[SASAG] Load Balancing Small Office

[Eric Kahklen]

Since we are running Exchange, I'd really like to keep everything on the
same subnet.  I wasn't thinking of aggregating the connections vs. just
routing email in and out of the T1 and all other Internet traffic through
the Cable/DSL modem if this make sense?

Thanks,
Eric
>
> There are some boxes out there that can do this, either commercial
> appliances or some Linux apps, but I would generally recommend separating
> the two Internet connections.
>
> Dedicate the T1 to your email server (and your voice service), and put all
> your users on a business class DSL or cable modem hook-up. There really
> isn't much of an advantage to having them aggregated, the mail server
> would not benefit from having a redundant connection for receiving mail,
> and because of reverse DNS checking it would likely not help much for
> sending mail either.
>
> A minor draw-back might be that users would have to connect to your mail
> server "via the Internet" for sending and receiving email, but that's not
> uncommon, and if you plan on using firewall rules in front of either or
> both, you can create special rules for that scenario.
>
> The minor benefit of having the T1 provide a backup connection in case the
> DSL or cable connection goes down is likely outweighed by having to
> purchase/maintain the "aggregator" (a router, really). For the few
> occasions where that may happen, you could simply move the office uplink
> back to the T1 for the time being. Much less hassle :-)
>
>  	-Daniel
>
> Daniel Schwalbe, CISSP
> Senior Principal, IT Security
> Doktor PC - "Remedies for your Computer"
> http://www.doktorpc.com
> http://www.linkedin.com/in/schwalbe
>
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>
> On Mon, 16 Jun 2008, Eric Kahklen wrote:
>
>> We currently have a T1 that is split between phone and data service.
>> Unfortunately I cannot increase the speed of the data side unless we get
>> an additional T1.  We currently host our own email server so I need a
>> reliable and stable Internet connection.  The main need for a speed
>> increase is because we now use a hosted application that requires many
>> of
>> my 30 users in the main office to be connected to the application all
>> day.
>> I was wondering if there is an affordable appliance or solution using
>> Linux that could allow me to add a business class cable or DSL modem for
>> general Internet use while keeping the T1 dedicated for email.  Or is
>> this
>> generally not a good design?  I'd appreciate any other ideas or
>> comments.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>>
>> --
>> Eric Kahklen
>> Lynnwood, WA
>> 206-595-2934
>>
>>
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>


-- 
Eric Kahklen
Lynnwood, WA
206-595-2934
www.kahklen.com