(1) A major CICS storage control block that contains areas and data required for the operation of CICS.
(2) In MVS, an area that contains system control programs and control blocks. The storage areas within the common area are the system queue area (SQA), the pageable link pack area (PLPA), the (optional) modified link pack area (MLPA), a pageable BLDL table, a copy of the prefixed storage area (PSA) (for multiprocessor systems only), and a common system area (CSA).