Review
Supersize Your Bandwidth
FatPipe XTREME aggregates capacity from different ISPs and access types
By DAVE BRAMBERT
| Product Information |
FatPipe XTREME
FatPipe Networks
Salt Lake City
800-724-8521
www.fatpipeinc.com
PRICING $9,500
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The reliability of Internet links has become a crucial consideration for enterprises. Many companies have leased redundant access pipes, using one (often slower and cheaper) as an insurance policy in case the main connection goes down.
However, the extra bandwidth, which you're paying for, often sits idle.
FatPipe Networks' FatPipe XTREME can help e-businesses make better use of those redundant links by aggregating their bandwidth with that of the main link.
We found that XTREME is easy to deploy and works precisely as FatPipe advertises, giving you more bandwidth for Internet traffic.
Easy Installation
The company claims XTREME can be installed and configured in 30 minutes, but we were able to do it in less time.
XTREME is a 19-inch standard rack-mount device that's connected between your LAN and the WAN routers. If you have a hardware firewall, XTREME sits between it and the WAN routers. It works with any firewall, proxy or authentication equipment. On the WAN side, you can use T1, T3, E1, E3, DSL or ISDN routers in any combination.
Your combined access bandwidth can reach 50 Mbps, according to FatPipe. In our test, bandwidth was just under 2 Mbps, as we used a 1.54-Mbps T1 line and a 384-Kbps DSL line, connecting into a 100-Mbps switched LAN environment.
The configuration software is an excellent implementation of Java. It's fast and employs some of Java's nicer characteristics, such as "refresh-data-but-not-the-page" functionality. Not only is the programming excellent, the logical flow of the management and configuration functions is well thought out.
Some catches exist, though. For example, FatPipe warns against changing the XTREME IP address using Network Neighborhood.
XTREME is installed using Network Address Translation, the inherent configuration for the product. NAT is a good security measure, but it can be a problem if you want to add your server farm to the equation.
FatPipe does offer a workaround, though. Companies wanting to provide inbound access to servers in the network can set up static routes to these servers. This is particularly handy for large firms or installations that rely heavily on subnets. Using tunneling on XTREME will complete the access requirements. Tunneling can be enabled on all ports or on a specific port number for this purpose. However, this should be done only if line speeds are symmetrical or inconsistent speed of service can result.
Speaking of tunneling, XTREME supports VPNs. It checks inbound packets and, upon encountering an IPSec packet, sends it through to the VPN peer. The external port of the VPN node must be configured as a public address, however, with the XTREME LAN interface having an address in that range as well. Both Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol and IPSec can be used to create the VPN.
Telnet, FTP, news groups and other functions can all be disabled on a per-user basis, by using IP addresses and computer names. The management software also tracks Web sites visited by each user. By default, XTREME keeps this information for a month.
Real-time usage statistics are available via a graphic display that shows bandwidth usage at any given time, and a histogram shows upload, download and aggregate speeds. Any or all WAN ports can be used for the graphing functions.
The management and configuration software can be updated over the Internet, and XTREME keeps track of which version is installed and whether it's the latest version. Another nice feature is that XTREME will send SNMP traps to any existing community and valid IP address of the SNMP manager workstation.
Keep Your Balance
XTREME offers three methods for load balancing among connections. Round-robin load balancing is a good idea if you have symmetrical lines (two dedicated T1s or two DSL lines with the same speed, for example). Round-robin load balancing simply alternates ports.
FatPipe calls another option "metered," which is a traditional backup approach: The primary line gets all the traffic until it goes down, then XTREME switches traffic to the secondary line. A third option uses response time as the deciding factor. The latter option is perfect if you have, for example, a T1 and a 384-Kbps DSL line (which we used for our testing).
If any route fails, the traffic is directed only to the remaining lines. XTREME constantly monitors the connection; every 15 seconds, it pings the router and gets a Web address. If either test fails, traffic is rerouted. If a problem occurs, XTREME pages you.
For the truly failure-averse manager, XTREME itself has a failover mode. The only sticking point is that you must buy two of the devices. The primary, or master, device must be configured with the IP address of the secondary, or slave, device.
Overall, the product performs well, has an intuitive configuration and is a good choice for organizations that have multiple ISP accounts and want to leverage their backup access lines.
We noticed a speed increase--albeit a marginal one--because we added a 384-Kbps line to an existing 1.54-Mbps line. We have no doubt that XTREME will double or triple speeds on symmetrical installations.
Dave Brambert is president of Gilbert Information Systems. He can be reached at dbrambert@gilbertinfo.com
