Ramping Up a Slow Network

The ISP-Tech list examines the issue of providing speed without breaking the bank. What options do you have when you cannot afford the upgrade from 10bT to 100bT?

On the ISP-Tech list in December, MA posted a question about network speed:

"I work for a small ISP that has one frame relay T-1 and two class C address blocks. Both class C address blocks are routed out of the same interface on the router, which runs into a 10bT hub. Between the web hosting, the modem pool, and the servers, one entire class C is pretty much used up. The problem is that the network is unbearably slow, but adding a switch and/or upgrading to 100bT are financially out of the question. What can I do to speed up this network without spending a lot of money?"

A number of respondents claimed that adding a switch was the only possible solution:

[DB opined] "All you can do is purchase a switch, which are not very expensive these days."

Another respondent brought up the issue of bandwidth:

[C wrote] "What is the committed information rate (CIR) of the T-1? If your web host accounts are pretty active, bandwidth is what you need.'"

Several respondents suggested finding out what the problem really was before investing in new equipment:

[HB wrote] "Make sure you're maxing out your circuit before you add onto that. Download Multi Router Traffic Grapher and have it monitor your servers and anything else on your network."

[SM suggested another network monitoring tool] "Also check out Intellimax Systems."

[BS added this thought] "You might want to monitor memory usage on the boxes before you do anything else."

[AG suggested checking protocols] "You might want to verify that you're running only the necessary protocols on your servers."

On the other hand, one respondent suggested the possibility of an outside source for the problem:

[Dave wrote] "We had a 'slow network' problem that would come and go: all of a sudden things would bog down to a snail's crawl. Our upstream was able to determine that we were occasionally being used as a ping amplifier and gave us the simple solution of using filters for the router."

—End