Any advantage to 2 DSL's

We currently have one high-speed dsl coming in to our network. I have another high-speed dsl line from a different isp just sitting there not being used. Could I take advantage of this by connecting it to its own firewall and having it then connect to the same switch that the other dsl and firewall are connected? Are there any problems with doing this with out some other configurations?

Mike

Reply to
Mike Bailey
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In article , Mike Bailey wrote: :We currently have one high-speed dsl coming in to our network. I have :another high-speed dsl line from a different isp just sitting there not :being used. Could I take advantage of this by connecting it to its own :firewall and having it then connect to the same switch that the other :dsl and firewall are connected? Are there any problems with doing this :with out some other configurations?

A configuration such as that could have -some- uses, but it isn't really the way you would approach load sharing or redundancy. In the configuration you propose, the second link would serve best as a dedicated link for specific destinations. For example, if you happen to do a lot of transfers with one particular reasonably compact set of sites (e.g., microsoft downloads + hotmail + microsoft instant messenger) then you could configure static routes on your hosts to offload that particular traffic via the second link. You wouldn't get much failover in the configuration you propose... though you -might- be able to get some failover using OSPF or similar routing protocols on the firewall [provided that your hosts are listening for dynamic routes.]

There are a number of variations on the theme: you can get different effects by configuring the links and firewalls in different arrangements. Vincent C. Jones wrote the book on such matters; his web site is worth looking at (and then buy his book, if you can find a copy.)

Reply to
Walter Roberson

well, i have a twist on Mike's question...

I have a router that allows me to do load balancing (Sonic Wall Pro

3060). So, Have two DSL lines that are being used from the same ISP. I'm wondering if there is any benefit in using two DSL lines since its shared bandwidth anyway.

Currently load balancing is set up to allow 50% of my traffic to be routed to to DSL one and 50% to go to DSL two...

Is this any better than my using one DSL line and routing 100% of the traffic through it?

thanks for any comments

Reply to
wirelessguy

It depends on how the load-balancing works:

If you are considered (from your workstation) as a single source, meaning no matter how many sessions you open to the net, you are considered as a single device, then you don't directly get more than one path out to the net.

If you are considered based on sessions, then you could have one HTTP session using DSL1 and another HTTP session using DSL2, and you would get good benefit of having 2 DSL lines with LB.

Now, you actually get benefit at all times, even in the case of example

1, since you are only sharing the DSL with half of your network users - means that you have a better chance of getting less blocking on anything you do.
Reply to
Leythos

So, even though both DSL lines are on the same shared line from the CO, then there is still benefit from having two lines?

Reply to
wirelessguy

If it really does load balancing, then yes, but not as much per user, but per office/company, if it's working properly.

In the case of some, a single users sessions will go through DSL 1 while another users sessions will be directed through DSL 2. In a case like that, User 1 gets full performance from DSL 1 while User 2 gets full performance from DSL 2. If you add User 3, and their session goes to DSL

1, then user 2 is not impacted, but User 1, while sharing the capacity, still has more benefit than if sharing with 3 users.
Reply to
Leythos

Sonicwalls do round robin, % based, or fail over load balancing on Sonic OS Enhanced (so you could even do it with the lowly TZ170).

Reply to
Mark

Yes, there is. Each DSL is entitled to a given share of the bandwidth from the CO. Even if the ISP horribly over-subscribes it, you get a second small slice.

With a properly provisioned ISP, you get double the bandwidth.

-Russ.

Reply to
Somebody.

You could easily do this. Then simply put a different default gateway on the machines that you want to use the second line. Regular client machines don't care which DSL they go out, just route them to whichever you like.

-Russ.

Reply to
Somebody.

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