Wesley Setree <[log in to unmask]> writes, in what should really be an
on-topic post:

> I am facing this very issue. My manager wants to consolidate but I still
feel
> it's not a wise decision. We don't know when or if the N4000 550/4way will
> provide the amount of processing speed we will need to accommodate our end
> users. Terry, have you had situations when the T-1 or whatever WAN
connection
> being used went down? We are constantly losing a connection somewhere in
the US
> to one of our plants. We are also in the process of installing dual lines
for
> redundancy (but what do you do when someone hits the telephone pole
holding both
> lines?). If we lose our WAN connection the plant can still use the system
since
> it's local, but they would be hosed if they couldn't enter data on a
central
> machine.

We have three plants in two states connected via frame relay to the central
computer here.  What we did for redundancy was to install two circuits here
in Garrettsville.  One is a T1 and the other is a 56K leased line.
Supposedly these two lines are "diverse-routed" to our carrier's POP.  I say
supposedly because it's hard to prove that they are or not.  Plus there's
always the problem of non-diverse-routes from our computer room to the local
telco central office (about a mile of cable) that are subject to the
car-hitting-the-pole or the backhoe-ripping-up-wires scenarios.
Additionally, we have our router set up to montior the T1 circuit and, if it
fails, to switch to the 56K circuit.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it
don't.  I haven't the intestinal fortitude to walk into the computer room
and unplug the T1 circuit to see what happens (gee, I like regular
paychecks).

At the two remote sites we were told by our carrier and the local telco that
redundant circuits were just plain not available!  However, the one site is
connected to a fiber ring that is supposed to provide "natural" redundancy
(because if a break occurs in the ring, you can still reach the POP from one
end or the other).

The upshot of the whole thing is to have a carrier you can rely on.  Plus if
your budget allows it, look into satellite connectivity or some other method
of redundancy that takes the carrier out of the equation, or get duplicate
circuits from different carriers.  The second option doesn't help here since
we do not have competition for local telephone service, so every route
(regardless of carrier) has to go through the same central office.

Jim Phillips                           Information Systems Manager
Email: [log in to unmask]     Therm-O-Link, Inc.
Phone: 330-527-2124                         P. O. Box 285
Fax:   330-527-2123                           10513 Freedom Street
Web:   http://www.tolwire.com          Garrettsville, OH  44231

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