[OPLINTECH] Load balance free Road Runner?

Philip Robinette robineph@oplin.org
Thu, 7 Apr 2005 13:16:49 -0400


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Greetings,

Our local Time Warner Cable divisions have generously provided free =
modems and residential Road Runner high speed Internet service to our =
main library and one branch.  (They did not come to us, but readily =
installed it when we formally asked).  A panel at the last Stakeholders =
Meetings covered the use of commercial broadband and VPN tunnels from =
branches to main libraries and catalogs.  Wes Osborn also mentioned =
using a Checkpoint firewall to load balance his main library's T1 and =
business-class Road Runner.  Is any one else doing this for redundancy =
and increased bandwidth?  Does anyone have DAS load balance another ISP =
on the main library router (if that's possible)?

Can anyone recommend any of the new cheap dual WAN hardware that is =
becoming available, to either supplement or replace our single WAN port =
firewall?  A brief survey shows everything from a Hawking router for $55 =
to enterprise-class load balancers from Radware and F5 for many =
thousands.  We need to route some traffic to OARnet for IP =
authentication, a capability the cheaper devices lack.  Policy-based NAT =
and antivirus scanning would also be nice.  But our current budget =
probably limits us to the low $1000 range.  Does anyone have experience =
with Netgear, D-Link, Xincom, Hotbrick, or others?

Alternatively, we could use Road Runner for a completely separate =
network, for a wireless hotspot perhaps.  But that seems like a waste of =
bandwidth, albeit free.

Thank you for any thoughts,

Philip Robinette
Franklin Public Library


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<DIV><FONT size=3D2>Greetings,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>Our local Time Warner Cable divisions=20
have&nbsp;generously&nbsp;provided&nbsp;free modems and residential Road =
Runner=20
high speed Internet service to our main library and one branch.&nbsp; =
(They did=20
not come to us, but readily installed it when we formally asked).&nbsp; =
A panel=20
at the last Stakeholders Meetings covered the use of commercial =
broadband and=20
VPN tunnels from branches to&nbsp;main libraries and catalogs.&nbsp; Wes =
Osborn=20
also mentioned using a Checkpoint firewall to load balance his main =
library's T1=20
and business-class Road Runner.&nbsp; Is any one else doing this for =
redundancy=20
and&nbsp;increased bandwidth?&nbsp; Does anyone have DAS load balance =
another=20
ISP on the main library router (if that's possible)?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>Can anyone recommend any of the new cheap dual WAN =
hardware=20
that is becoming available, to either supplement or replace our single =
WAN port=20
firewall?&nbsp; A brief survey shows everything from&nbsp;a Hawking =
router for=20
$55 to enterprise-class load balancers from Radware and F5 for many=20
thousands.&nbsp; We need to route some traffic to OARnet for IP =
authentication,=20
a capability the cheaper devices lack.&nbsp; Policy-based NAT and =
antivirus=20
scanning would also be nice.&nbsp; But our current budget probably =
limits us to=20
the low $1000 range.&nbsp; Does anyone have experience with Netgear, =
D-Link,=20
Xincom, Hotbrick, or others?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>Alternatively, we could use Road Runner for a =
completely=20
separate network, for a wireless hotspot perhaps.&nbsp; But that seems =
like a=20
waste of bandwidth, albeit free.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>Thank you for any thoughts,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>Philip Robinette</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>Franklin Public Library</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV></BODY></HTML>

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