Establish a physical connection to your network

The first step to using Ethernet for the iSeries™ is establishing a physical connection to your network. Having the correct settings and configurations for your server will help ensure a successful connection. The physical link includes using the correct cabling and configuring the correct line speed and duplex mode to match the capabilities of the link partner you are connecting to.

UTP cable specifications

The cabling that you use to connect to your link partner must be wired to the TIA/EIA 568–B standard (straight through, no cross-over). There are different categories of UTP cables and each one supports different speeds.

• Category 3: supports 10 Mbps
• Category 5: supports 10/100/1000 Mbps
• Category 5e: supports 10/100/1000 Mbps
• Category 6 or higher: supports 10/100/1000 Mbps

Note: Category 5e or higher is recommended if you are running Gigabit Ethernet. These cable types have tighter specifications that will help you achieve better quality connections.

Connecting your cables can be tedious work. The table below lists the pairs of wires inside the UTP cable and shows what order they are wired in the RJ-45 connector. It is crucial that the connector pins be in this order, or you will not be able to connect to your link partner. You will notice that the wires are different colors; some are solid colors and some are half solid and half white. Each half solid and half white wire is paired with the corresponding solid color wire, even though they might not sit adjacent to one another in the connector.

The pins are numbered from left to right. (Hold the connector latch down and point the contacts away from you, so that pin 1 (White/Green) is on the left.) The table below shows how the wires appear in the connector and what pins they are set into.

Line speed and duplex mode configuration

If your link partner is capable of auto-negotiation, you can use *AUTO for both line speed and duplex mode, to auto-negotiate. If you are unsure of your link partner's capabilities, find out what line speed and duplex mode it is set to, so you can configure your server to match.

For example, the hub or switch port is set to 100 Mbps and half duplex (not capable of auto-negotiation). In CRTLINETH, set your iSeries parameters to LINESPEED = 100M, DUPLEX = *HALF. Do not use *AUTO for either of these parameters, in this case.