[olug] dynamic routing for small business

[Brian Roberson]

My short take on the thread: arcane != archaic

http://www.webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?va=archaic 
http://www.webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?va=arcane

dynamic routing is not archaic, it is arcane however.... if I
interpreted that word correctly ;-) 

my 2 cents on DRP's in small networks: it is simply overkill and not
needed.



On Fri, 2003-07-25 at 15:37, Nick Walter wrote:
> I'm going to respectfully disagree on the complexity of dynamic
> routing.  Routing (static and dynamic) is an arcane topic from the
> viewpoint of a small business.  While I'm sure very many of the people
> on this list consider it an approachable and interesting topic, the
> average small business doesn't have that level of staff talent on hand. 
> I've dealt with lots of admins, even ones at large companies, that get
> confused dealing with static routing situations.  While it's possible a
> mediocre admin could follow a HOWTO guide and get zebra up and running,
> they would be left with a setup they didn't 100% understand.  And that
> spells disaster the first time the setup fails and needs quick
> troubleshooting.  I'm not trying to discourage anyone from learning
> about this stuff, I'm just saying from a practical standpoint it should
> be avoided unless one really knows what one is doing.  Otherwise it just
> adds a complexity factor that makes extended network outages more
> likely.
> 
> I do stand corrected on my "spendy hardware" reference.  I've never
> bothered to try it on a Linux-based router, I always leave those kind of
> tasks to the  Cisco equipment.  And that stuff is spendy ;-)
> 
> Nick Walter
> 
> 
> On Fri, 2003-07-25 at 14:21, Matthew G. Marsh wrote:
> > On Fri, 25 Jul 2003, Eric Penne wrote:
> > 
> > Well - I was going to stay out of this one ... buuuut...
> > 
> > > If it is so arcane then what is it's replacement?
> > 
> > It is not arcane nor does it require $$s.
> > 
> > http://www.policyrouting.org/PolicyRoutingBook/ONLINE/TOC.html
> > 
> > and check out Chapter 7. There is some information on getting simple
> > RIP/OSPF going. Also see both the Zebra and Bird projects along with the
> > venerable gated.
> > 
> > There are several scenarios where dynroutes are useful. Most notably when
> > running a real VPN (consider that 2.6 wil have a fully policy routing
> > compliant IPSec implementation). Also when monitoring link status. Many
> > routing daemons notice link flaps very quickly and can send SNMPv3 traps.
> > 
> > > > A small business with only one link to the internet does not need to
> > > > muck around with dynamic routing.  This is a good thing, because dynamic
> > > > routing is arcane, requires spendy hardware, and is easy to screw up.
> > > >
> > > > The only time a business needs to start worrying about dynamic routing
> > > > is when they have multiple links to the internet.  In that case, dynamic
> > > > routing becomes a necessity to have traffic re-routed around if one link
> > > > fails.
> > > >
> > > > Nick Walter
> > > >
> > > > On Fri, 2003-07-25 at 11:33, Eric Penne wrote:
> > > >> I was curious about what dynamic routing was.  I did a little googling
> > > >> and found out what some of the acronyms I had seen in the past couple
> > > >> of years meant.
> > > >>
> > > >> What I never did find is when is it useful.  I know it is useful for
> > > >> large companies with lots of sites and network connections and stuff
> > > >> but what about small single connection places?  Is it useful to build
> > > >> a router with dynamic routing if you just have a single t1?  Does
> > > >> dynamic routing help you and others to determine the best path for
> > > >> packets?  Will running a router with dynamic routing help anybody else
> > > >> if you don't actively participate?  These are quite being worded the
> > > >> way I want them to.
> > > >>
> > > >> Ok here it goes again.  I assume to use dynamic routing effectively
> > > >> you have to collaborate with other routers to find the best path.  If
> > > >> I were to just set up a router on my t1 without actively collaborating
> > > >> with my isp or next step up the chain, would it help anything?
> > > >>
> > > >> Eric
> > > >>
> > > >>
> > > >>
> > > >> _______________________________________________
> > > >> OLUG mailing list
> > > >> OLUG at olug.org
> > > >> http://lists.olug.org/mailman/listinfo/olug
> > > >>
> > > >
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > OLUG mailing list
> > > > OLUG at olug.org
> > > > http://lists.olug.org/mailman/listinfo/olug
> > >
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > OLUG mailing list
> > > OLUG at olug.org
> > > http://lists.olug.org/mailman/listinfo/olug
> > >
> > 
> > --------------------------------------------------
> > Matthew G. Marsh,  President
> > Paktronix Systems LLC
> > 1506 North 59th Street
> > Omaha  NE  68104
> > Phone: (402) 553-2288
> > Email: mgm at midwestlinux.com
> > WWW:  http://www.midwestlinux.com
> > --------------------------------------------------
> > _______________________________________________
> > OLUG mailing list
> > OLUG at olug.org
> > http://lists.olug.org/mailman/listinfo/olug
> > 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> OLUG mailing list
> OLUG at olug.org
> http://lists.olug.org/mailman/listinfo/olug
-- 
Brian Roberson <roberson at olug.org>