Re: [smartBridges] Looking for some advice.

Paul Clark Thu, 02 Oct 2003 21:22:54 -0700

Not a problem Tom if your days are anywhere near as long as mine at the moment I can understand why you might have been in a bad mood. Who would start up their own company? If anyone told me how much work and hair tearing out I would have to do to get anything done I wonder if I would have ever started down this road. But hey at least I am my own boss and all my profits will go into my own pocket and not someone else's.

Paul Clark
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On 3 Oct 2003, at 05:03, Tom Haynes wrote:

Sorry Paul, I was in a bad mood when I started writing my reply. I was
debating even hitting the send button when my finger twitched and sent
it anyways. I did not intend to demean your intelligence or skill. By
the time I reached part 3 I had completely forgot why I was writing the
email to begin with. Please accept my apologies. My sole intent is to
help where I can and learn when I can't.

Sincerely,
Tom Haynes

-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Paul Clark
Sent: Thursday, October 02, 2003 9:49 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [smartBridges] Looking for some advice.

1. Entirely bridged network:
        Your current configuration allows any one customer to bring down
your whole network. Consider changing the switches to routers at sites

4
and 5. By creating logical segments (subnets) in your network, you
limit
the effects of broadcasts and packet storms.


This is indeed a very good point and something that I was considering,
as always one must balance the costs. At the moment I have no live
customers and am very much in a development and soak testing phase and
as such have to keep the costs down. I am developing a bespoke router
for use in this type of location and have been carrying out testing
using switches more as a proof of concept as opposed to anything else.

2. Internet and Customers on same side of Main Router:
        Having two internet feeds and most of your customers on the same
AP can have serious consequences. This setup hinders proper bandwidth
management, reliability and security. Consider using 3 or 4 APs

instead

of two at your NOC. Use the site 3 APPO to feed site 4 then add

another

AP as a backhaul for site 1 and 2. Connect all units to the Mikrotik
router so that all of your customers must pass through the router.


Again I have no live customers and as such this is really a cost
reduction measure to prove the viability of the links. I had intended
to have as you suggest 3 APs at the NOC before any customers are
connected to the network.

3. Asking for help and asking for advice:
<soap box>
        At the risk of sounding too harsh, don't ask a peer group such
general questions as "What do I do now?" if you can avoid it. Of
course,
we are here to help, but you should not build your network based off

of

our advice. The best way to build a solid, scaleable network
infrastructure is to study the technologies and research you options.
When you can ask questions like "I would like to segment my network

and

have decided to use a routed infrastructure, what are some options too
look at that will also allow BW management and usage tracking?" then

we

know your are really trying.
</soap box>


This was most definitely not a general question as you suggest but
merely a concluding comment after my questions inviting anyone that may
have any advice on the questions that I asked to respond.  Quote: "Any
help and advice would be most welcome, I would love to avoid making any
mistakes that I will regret as my customer base grows." hardly
qualifies as a question and I do not believe that my other questions
could be grouped together in the same category as "What do I do now?".
I totally agree with your comments that people should not ask such
general questions and act solely upon the advice of others but feel it
is unwarranted for you to adopt a soap box position with no tangible
grounds for such comments.

I have no intention of building my network based solely on others
advice but intend to utilize my own knowledge and expertise. I have a
very clear idea of exactly what I want to achieve and indeed how I
intend to achieve it. I fully intend to segment my network and to
implement bandwidth management, usage tracking, and various monitoring
and security systems that I will require to serve some of my customer
base that have such concerns, and already have these solutions under
development and testing in my lab environment prior to real world
deployment.

I have found from experience it is often useful to ask one's peer group
questions in which you do not divulge your proposed solution in order
not to influence the answer in any way. As such the answers will then
either confirm your original plan as being not far off the mark or
alternatively identify a possible alternative that may or may not be a
better solution that may not have been considered and needs further
investigation. I would site your first two concerns as being a case in
point for this. You have confirmed in your replies that the options
that I have been considering in both cases are indeed worth doing and
in the absence of any further replies to the contrary would appear to
be the way to proceed so after further investigation and testing my
original plan will stand.

My principle questions however remain unanswered:

Is their any advantage to putting the backbone nodes into access point

client bridge mode as opposed to wireless bridge mode?


What should the throughput be in KBytes between nodes assuming clear
LOS, good RSSI/Link Qual etc? I am fairly sure that I am not getting
the throughput that I should be and wanted to get some opinions.

What Linux based radius server would you guys recommend for use with
the Mikrotik box and PPPoE? I was thinking freeradius but would be
interested in any opinions from people that have done this before.

I would appreciate comments based on others experiences specifically
with smartbridges equipment. This is the smartbridges mailing list
after all. :-)

Paul Clark
_________________
UFCnet
(+44) 07776 203768
(+44) 01436 679988
http://www.ufcnet.co.uk


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Re: [smartBridges] Looking for some advice.

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