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Frame Relay vs. VPN
- Thread starter jjs1978
- Start date
kcbell
IS-IT--Management
- Dec 27, 2001
- 275
jjs1978:
I am glad you asked this interesting question. Let you give you my experience. I know I had said the following in this web site before. Please check my other respond in the past.
Frame Relay:
Old technology has been around for the past ~ 20 years. It is a digital switching network. Since it is somewhat dedicated, it is very expensive relative with speed especially international frame relay. My experience with an international frame relay is it did go down at the worse time; most likely in the middle of the night. The frequency was about every other month. No security protocol is used for frame relay. My company used to pay $11K per month for a 128Kbit/128Kbit frame relay circuit to Asia.
VPN:
It is new technology using the Internet with IPSEC. It is secure because it is using secure protocol. We are paying $1K per month for a 1.544Mbit Internet Service and using VPN to replace the frame relay. It is very reliable since we installed it last June with 0 down time. The same T1 line can be used for Internet surfing if VPN bandwidth cannot occupy the whole T1.
Applications wise, if the latency is below 200ms, voice and video can be on the same VPN circuit. I’ve been using it for video and saving the company thousands per month.
VPN and frame relay is not the same but they both carry the '1s' and '0s' from one point to another point.
I personally do not recommend frame relay TODAY because VPN is just working so well for me. VPN may not be a WAN protocol but it does work like one!
Hope this help!
I am glad you asked this interesting question. Let you give you my experience. I know I had said the following in this web site before. Please check my other respond in the past.
Frame Relay:
Old technology has been around for the past ~ 20 years. It is a digital switching network. Since it is somewhat dedicated, it is very expensive relative with speed especially international frame relay. My experience with an international frame relay is it did go down at the worse time; most likely in the middle of the night. The frequency was about every other month. No security protocol is used for frame relay. My company used to pay $11K per month for a 128Kbit/128Kbit frame relay circuit to Asia.
VPN:
It is new technology using the Internet with IPSEC. It is secure because it is using secure protocol. We are paying $1K per month for a 1.544Mbit Internet Service and using VPN to replace the frame relay. It is very reliable since we installed it last June with 0 down time. The same T1 line can be used for Internet surfing if VPN bandwidth cannot occupy the whole T1.
Applications wise, if the latency is below 200ms, voice and video can be on the same VPN circuit. I’ve been using it for video and saving the company thousands per month.
VPN and frame relay is not the same but they both carry the '1s' and '0s' from one point to another point.
I personally do not recommend frame relay TODAY because VPN is just working so well for me. VPN may not be a WAN protocol but it does work like one!
Hope this help!
Frame Relay vs VPN:
If you have the budget, I'd go with Frame Relay. A fractional "VPN T1" is nothing more than IP over Frame Relay anyways (the VPN tunnels ride over IP). Any difference in reliability should be negligible...the Local Loop is going to be the same regardless..and that is going to be your biggest point of failure (besides CPE). Stay away from DSL...go w/ frac T1's. From my experience DSLs are much less robust than a DS1 level circuit - not to mention better service and response times from the provider.
Latency: With Frame you get a CIR from your provider. With IPVPN your at the mercy of the internet. That being said...you'll probably get good results with either as long as you don't overutilize your bandwidth. If you choose Frame, make sure your providers network is not oversubscribed. If you choose IP, make sure your provider has a good IP backbone w/ plenty of bandwidth. ...I know easier said than done!
Comparing IPSec to Frame Relay is somewhat like comparing apples to oranges. Frame Relay doesn't require any type of IP Security since it isn't exposed to the internet. Frame Relay uses PVC's to build secure connections between sites.
Frame Relay is *probably* more secure. VPNs use algoritms to crypt data...which can theoretically be hacked. I would think the only way to intercept data on a private frame relay network with unique PVC's would be to have actual access to the equipment.
I wouldn't worry too much about BW overhead / CPU Utilization on a small 4 node VPN. However, these factors would come into play if you plan on rapid growth.
Also, you didn't mention if internet access would be a requirement. Whether you choose VPN or Frame, I'd use a Hub and Spoke design routing all Internet traffic through the Hub site. If you choose Frame Relay, this would require the Hub site to also have IP connectivity. Configure a strong firewall at the hub along with a proxy server to provide the spokes w/ Internet access and you should be good to go.
In the end it really all comes down to personal preference. Frame Relay is old technology but it's far from obsolete (for a reason).
BTW: Frame may be less expensive than VPN ...just depends on the provider.
If you have the budget, I'd go with Frame Relay. A fractional "VPN T1" is nothing more than IP over Frame Relay anyways (the VPN tunnels ride over IP). Any difference in reliability should be negligible...the Local Loop is going to be the same regardless..and that is going to be your biggest point of failure (besides CPE). Stay away from DSL...go w/ frac T1's. From my experience DSLs are much less robust than a DS1 level circuit - not to mention better service and response times from the provider.
Latency: With Frame you get a CIR from your provider. With IPVPN your at the mercy of the internet. That being said...you'll probably get good results with either as long as you don't overutilize your bandwidth. If you choose Frame, make sure your providers network is not oversubscribed. If you choose IP, make sure your provider has a good IP backbone w/ plenty of bandwidth. ...I know easier said than done!
Comparing IPSec to Frame Relay is somewhat like comparing apples to oranges. Frame Relay doesn't require any type of IP Security since it isn't exposed to the internet. Frame Relay uses PVC's to build secure connections between sites.
Frame Relay is *probably* more secure. VPNs use algoritms to crypt data...which can theoretically be hacked. I would think the only way to intercept data on a private frame relay network with unique PVC's would be to have actual access to the equipment.
I wouldn't worry too much about BW overhead / CPU Utilization on a small 4 node VPN. However, these factors would come into play if you plan on rapid growth.
Also, you didn't mention if internet access would be a requirement. Whether you choose VPN or Frame, I'd use a Hub and Spoke design routing all Internet traffic through the Hub site. If you choose Frame Relay, this would require the Hub site to also have IP connectivity. Configure a strong firewall at the hub along with a proxy server to provide the spokes w/ Internet access and you should be good to go.
In the end it really all comes down to personal preference. Frame Relay is old technology but it's far from obsolete (for a reason).
BTW: Frame may be less expensive than VPN ...just depends on the provider.
There are providers that provision VPN service over their private ATM backbone. I am looking at a solution like this to replace our Frame connections. One big advantage is that you are dealing with IP and thus have that flexibility (a true mesh connection) as opposed to point-to-point Frame connections.
With ATM there is also the added benefit of QoS. Check out Savvis for one such provider.
With ATM there is also the added benefit of QoS. Check out Savvis for one such provider.
darinhamilton
ISP
The term "VPN" seems to be causing problems here.
VPN is any network that is shared. That can mean a Frame Relay VPN, L2TP over Internet VPN, MPLS VPN, ATM VPN... but not "IPSec VPN" since IPSec provides encryption, not connectivity.
The original post asks which is better: Frame Relay or "VPN". The answer is "Frame Relay IS a VPN technology."
If you mean Frame Relay vs. an Internet-based VPN, then Internet-based is cheaper... or is it? By the time you add the cost of researching, testing, deploying and supporting IPSec/L2TP gear...
Frame Relay VPNs are more reliable, predicable and supportable. As are MPLS-based VPNs, ATM VPNs, etc...
Feel free to contact me by email if you'd like more detail.
Cheers!
Darin
email@darinhamilton.com
VPN is any network that is shared. That can mean a Frame Relay VPN, L2TP over Internet VPN, MPLS VPN, ATM VPN... but not "IPSec VPN" since IPSec provides encryption, not connectivity.
The original post asks which is better: Frame Relay or "VPN". The answer is "Frame Relay IS a VPN technology."
If you mean Frame Relay vs. an Internet-based VPN, then Internet-based is cheaper... or is it? By the time you add the cost of researching, testing, deploying and supporting IPSec/L2TP gear...
Frame Relay VPNs are more reliable, predicable and supportable. As are MPLS-based VPNs, ATM VPNs, etc...
Feel free to contact me by email if you'd like more detail.
Cheers!
Darin
email@darinhamilton.com
IPVPN is the way to go for sure.
We are migrating customers to it all the time from the legacy ATM networks and theyve really noticed a difference.
Likely your last mile may still be a frame circuit but the core network should be connected via POS links or better.
We are migrating customers to it all the time from the legacy ATM networks and theyve really noticed a difference.
Likely your last mile may still be a frame circuit but the core network should be connected via POS links or better.
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