We recently started leasing a cabinet in a data center with the idea that we would start keeping some of our mission critical data offsite.
The datacenter provides us with two CAT5 jacks that are supposed to be fully redundant connections to the backbone. We have been given a block of IP addresses to use but I want to know what is the best way to configure a firewall/switch/router in this cabinet.
We want to make sure that we have no downtime as a result of a network outage. The network technician has told us that they do maintanence on the backbone routers one weekend every month and when doing so your connection will stay alive if you utilize the redundant connections they provide.
Right now I have a really cheap firewall installed on the connection and all works ok, but I know there is a better way to do it.
One of the NOC people told me to get a managed switch and setup two of the ports in a VLAN or something like that?
Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks!
-Douglas