Adding channel extenders to a synchronous PPRC configuration to support longer distances can seriously degrade the application performance. This is because of the additional time that is added to each copy write I/O. IBM® therefore does not generally recommend using channel extenders with PPRC in synchronous mode for any applications that are sensitive to response time. See Using channel extenders for general information about channel extenders.
However, the PPRC does offer a long-distance solution with little application response degradation, even when using channel extenders. For more information, see Managing PPRC extended distance mode.