[olug] dynamic routing for small business

Sat Jul 26 13:56:50 UTC 2003

Very weird thing happened yesterday.  Friday morning I asked about the
dynamic routing.  Friday afternoon I went out to my favorite small
business that uses 1 cisco 2600 connected to a 10Mb ethernet to fiber
converter.  We didn't know who owned/configured the router.  We didn't
know who originally set it up and what the password was.  Our local Cisco
guy (teaches the Cisco classes for SCC) came in and changed the password
for us and made sure it was all configured correctly.  Out of nowhere he
says, "why do they have this router set up with RIP?"

> 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
>> > > >>
>> > > >>
>> > > >>
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>> >
>> > --------------------------------------------------
>> > 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
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> --
> Brian Roberson <roberson at olug.org>
>
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