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NOV-ISDN.DOC -- 19970114 -- Email thread on NetWare across ISDN lines
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Date: Mon, 22 Jan 1996 15:41:22 +0000
From: Richard Letts <R.J.Letts@SALFORD.AC.UK>
Subject: Re: Remote sites

>I am looking for some advice on the following problem :-
>We have a large multiserver Netware 3.12 novell LAN which consists of
>several network servers on a backbone with routers separating the servers.
>We have one site connected via a Kilostream leased line with a network
>terminating unit and a router at each end, this functions very well.
>
>We are in the process of setting up a number of geographically remote sites
>with netware servers and I have been told that it is possible to connect
>these to the main network using ISDN dialup adaptors and I am a little
>apprehensive about what effect this would have on the main network when the
>remote networks are connected and disconnected perhaps several hundred times
>a day. This means that the router tables in every server would be updated
>each time a remote network was connected or disconnected.
>
>I would welcome any observations or comments regarding effects that the
>above would have on the network.

Most of the ISDN products I have seen permit 'spoofing' of SAP, RIP, NLSP, and
watchdog packets by the routers. this means that the networks and servers
won't come and go, but will appear to be permentantly connected to the
network. However the spoofing will cause the link to be dropped when there is
no 'real' traffic passing down it.

One feature you may want to look out for is knowledge of the charging 'tick'
where the router realises that you've just paid for 60 seconds of connect
time, so it may as well leave the link up for the next 55 seconds, even if it
would drop the link because of no traffic.

The cisco products have some nice features (not the one above alas) such as
snapshot-routing which reduces the bandwidth taken by routing updates.

You might need to emply a telecoms analyst for a day or two to look at the
design: it may be cheaper to call one of the sites with a leased-line rather
than call all the way back to the central site. ISDN is charged at the same
rate as telephone calls, so you may be talking about the difference between
local and national rates here. (a local call being one within, or between
adjacent charging areas, which can be VERY LARGE geographically, it isn't
precisely what is printed in the telephone directory. though what is listed as
a local call is correct, the 56km 'rule' isn't.)

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Date: Tue, 14 Jan 1997 21:07:07 -0600
From: Darwin Collins <dcollins@fastlane.net>
To: netw4-l@bgu.edu
Subject: Re: Recommend a good ISDN book?

>Can anyone recommend a good book on connecting a Netware 4.11 network to
>the Internet using an ISDN line.  Basically what I'm lokking for is just
>the basics. We'll hire a company to come in a configure everything, but I
>need to know what they are doing ("talk the talk" basically).

There was some 'Novell Application Notes' specifically about 4.x and
ISDN.  I believe, they were published last summary.

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