A fully-connected complex with alternate links provides the option of using ring acceleration as well as a very high level of reliability. It does not, however, remove the IBM® 3088 as a potential single point of failure. Thus, IBM recommends that you provide an alternate 3088 to act as a backup. (Integrated CTC adapters can also act as backup connections between systems.)

In such a configuration, dedicate two data links from the primary 3088 and two data links from the alternate 3088 for each connection in your fully-connected complex. If a system runs on a processor that, like the 3090 Model 400E, can be partitioned, connect links from both 3088 units to both sides of the processor complex.