u might need to consider a radius server and map routes to the usernames -----Original Message----- From: Chuck Larrieu [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2001 10:29 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: I have a customer who... food for thought - static routes [7:17819] I have a customer who... don't you love it when a post begins with those words? In my case, I am hoping this can serve as food for thought, a springboard for discussion. So here goes.... My customer is a high tech firm whose name you would all recognize, if I were to exhibit ill manners by revealing it. My project ( well, I'm just the junior assistant engineer ) is to develop and proof configurations for a private remote access network. DSL at the home, ATM at the central site. Not a VPN. This circuit does not touch the internet. In any case, the client is expecting 500-1000 home users on this network. Here's the kicker. the client refuses to allow routing protocols on either the home user routers ( Cisco 827's ) or the central site router ( Cisco 7206 ) That means how many static routes at the host site? :-0 Food for thought - what are some of the reasons the customer might not want a routing protocol of any kind on this network? When discussing with the customer engineer in charge of this project, I was given a couple of reasons, and upon hearing them I saw the point and agreed the concerns were valid. BTW, the point was not that the customer hates me and wants me to spend the next three weeks typing in static routes. Nor is it that the customer does not "get it". It is not a matter of good or bad design. So, in light of the old saw that static routes are not scalable, and should be avoided, what might be some reasons that a designer would demand a network of this size and relative complexity, with users being added, subtracted, and relocated, thus creating long term employment for the router administrator, be composed entirely of static routes? What are the plusses? What is the downside? Your analyses, please. Chuck P.S. I think I'm going to try again. Maybe On Demand Routing would solve my problem and the customer's. Oops, that's right. The major component of ODR is not allowed on this network either. ( hint ) Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=17824&t=17824 -------------------------------------------------- FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]