Re: Leased Line Dialin

[Danny Mc? <question@xxxxxxx>]

John,

    I would think the best questions to start of asking are:

    1)  "What do you want to do?"
    2)  "What do you NEED to do?"
    3)  "What are you trying to do?"

Generally those will shed the most light on what is going on.  They will also 
help others guide you in giving advice.  I take this is a remote site that will 
need to access at least the AS/400.  If you are more
specific on what the customer currently has, I'm sure many people here can 
guide you in a direction.

    Just for starters, last year I set up our Canadian office with an AT&T 
managed frame connection.  I've been working with our French office this year 
constructing a network from scratch.  France is going to be
Ethernet, NT server, and WinNT/95 client.

    Canada already had a Novell network.  We upgraded from DOS and Win3.1 to 
Win95 and install the TCP/IP stack that comes with Win95.  We also switched 
over to Ethernet.  The office needed green-screen and printing
from the AS/400.  All PC's were installed with Client Access for Win95/NT.  We 
installed JetDirect cards in the HP lasers and we bought HP JetDirect EX's for 
the two Epson LQ-2550's (Invoices/Checks and Pickers).
We have a managed AT&T frame connection.  They supplied the routers and CSU's.  
I even requested a Cisco 2507 for the Canadian office because it has a 16-port 
hub integrated right into the router.  They gave me a
Class A address subneted as a Class C so I used that for my IP numbering in 
Canada.  I have IP running on the AS/400 and have a dedicated Ethernet card for 
all WAN traffic.  Simple!  They can now access all IP
services on the AS/400 as well as the rest of the network (HTTP, FTP, Telnet, 
SMTP, etc.).  We will be switching them from cc:Mail to the IMAP4 server next 
month and it is not going to cost anything communication
wise because the infrastructure is there.

    Do you need a firewall?  That could be answered:  Yes, No or Maybe.  I 
guess that is up to the customer.  Are they using AT&T's point-to-point frame 
network?  I  *personally* would say, "No".  Are they going to
use AT&T's VPN?  I would lean more toward, "Yes".  Currently I have my managed 
frame services front-ended by a Raptor firewall running on Solaris.  At the 
time we got the frame line, we also got a PRI for a modem
server and a T1 for the Internet so we made it where *all* outside 
communication goes through the firewall.  If I was getting *just* the frame 
relay circuit, "hell no" would I have paid that much money for the
Raptor solution ($25k for software & $17k for hardware).  I would have just 
plugged the AS/400 Ethernet right into the back of the router going to Canada.

    If you want more detail; yes, I can provide more detail, just let me know.

Danny Mc?


John Luebben wrote:

> I have a client who has presented me with the following scenario:
>
> An external source is upgrading their software from DOS base Win95(8).
>
> They are requiring an AT&T leased line using frame relay be connected to the 
>AS400 (V4R2).
> They are also asking that my client provide the FRAD / DSU to link up the 
>line with the box as well as
> have him provide some type of Win sockets.  I am assuming a TCP/IP / FTP 
>process, but since I was not involved in the talks, I can't be sure.
>
> Not being up to speed on TCP/IP, sockets, or the connectivity involved, how 
>should I advise my client to proceed - up to and including finding resources 
>to point him to.
>
> Is a firewall required?
>
> I'm such a novice in this area, that even letting me know what questions need 
>to be asked will be of great assistance, even a description of the 
>resources(both consulting and literature) I should be looking for.
>
> Thanks for any assistance.
>
> John L.
>
>
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