Date: Fri, 11 Jul 1997 11:04:29 -0400 From: dennis <dennis@etinc.com> To: Stephen Roome <steve@visint.co.uk>, Ulf Zimmermann <ulf@Alameda.net> Cc: shovey@buffnet.net, danf@JadeTech.com, isp@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: T1 upgrade options? Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970711110425.00c95ca0@etinc.com>
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At 12:25 PM 7/11/97 +0100, Stephen Roome wrote: >On Wed, 9 Jul 1997, Ulf Zimmermann wrote: >> > I still really don't understand why folks with only a T1 line insist on >> > buying a separate router, we have E1 here and have a dual port serial card >> > and a mux. It costs the same to add onto a pc as a Cisco, you still get >> > tech support and the PC that runs it doesn't do anything else or fall over >> > ever. >> >> Why ? Because what ever system you run your T1 off, PC or SGI or whatever, >> if it is not a dedicated router, people tend to run other services off it. >> If you run other services off it, you tend to modify it (for example >> reboot). That brings down your whole T1 line. I thought long about it, >> as I started with just a Fractional T1 Frame Relay line for myself and >> decided at that point to go with a Cisco PC card. It is a complete router, >> it just takes power from the PC and a com port emulation for the console >> port. Even with this solution I power cycled the box it was in too often. That's cause you we'ren't using the capabilities of your PCs power...the Cisco card is a slow device with its own set of bugs. PCs set up as dedicated router are much more powerful and flexible than standalone routers and typically have long uptimes.... Dennis > >Okay, valid point. =) >I think it comes down to whether you chose to reboot the box or not, the >only time I've had real downtime on our router is after a power cut, but >then the power to the line goes down then at the main box in the street. > >Personally I don't reboot the PC router or run anything else on it, okay >there's a secondary nameserver and that's too much as well, but in the six >months since we got our E1 I've only rebooted the router once, and that >was to take out the graphics card. It's just a standalone box which plodds >happily along now. > >I suppose it's personal preference then, next time I'm doing this I'll >look more carefully at using a Cisco or Livingston or something instead. > >> If customer ask me today about a standalone router or a PC card, I often >> tell them to get a router like the Engage routers. a T1 with CSU version >> cost $995 for ISPs. It has no large option in routing protocols, but >> as an endpoint, they don't need much. The reason I tell them this, it is >> a standalone box. A black box in the corner. No one is going to touch it. > >On the cost side of things you seem to have a very valid point, although >I'm not sure the cost _should_ be an issue for a router for anything more >than a 64k line as it's such a small fraction of the cost. Well, in the UK >it is anyway. =) > >-- >Steve Roome - Vision Interactive Ltd. >Tel:+44(0)117 9730597 Home:+44(0)976 241342 >WWW: http://dylan.visint.co.uk/ > > >
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