Revamp old network 2

[jimadmin]

Our company is moving into a new office and I would like to take the oppurtinity to replace some End of life products.
Current enviornment is 5 remote offices connected to one central office via Cisco 1600 routers over dedicated DS1 lines. The central office provides internet connectivity via a Cisco 2600 over a DS1 line.
I would like to replace the 5 1600 routers in the central office with one Cisco router. Is there such a beast that will provide 5 WAN connections and one or two eth connections?
Option 2 is to cancel all 5 dedicated ds1 lines and replace them with cheaper dsl lines, then provide connectivity from the remote offices via VPN tunnels. Not sure what the hardware requirements are for option 2.
Thank you for your help

 

[baddos]

DSL might be a cheaper way to go.

You might want to look into a 3745 if you keep the ds1 lines. If you fill it with two slot wic cards, it should give you enough ports.

 

[IllegalOperation]

Similar scenario I am in, as Cisco does offer a viable solution. I have seven DS1s tied into a single 7206VXR NPE300, with an additional two T1 DIAs going out to the internet from there also.

In the near future, I am going to replace the multple DS1s with a single DS3 - and "fan out" each of the channels to the remote sites.

Ive been told that a 7200VXR should easily handle the stress...

 

[nyy1023]

IllegalOperation

Is the migration to DS3 the cost? You could get a burstable DS3 at a cheeper rate and it will allow you to burst to 45M no matter what tier you are paying at? It may be cheeper than having the 7 T1's too. Not to push an ISP, but I know that MCI offers this solution, even though they closed my office because of money problems and left me out on the street to live with no job and no money...crap I did it again...sorry I tend to ramble!!!

jimadmin, for the DSL solution you can check out a 1751 cisco, and if you run VPN make sure you get the VPN module, it is an additional card inserted on the board in the router. They are great router's and pretty affordable too! If you did not want to buy from cisco you canget them on ebay for around $300 - $500 each.

 

[IllegalOperation]

nyy1023, my company is classified as a "large business account" with SBC, because we use plenty of their fiber for other types of services. We pretty much get our point to point T1s as cheap as they can get. We dont get charged for the local loop distance (which is $12 per mile I believe) which means we are paying the same price as if we had a T1 set up in their CO office.

But you are right, 7 DS1s is close to pushing it when it comes to saving money with a single DS3 (I did the math). You may be able to burst up to 45Mbps with the DS3, but that is only if you are using every channel of that circuit at the remote sites. I believe with SBC, the cut off point where you start losing money with DS1s is when you have 9. Another words, I wouldnt save any money on a DS3 until I utilize 9 or more DS1 channels from that circuit. So like I said, Im placing an order for a DS3 shortly....

 

[nyy1023]

You have a unique situation, and it sounds like you are getting a great deal! Not having to pay for the local loop is a great savings!

 

[IllegalOperation]

Yea, well you should see what they are charging us to use their fiber distribution for our cable TV services. Enough to choke a horse! They only gave us that deal for a month, so I obviously ordered as much as possible at that time =)

 

[jimadmin]

I have been informed by the CFO that we are keeping the individual DS1 lines between our offices. So what I would like to do is replace the 5 Cisco 1600 routers on my end with one router.
baddos you metioned the Cisco 3745, are there any other recommedations?
Thank you to all that replied.

 

[IllegalOperation]

Im not sure about the 3745 - might be overkill. A 3660 will get the job done, and I think it is actually the lowest end solution for what you need. It has six slots, so there will plenty of room for expansion.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/routers/ps274/products_qanda_item09186a0080092197.shtml

You might even be able to lose the 2600, and integrate the DIA into the 3660. I like to keep my network as simple as possible, so it is only a matter of preference if you want to go that far....

 

[baddos]

You could see if you can pick up a 7206 used like IllegalOperation suggested. There are a lot of used cisco resellers out there.

I have a contact with a pretty good refurbished reseller if you want to look into some pricing.

 

[jimadmin]

Thanx again for the info guys. So I assume the 3660 comes without any modules. What modules do I need to purchase. I would like replace the 5 1600's as simply as possible. Does the 3660 have 10/100 eth interfaces built in, or is that another module?

 

[jimadmin]

I read online that the Cisco 3600 series shares WAN Interface Cards with the Cisco 1600 and Cisco 1700 series.
Does that mean I can take the WIC's out of the 1600 and pop them into the 3600 router?

 

[IllegalOperation]

You can order a 3660 with either one or two built in 10/100 ethernet ports.

"I read online that the Cisco 3600 series shares WAN Interface Cards with the Cisco 1600 and Cisco 1700 series.
Does that mean I can take the WIC's out of the 1600 and pop them into the 3600 router?"

That is correct, which is why I would use a 3600 instead of a 7200. 7200s use Port Adapters instead of WICs.

http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/cc/pd/rt/3600/prodlit/36kmp_ds.htm

 

[comblues]

Wow!

I would just get a Cisco 2621 and a couple or three of the NM-1FE2W

Each of these in turn holds 2 WIC-1T's or the CSU/DSU Variety of WIC.

As far as buying a 36XX or a 37XX let see those are 10K + solutions for an office that previously at most only spent around 10k - (If they paid full retail and bought Smartnet).


So lets see. A 2621 can be had on ebay for about 1000-1500.00 most any day.

An NM-1FE2W can be had for $100-250.00 each

WIC-1T are going for lower that $50.00 each - Check it.

The CSU/DSU model goes for around $100.00

Any CCNA worthy of the title can configure it for you.

1-2 Hours Labor at about 50-75.00 per hour.

How about it?

And since you already have WICs then you are saved that expense...

Here's an example and this guy has three for sale:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3066031697&category=11185

You are bidding on 1 Cisco 2621 Router with;
2 Built-In FAST Ethernet Ports!
MAX 64MB DRAM & 16MB Flash
1 Cisco WIC-1DSU-T1 Module
1 Cisco WIC-1B-U ISDN Module

I have many more of these and other routers available
12.2 Enterprise + Firewall IOS Installed!

This router is in excellent condition.
Tested to work perfectly by me:

~~ CCIE #9384 ~~
All Cables/Accessories Included!
Included with this router:
2621 Cisco Router
MAX 64MB DRAM & 16MB Flash!
2- Fast Ethernet Ports
1- WIC-1DSU-T1 MODULE
1- WIC-1B-U ISDN Module
2- FREE ETHERNET Cable!
1- FREE Rack Mount Kit!
1- AC Power Cord
1- Console cable kit
30 Full Exchange Warranty!

 

[IllegalOperation]

Thats great comblues, with one exception. The 2621 only has two WIC slots.

2+2=4

He has a minimum of five remote sites. He also has one DIA circuit.

That means he needs a minimum of six interfaces, and potentially more with the need for additional bandwidth.

Furthermore, Im not a big fan of buying mission critical Cisco equipment from Joe's Refurb Outlet Shop in a van down by the river, but go ahead if you want to save money. Say bye bye to the router if something happens to it down the road however.

If you do want to get technical about the spending, then the most cost effective move would be to go with DSL and tunnel everything back to the main office. If you want to get real technical about saving some T1 integration money and your a fluent ebay shopper like our fellow colleague, Im sure you can find an "end of life" 3600 series for a little bit more than a 2621 if not the same price. As far as going with the six T1s, I believe a 2691 is the only 2600 series with 3 WIC slots. You can look into a 3725 also, but I am not sure what their cost is these days.

We have steered you in the right direction, and however much money you want to spend is completely up to you...

 

[nyy1023]

Illegal...very good and another star!
technical, witty, and to the point!
I think we all learned something here.

 

[bythespy]

IF you are moving from the 1600 series and your CFO has informed you that you will be keeping the DS1 lines. Then you are most likely looking for the lease expensive way to do this while simplifying your network and your work load.

Try this on:
2651 XM more horsepower and memory
2 ethernet ports
2 wic slots
1 nm
You can use the WIC 2T in each of the WIC slots giving you 4 T1 ports per router and you still have an open NM on each router for expansion.
Put branches on one and three on the other then put an NM2w and a spare WIC 2T on the the shelf and if one of the routers dies you can pop the NM2w in with the WIC 2T and support all your brnaces in one box. Or use the single box config in the first place. I worry about the load on a 2651 with 5 T1s full time though.

Call your local Cisco AE, especially if you are plannig to buy this new. The local SE will be glad to come out and help you design this for FREE.

If you have CCO you can go to Cisco.com on the ordering page and select the configurator and see all this and configure your own.

Mspivey
CCNP