We have seen a number of published articles and interviews revolving around strategies and products for moving beyond IBM 374X FEPs. Implicit has been the self-serving  suggestion that the life of the IBM 374X FEP is coming to an end in the near future.   It’s a simple fact that FEPs are still installed in very large numbers.  Anura ('SNA') Gurage, of www.ITIndepth.com, wrote that "in mid-2005, there were still upwards of 20,000 37xxs in production, mission-critical use."  And the FEPs are not failing.  In fact, IBM continues to accept 374X FEPs for regular service agreements and has no announced plans to discontinue service. The controlling software, NCP, is still supported by IBM and it’s an important, if not strategic, revenue generator for Big Blue. Neither has IBM abandoned marketing - They continue to sell microcode features for the enhanced 3746-900 functions. There is a robust secondary market for FEPs, upgrades, features and parts and there is still a large body of new IBM features and parts available. In short, there’s no pending crisis for those who continue to operate FEPs as a part of their network. The real question for users of FEPs is how to enjoy the residual benefits of SNA at the lowest possible cost.

Not long ago I spoke with Mike Ward, General Manager of a FEP specialty company – Mid-Atlantic Research and Services, Inc. – often known as MARS by FEP customers.   Mike wanted to discuss 374X FEPs and the IBM Communication Controller for Linux, or CCL. CCL is a software product that emulates some of the functions provided by a real IBM 374X FEP. 

Mike and his MARS colleagues wanted me to know that MARS is still busy building and installing "modern" FEPs and supporting 374X FEP customers every day. It’s all that they do and they are committed to continued support for 374X FEP users for many years to come. They’ve enjoyed a special FEP relationship with IBM since 1990, and they recently purchased IBM’s entire inventory of new 374X parts and features, using these to produce FEPs and field upgrade kits at the highest possible engineering levels.  With this new inventory of high level components, MARS produces modern FEPs: 3745 31A and 61A base frames and 3746-900 expansion frames with the latest Type 3 processors.

In an exchange with Mike, I explored the status of 374X FEPs and I pulled some reactions from Mike on a variety of FEP topics.

Market Status of 374X FEPs?  "We’re as busy as we’ve been for the past sixteen years.  Most big companies still quietly operate FEPs. Whenever there’s a merger, acquisition or a new disaster recovery plan, there’s a FEP involved. The need for ESCON attachment for the newer IBM processors is also behind much of our work. Nobody likes to talk about it, but FEPs are still handling some important network activity. A good part of the worldwide financial industry continues to rely upon SNA and FEPs. Security and reliability still matter. "

Hasn't IBM Withdrawn Support?  "No, absolutely not.  IBM simply discontinued marketing for new machines and hardware features.  IBM still sells the 900 microcode enhancements.  They still provide hardware maintenance and the NCP software is strategic for IBM - It's necessary for CCL.  And there's something even more important - IBM sold the entire inventory of it's Havant UK plant to Mid-Atlantic so that we can continue to build and install high-EC 374Xs and field upgrade kits well into the future."

Are FEPs Strategic?   "Strategic for the long term?  No, FEPs are more in the category of continuing necessity.  But the FEPs are running some very important network activity, what we call essential networking.  This is often the very important residual SNI traffic - it can't easily be moved.   For those who will continue with some residual SNA/SNI however, what is strategic is to reduce the cost of SNA operation to a minimum.  The smart way to do this is to consolidate FEP workload on to a modern FEP with the lowest possible NCP tier and optimum reliability and serviceability characteristics.  This is the easiest and lowest cost approach for residual SNA/SNI."

Expected Life of 374X FEPs? "Hard to say. We’re planning through at least 2015. Most of our customers have already moved the easy stuff to their IP networks, but secure SNI using real FEPs is still the customer’s preference. There are also some less strategic applications with EP, NPSI, you name it. The FEPs just keep on working."

Did you say 2015? That’s nine years out. "Yes, 2015, or later. Think about it. IBM has promised maintenance at least through 2010. But keep in mind that older 3725s, yes 3725s, are still being maintained through special arrangement and there are some large 3745 customers that have mega clout. Third party maintenance companies are exploring parts availability, and of course we can support them. And IBM’s support for NCP is superb - It has to be, considering that NCP function is not going away for many years, hence the IBM interim CCL software FEP emulator, which continues to rely upon NCP."

What about the failure rate of FEPs in the field? "It’s not happening. No surprise, since these were designed and built for decades use.  We have customers who have been running the older 210 and 410 TCM models since the late 1980s - think about that,  sometimes in less than ideal conditions. Many of these controllers have never had a service call, other than filter changes.  And the FEPs that we ship today are all of the later models, 31A, 61A, 900, at the highest engineering levels, so we’re expecting continued reliability. "

What about the recent CCL and Enterprise Extender Press Articles that Predict 374X Failures?  "This is uninformed and inaccurate - a self serving scare tactic to pressure 374X users.  Anyone involved with the 374X,  an owner or field engineer, will tell you just how reliable the product is.   IBM continues to write service contracts.   Would you be writing multi-year service agreements on a product that was failure prone?  The third-party maintenance industry is also ramping up to service this product because it will continue to be a profitable service item - that means low incident levels."

What about the high operating cost of FEPs? "A myth today. In the past it was high for many, when the FEP was configured for hundreds of lines and as many as sixteen parallel channels. The base frame NCP Tier was a killer back then.  But now that most FEPs are handling much lighter loads with only a few serial ESCON paths, there’s an easy way to get the NCP software cost down. We simply reconfigure the FEPs, dropping the NCP tier level and hardware maintenance fee at the same time."

Has the cost of acquiring a FEP dropped?  "Yes, very much so.  There are very few modern 374X FEP configurations that we cannot build and install for less than the cost of a CCL license.   And this has made possible some inventive approaches that weren’t possible just a few years back. By this I mean approaches such as having a duplicate FEP, a cold backup, available. We’ve also seen customers install dedicated FEPs at their disaster recovery centers for the purpose of reducing the time to restore their network during the DR test shots. "

If I planned to operate a real IBM 374X FEP for the coming decade, what would you tell me? "First, consolidate your NCPs onto a modern FEP platform - by modern I mean the latest model, either 31A single CCU or 61A dual CCU.  Keep in mind that you can operate two separate NCPs on the 61A while only paying for a single NCP license.  Push as much of your network activity into the 3746-900 frame as possible.  These two actions allow you to enjoy the lowest NCP Tier cost.  Finally, make certain that you have the latest Service Processor Type 4,  so you can continue to receive the latest microcode distributions on CD.  Call us for a FEP Check (TM) and we'll find a way to reduce your costs and optimize serviceability."

Has CCL replaced many FEPs? "We haven’t seen it - A guess based on customer reports? - You might need all your fingers and toes to count the licenses in CCL's first year - a rate below that of installations of modern 374X FEPs.  CCL is off to a very slow start, perhaps because we continue to provide modern, high-quality FEPs at very low cost. It still makes more sense to deconfigure and modernize your FEP, reducing operating costs, than to invest time and money in what may be just an interim solution - especially if that interim solution requires new skills, new software, planning and execution. "

Are Customers Evaluating CCL?   "Yes, of course.  Our customers have given CCL a polite but cool look. There's always been a healthy skepticism for software emulation.  Interim CCL simply moves the NCP from the FEP to a Linux LPAR – the work done by NCP moves from the less expensive outboard FEP CCU to the more expensive zSeries CP. Our customers want a real FEP, particularly a redundant dual CCU model. A modern FEP is less costly and less complex. With interim CCL there’s more planning and work involved than you notice at first glance, and there are some other skills and costs to explore.   Before you jump into CCL, you owe it to yourself to carefully read IBM's very good fifty-seven page overview planning document - it touches on many of the areas you should explore, including the OSA and router considerations."   3745.com Note: The document referred to by Mike Ward may be found at http://www-03.ibm.com/support/techdocs/atsmastr.nsf/WebIndex/FQ109582 . 

Ultimately the 3745 FEP will be replaced by Enterprise Extender and CCL?  "You know, you’re right about Enterprise Extender. Ultimately most SNA traffic will be encapsulated and carried across the IP network. In fact many customers are already as far along as possible. But there’s a residual activity still being served by the FEP, most notably the secure SNI traffic. Most customers still prefer the security of a private SNI link using real 374X FEPs."

Why not complete the job by replacing the 374X FEP with CCL? "Because it's not broken - in fact there's never been a data center product with the same reliability and durability.  There’s no near term need to dump the 3745 for an interim CCL. The modern FEP allows you to enjoy lower NCP costs – for example the dual CCU 3745-61A needs only a single NCP license. With interim CCL, this could result in two Tier 2 licenses, perhaps even two CCL licenses if you want the same level of hardware redundancy as with the 61A. The additional NCP workload at the host could result in the need for more CPs, increasing the cost of other host software. Lines that are handled by the FEP can't be handled by the OSA so they need to be moved to routers, at a higher cost per port. You need to take a look at skills and tools needed for network operation, problem source identification and management – these will change."

So you don’t believe that the end of FEPs is near? "There are those who have an interest in creating a false urgency to get off the FEPs now.  About ten years ago I used to collect advertisements about getting rid of FEPs – I’d tape them to the wall at work. The ads were run by companies that made software or microcoded FEP replacements. They were cute, especially the series that showed interesting ways to dispose of your FEP – boat anchors, garden planters, Smithsonian – you get the idea. One ad that I liked was something along the lines of kissing your FEP goodbye – it had a graphic of large red lips. Today none of those companies are around. The FEPs are still running."

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