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two 2811s or 2811 with an addition HWIC?

tabiv
Level 1
Level 1

Hi all,

I am looking for someone's input on which is better. I am adding another ISP (and plan to use BGP). I am looking at having two 2811's with one connected to each ISP, or a single 2811 (with an additional HWIC) connected to both ISPs. I am not sure if there is a best practices or an ideal configuration for this.

Currently I have:

ASA5510 ---> 2811 ---> ISP_A

Should I purchase another 2811 for ISP_B and connect it to an available port on the ASA? Or should I just purchase a HWIC-1FE and add ISP_B to the existing router?

I see some advantages to both, but not sure the best way to go. Of course, I could be looking at this wrong and if I plan on buying another router then maybe I should use HSRP and both routers should connect to both ISPs. Though that might be out of my budget right now and something I could do later, plus it starts me thinking of other issues and questions.

Anyone thoughts or input would be appreciated. 

Thanks,

Ted

1 Accepted Solution

Accepted Solutions

Reza Sharifi
Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame

Hi Ted,

If you go with one router connecting to 2 different providers, and if that router fails, you loose both ISPs.  So, 2 routers each connecting to a different provider gives you the redundancy you need.  You would also need to run IBGP between your 2811 router. One router would act as the primary and the other one as a backup.  if the primary fails the backup router will take over and start forwarding packets.

Have a look at this doc for more info and config examples:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk365/technologies_configuration_example09186a00800945bf.shtml#conf3

HTH

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2 Replies 2

Reza Sharifi
Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame

Hi Ted,

If you go with one router connecting to 2 different providers, and if that router fails, you loose both ISPs.  So, 2 routers each connecting to a different provider gives you the redundancy you need.  You would also need to run IBGP between your 2811 router. One router would act as the primary and the other one as a backup.  if the primary fails the backup router will take over and start forwarding packets.

Have a look at this doc for more info and config examples:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk365/technologies_configuration_example09186a00800945bf.shtml#conf3

HTH

Reza,

Thanks for the info. I was leaning that direction, but I just didnt know if there was an advantage to to having just one router. Plus, I have a few single points of failure right now, including the ASA.

I spoke with an engineer at our ISP today who actually recommended 1 router for easier config of BGP and I could then later add HSRP or VRRP to get the redundancy. However, I am going to go with the 2 routers.

I think my initial plan will be to just get the 2 routers up and running with the 2 ISPs to get outbound redundancy and then go through the process of getting BGP configured afterwards. Fewer spinning plates this way (this is all happpen with the new phone system).

I started reading that article you linked and that will be very helpful. Exactly the info I needed.

Thanks!

Ted

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