Solved: What equipment is needed?

TheJustMe · ‎02-20-2012

We have a small office setup and we are on a low budget. We are tring to figure out how to get the most for our money. We have a block of ip's from our co-location sight. Currently the cisco/linksys router is handleing our VPN and web services but it is only capable of taking one ip from the block of ip's and have the ports like 80/443 forwarded to the right ip. With multiple web servers being set up, we are considering a switch from the co-locations ethernet cable to multiple routers that then attach to the differnt servers allowing us the access we need. This will get costly having to add a router in behind each server instead of just one piece of equipment that can handle it.

As programmers none of us are great at networking, but are looking for a router that can handle multiple external ips that can be routed to the appropriate internal ips. It also must have vpn capabilities to keep our networks connected.

So the first question: Is there a low budget piece of equipment that is capable of handleing this?

and the second: Is there any good tutorials that can aid in using the equipment?

jas2061461 · ‎02-21-2012

First, on this website you'll see lots of bias towards Cisco brand. A CCIE consultant I know recommends product ranges from Netgear and up.

But, some of the best budget Cisco routers w/ VPN and multiple NAT translating abilities are the Cisco 800 series routers. They are fairly cheap and extremely relaible. The only downside is that they are not very scalable.

I would definitely recommend finding a consult to discuss your options, especially if you are serious about your company. They will determine what you need to be scalable, cost effective, and efficient, depending on the users you have and are expecting. Good luck!

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Leo Laohoo · ‎02-20-2012

What is the size of your WAN link?

simionov.adrian · ‎02-21-2012

I implemented some time ago for a small ISP a Linux solution, with quagga. Was able to handle more than 2 Gigs of traffic with a 1000Euro server.

I used refurbished Cisco for the switches only. I do not think you will need more than one 3560G, all the rest can be 2950. Really low budged I'm talking about.

The_guroo_2 · ‎02-21-2012

I would go for Cisco 2801

Leo Laohoo · ‎02-21-2012

Your WAN link is 2 Gbps???

simionov.adrian · ‎02-21-2012

Why should I need something like that?

"... some time ago for a small ISP a Linux solution ..."

jas2061461 · ‎02-21-2012

First, on this website you'll see lots of bias towards Cisco brand. A CCIE consultant I know recommends product ranges from Netgear and up.

But, some of the best budget Cisco routers w/ VPN and multiple NAT translating abilities are the Cisco 800 series routers. They are fairly cheap and extremely relaible. The only downside is that they are not very scalable.

I would definitely recommend finding a consult to discuss your options, especially if you are serious about your company. They will determine what you need to be scalable, cost effective, and efficient, depending on the users you have and are expecting. Good luck!

TheJustMe · ‎02-22-2012

I am only doing 10up and 10 down, its small amounts of traffic. Thank you for the responses, I will research some of the options.

I should also mention while linux could be a viable solution, I am not in the position to decide on linux. The ones who do, have told me no using linux so some equipment like this to interface with windows servers is needed.

MyriadSupplyKyle · ‎02-21-2012

If you have a low budget I think I can help you. My company can get around 40-65% off new items and 70-90% off pre-owned. Check out our website, www.myriadsupply.com. We also do rentals, so maybe you would be interested in that instead.