chris@uswmrg2.UUCP (Chris Fedde) (09/11/90)
I am exploring the use of cisco routers on a network which includes
both x25 and ethernet (ethertalk, TCP/IP, Novell.) What I am
wondering is what is the most efficient routing method for this kind
of network? X.25 or tcp/ip? Below is a simplified example for the
proposed network. Notice that all serial links are between ciscos.
branch office
+-------+
[x25 PAD]--+ cisco +----serial------- [other data centers]
+--+----+ \ |
| \ |
<--o-------o------o---> \ |
| | \ +--+----+ data center
+--+---+ +--+---+ ---------+ | +--+---+
|tcp/ip| |term | -------------+ cisco +--+ X.25 |
|host | |server| / +--+----+ | host |
+------+ +------+ / | +------+
/ <--o-------o------o--------o--->
branch office / | | |
+-------+ / +--+---+ +--+---+ +--+---+
[x25 PAD]--+ cisco +----serial--/ |tcp/ip| |tcp/ip| |term |
+--+----+ |host | |host | |server|
| +------+ +------+ +------+
<--o-------o------o--->
| |
+--+---+ +--+---+
|tcp/ip| |term |
|host | |server|
+------+ +------+
--
Anything I may say here are my own opinions; not those of my employer
Chris Fedde uswmrg2!chris@uswat.uswest.com | ...boulder!uswat!uswmrg2!chris
US West Marketing Resources Group (303)369-2823 voice (303)659-8358 FAXleinwand@cisco.com (Allan Leinwand) (09/11/90)
Hello Chris, >I am exploring the use of cisco routers on a network which includes >both x25 and ethernet (ethertalk, TCP/IP, Novell.) What I am >wondering is what is the most efficient routing method for this kind >of network? X.25 or tcp/ip? On the network setup shown, probably the most efficient routing method will be TCP/IP. This will allow dynamic routing, whereas X.25 would require some static configuration. Thus, I would configure the interfaces to the PADs and X.25 hosts as 'encapsulation x25' and have the serial links be HDLC. This will result in the lowest amount of protocol overhead for your traffic. The two things which might affect this decision could be traffic volume and performance. If the volume of traffic between the X.25 hosts is significantly greater than the TCP/IP traffic, obviously you want to lean toward X.25 routing. As far as performance goes, we have seen instances where customers need almost instantaneous response from PADs (because of operators typing at terminals). If this is the case it may be smarter to use X.25 routing as well. Thanks, Allan Leinwand cisco Systems leinwand@cisco.com (415) 688-7653 "Time was invented so that everything does not happen at once." - Buckaroo Banzai