Multi-link Frame Relay OR Load Balancing

Mike Walter mwalter at 3z.net
Fri Sep 17 18:47:19 UTC 2004


I am using MLFR with MCI currently.  I have a Cisco 7204 VXR and it
works like a champ.  I have had times where one T1 circuit was down and
I had no problems besides seeing the bandwidth utilization change.  When
it came up everything went back to normal.  I am looking into an
Ethernet Handoff due to cost savings, however MCI does not offer that in
Cincinnati, but that is a completely different story.  My T1's terminate
into ATL and I am seeing great responses.

Mike Walter, MCP
PCD Network Solutions, Inc.
3z.net a PCD Company
<http://www.3z.net>


-----Original Message-----
From: Peering [mailto:Peering at xspedius.com] 
Sent: Friday, September 17, 2004 11:13 AM
To: Scott McGrath; Bryce Enevoldson
Cc: nanog at merit.edu
Subject: RE: Multi-link Frame Relay OR Load Balancing



Depending on your area, DS3 isn't necessarily cheaper than 8 T1s.  I
know in some markets, I have to buy 16 T1s from Bell before it matches
their DS3 cost.  It just depends on the tariffs.

I've never used MLF before, just MLPPP, but in my experience, MLPPP
works for my customers better than load-sharing.  The only problems I've
seen, and I'm working one this morning, is that Cisco has its usual bug
issues.  I had one customer on 12.3(6) and there's about 19 known bugs
between 12.3(6) and MLPPP, a lot of which aren't resolved yet.  One even
made you reboot if you added or deleted a T1 from the bundle or the
MLPPP bundle wouldn't come back up.

Diane Turley
Network Engineer
Xspedius Communications Co.
636-625-7178


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-nanog at merit.edu [mailto:owner-nanog at merit.edu] On Behalf Of
Scott McGrath
Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2004 8:12 PM
To: Bryce Enevoldson
Cc: nanog at merit.edu
Subject: Re: Multi-link Frame Relay OR Load Balancing




In my experience the breakeven point for a Frame Relay DS3 is 6 DS1
circuits.   DS3's tend to be more reliable than DS1's as the ILEC
usually
installs a MUX at your site instead of running to the nearest channel
bank and running the T1's over copper with a few repeaters thrown in for
good measure.

Another nice thing about DS3's is that it is easy to scale bandwidth in
the future by modifying the CIR on your link.   Another feature is that
since the link is faster the serialization delay is lower which will
give you better latency and last but not least PA3+ for Cisco 7[2|5]xx
routers are inexpensive and give you one call for service not a separate
call for the CSU/DSU's and the serial line card you need to support a
multilink solution.


                            Scott C. McGrath

On Thu, 16 Sep 2004, Bryce Enevoldson wrote:

>
> We are in the process of updating our internet connection to 8 t1's 
> bound together.  Due to price, our options have been narrowed to AT&T 
> and MCI. I have two questions: 1.  Which technology is better for 
> binding t1's:  multi link frame relay
> (mci's) or load balancing (att's)
> 2.  Which company has a better pop in Atlanta: mci or att?
>
> We are in the Chattanooga TN area and our current connection is 6 t1's

> through att but they will only bond 4 so they are split 4 and 2.
>
> Bryce Enevoldson
> Information Processing
> Southern Adventist University
>
>
>



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