T1 redundancy 1

[spyhunter]

I need help from an expert.
I work for a financial institution, I am the wannabe network administrator. We currently have one Internet T1 line comming in, I am looking for a device that will allow me to have two t1's connected to it. If one T1 line should go down the other one can take over. Or probably we can load balance the traffic between the two T1 lines.
What device can I buy to do something like that?

 

[ISDNman]

You might want to post your inquiry on the leased lines forum here:

http://www.tek-tips.com/threadminder.cfm?pid=590

There are two approaches - the simpler involves having equipment to switch from the primary to the secondary if the primary fails.

The second approach is what you suggest, having both lines active and at all times. Obviously this is preferable if you are paying for a second T1.

If you don't actually need the extra bandwidth then you may want to consider ISDN dialup @ 128 kbps as backup. Or possibly a dedicated DDS line. Or even a DSL line.

Best of luck.

 

[spyhunter]

Thank You ISDN man.
I do need a T1 because currently we have about 100 users sharing internet access. I agree with you that having two t1 is the best choice, since we are going to be paying for it. If one line goes down, then the other one should take over. We need to have two different T1 providers because if we get two t1's from the same provider and they go down, then there is no use for having dual T1's.

Thanks again.

 

[ISDNman]

I guess your next stop is the Leased lines forum and also a forum covering your preferred brand of routers. For example Cisco:

http://www.tek-tips.com/threadminder.cfm?pid=557

My guess is that a router forum will be your best bet. Decent chance this might have been covered before.

Best of luck.

ISDNman