the           
ESCON can run at 17MB/sec max. How efficiently does TCP/IP utilize this         
bandwidth (i.e. effective data rate)?                                           
                                                                                
Q:                                                                             
It's early in the morning and after some thought I should ask a more            
basic question.  Can MVS Download utilize an ESCON channel? TCP/IP              
implies communication not channel but I know an AIX machine can be              
ESCON attached so...                                                            
                                                                                
I found a ASKQ item that states 350KBytes might be a reasonable max             
for TCP/IP xfer. If that is the case we can run Multiple FSAs under             
an FSS to get mutiple parallel performance... true. Is there a max              
xfer rate between MVS and AIX with MVS Download that this would yield?          
I need this number to practically plan for the 5GB xfer/day.                    
                                                                                
Q:                                                                              
After further searches on ASKQ I have found that ESCON does support             
TCP/IP.  Version 3.1 yields 2.1MB/sec for an FTP binary xfer.  Knowing          
that MVS Download was designed to increase performance over FTP what           
is the expected data rate of this transfer.  My data is bank statements         
and G4 compressed check images to the RS/6000.                                  
                                                                                
Q:                                                                              
I found the ASKQ item that stated a 2.1MB xfer rate...RTA000080769.             
It's a long item so go to the bottom and go back 2-3 pages.                     
                                                                                
A:                                                                              
I'm still trying to get some information for you and am waiting for a           
call from Boulder.  Unfortunately, there has been no formal performance         
testing done for MVS Download across different connections, so the best         
they may be able to provide are a few informal performance observations         
for a limited set of files and connections.                                     
                                                                                
The 350KB/sec number from ASKQ item RTA000098090 was from an informal          
observation of an MVS Download of an uncompressed RAST50 job from a             
9221-270 to an RS/6000 Model 370. I need to get more details on the             
physical connection however.  TCP/IP for MVS V3.1 was used since that           
is the prerequisite level for MVS Download.                                     
                                                                                
I'm sorry I have so far been able to get better information for you.            
The performance analysts are assigned to various projects which do not          
currently include testing of MVS Download performance.  But I'm still           
trying to get any additional information possible, so I'll leave this           
item open for now.                                                              
                                                                                
A:                                                                              
I'm sorry, but the plain truth is that we have no quantifiable                  
performance data on MVS Download.  Nor can the developers or performance        
analysts provide any informed speculation as to whether or not MVS             
Download would be the fastest way of transferring the data, though it           
does provide functions (such as checkpointing and accounting) that              
plain FTP does not.                                                             
                                                                                
Assuming that you can get 350KB/sec with MVS Download based on the              
other ASKQ item (which I'm told was using token-ring connections),              
you should be able to transfer your 5GB of data within a single shift.          
I also asked about the possibility of running multiple FSAs in parallel,        
but again, the response was that unfortunately he had no empirical              
information to be able to comment in that area.                                 
                                                                                
I'm sorry; I don't know what else to tell you.  You may wish to                 
escalate the need for additional performance data in this area through          
the business line manager for PSF/MVS or through the performance group.         
                                                                               
S e a r c h - k e y w o r d s:                                                  
CROSS MVS AIX PSF DOWNLOAD PERFORMANCE ESCON ONDEMAND TCP/IP                    
psf/6000 psf/aix infoprint rate speed                                           
                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                               


WWQA: ITEM: RTA000098440 ITEM: RTA000098440
Dated: 11/1998 Category: XPSF6000
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