ayottey
asked on
Ratio of ISDN Connections
We need to set up ISDN connections from the main office to multiple branches. The main office will have fewer ISDN connections than the number of branches. This is because branches do not need constant connections.
Each branch will be able to dial up, go through a hunt group at the phone company, and connect to the main office router via ISDN.
How can I determine the optimal ratio of ISDN lines at the branches to ISDN lines at the main office?
Each branch will be able to dial up, go through a hunt group at the phone company, and connect to the main office router via ISDN.
How can I determine the optimal ratio of ISDN lines at the branches to ISDN lines at the main office?
a,
I don't think going with the metered isdn service is good solution
Go with a full time dsl connection in the main office and a dial up connection in the remote offices. You can then go with any number of vpn solutions to connect the sites, or you can simply map a drive. There are also dial up dsl connections available.
Good Luck!
I don't think going with the metered isdn service is good solution
Go with a full time dsl connection in the main office and a dial up connection in the remote offices. You can then go with any number of vpn solutions to connect the sites, or you can simply map a drive. There are also dial up dsl connections available.
Good Luck!
a,
I don't think going with the metered isdn service is good solution
Go with a full time dsl connection in the main office and a dial up connection in the remote offices. You can then go with any number of vpn solutions to connect the sites, or you can simply map a drive. There are also dial up dsl connections available.
Good Luck!
I don't think going with the metered isdn service is good solution
Go with a full time dsl connection in the main office and a dial up connection in the remote offices. You can then go with any number of vpn solutions to connect the sites, or you can simply map a drive. There are also dial up dsl connections available.
Good Luck!
Your ratio will depend on many variables. Are all branches in the same time zone? What is the estimated duration of connection for each branch? How often will they connect?
You will probably have to go with intuition for your answers. In my situation, I have a 12:1 (branch:main)ratio, and sometimes the remote sites have to wait for a line to free up.
Hope this helps.
You will probably have to go with intuition for your answers. In my situation, I have a 12:1 (branch:main)ratio, and sometimes the remote sites have to wait for a line to free up.
Hope this helps.
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Scriag,
I understand your point and it is valid overall, however, I say this from personal experience as I have used ISDN in the past. In a cost analysis of the simple meter charge, not the lease cost, v/s the cost of DSL, DSL comes out the winner every time. This in conjunction the greater line speed of DSL makes DSL the clear choice.
In fact, in my analysis, ISDN was 3 times more costly overall than DSL.
As long as Avoitty chose a DSL provider that owned their lines rather than leased the lines, the likely hood of the provider going out of business is slight, especially now with the holes left in the industry.
I'm sure Avoitty will find out the hard way, once one person does not shutdown their connection, and he receives a $1200+ phone bill for that month, that DSL may not have the correct choice.
While limiting the access time for such connections is an answer, this solution only inhibits productive employees as they will no longer be able to do much of their jobs after hours, which, of course, will only lead to missed deadlines.
Given the context of the question, it is clear that Avoitty is something of a novice in this area, and deserves all the information he can get.
I do not make such comments lightly.
Anyway
Peace
I understand your point and it is valid overall, however, I say this from personal experience as I have used ISDN in the past. In a cost analysis of the simple meter charge, not the lease cost, v/s the cost of DSL, DSL comes out the winner every time. This in conjunction the greater line speed of DSL makes DSL the clear choice.
In fact, in my analysis, ISDN was 3 times more costly overall than DSL.
As long as Avoitty chose a DSL provider that owned their lines rather than leased the lines, the likely hood of the provider going out of business is slight, especially now with the holes left in the industry.
I'm sure Avoitty will find out the hard way, once one person does not shutdown their connection, and he receives a $1200+ phone bill for that month, that DSL may not have the correct choice.
While limiting the access time for such connections is an answer, this solution only inhibits productive employees as they will no longer be able to do much of their jobs after hours, which, of course, will only lead to missed deadlines.
Given the context of the question, it is clear that Avoitty is something of a novice in this area, and deserves all the information he can get.
I do not make such comments lightly.
Anyway
Peace
Hmmm, so basically what you're telling me is that regardless of the situation, cost is the only factor. Therefore, it doesn't matter where he lives or the availability of DSL. It doesn't matter what protocols need to go over the lines, or the nature of those protocols. It doesn't matter what his experience level is for implementing a truly secure VPN is. As long as its cheap, it doesn't matter.
So if none of that matters, why does ISDN exist? Why do people buy Frame or leased lines smaller than the maximum available DSL line? Why are DSL providers going out of business daily?
ISDN may be more expensive in his scenario, but that may not be the driving factor. I have used both extensively, and can tell you that DSL has a number of short-comings even when it is available. For example, for web based protocols its great, but have fun with anything latency sensitive such as terminal server traffic - and when it goes down, those 24 hour SLAs are really comforting. However, it is cheap so you don't care.
I am not saying that ISDN doesn't have problems - and you mention some good points. But having a one size fits all mentality doesn't constitute good advice. You confirmed my very point - that you told him what he should do while knowing nothing about his situation. Would you be telling him the same thing if he told you he was in Singapore? Heck, I live in the Midwest where it was originally installed and can't get it to my house because I'm too far from the CO - and I'm only 20 miles from downtown.
One last thing - you mention that ayottey is a novice in this area. Now what are you basing that on? Last I checked, he didn't even ask for recommendations on topology. He asked a provisioning question on the topology he has chosen and it seemed like an intelligent enough question to me.
Anyway, its a free board - you can say what you want and let whoever judge for themselves. I'm certainly not the watchdog for this site.
So if none of that matters, why does ISDN exist? Why do people buy Frame or leased lines smaller than the maximum available DSL line? Why are DSL providers going out of business daily?
ISDN may be more expensive in his scenario, but that may not be the driving factor. I have used both extensively, and can tell you that DSL has a number of short-comings even when it is available. For example, for web based protocols its great, but have fun with anything latency sensitive such as terminal server traffic - and when it goes down, those 24 hour SLAs are really comforting. However, it is cheap so you don't care.
I am not saying that ISDN doesn't have problems - and you mention some good points. But having a one size fits all mentality doesn't constitute good advice. You confirmed my very point - that you told him what he should do while knowing nothing about his situation. Would you be telling him the same thing if he told you he was in Singapore? Heck, I live in the Midwest where it was originally installed and can't get it to my house because I'm too far from the CO - and I'm only 20 miles from downtown.
One last thing - you mention that ayottey is a novice in this area. Now what are you basing that on? Last I checked, he didn't even ask for recommendations on topology. He asked a provisioning question on the topology he has chosen and it seemed like an intelligent enough question to me.
Anyway, its a free board - you can say what you want and let whoever judge for themselves. I'm certainly not the watchdog for this site.
scraig
if in reading the question you cant understand why i recomeneded such a solution, then perhaps you should break your soap box.
if in reading the question you cant understand why i recomeneded such a solution, then perhaps you should break your soap box.
Trial and error will be your best frinds here.
If you have any networking in place, start using a network monitor to gather statistics.
If this is fresh, then start with 1 , 128 K line for every 10 people, unless you are doing high volume traffic, video or other net intensive tasks.
I hope this helps !