This question has been raised numerous times regarding multiple DSL/cable connections.
Load balancing is the process of spreading out data streams across different connections. For example, say that we are on a two user network and user one is downloading an ISO. His data will go through connection one (assuming two ISP connections). When user two tries to use the internet, the load balancing router/software senses that connection one is busy and routes user two's data across the second ISP connection. In this situation, having two 1024kbps circuits does not mean that each computer has 2048kbps available to them, only 1024kbps (each computer only can use only one ISP circuit).
Circuit bonding*/muxing is a very different approach to increasing your bandwidth. Unlike load balancing, the bits of all clients are spread across all connections. So, unlike the above example, two 1024kbps circuits will equal 2048kbps (and each computer has all of that bandwidth available, unlike above). However this approach is much more expensive. Circuit bonding requires two routers and two devices called "muxs". One router and "mux" is placed at the ISP end and the other router and "mux" is placed at the customer end. You ISP must support this configuration as well, and often times providers will only do this type of connection with T1 circuits.
*Channel bonding is actually not what happens. Channels refer to a different aspect of communications.
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by bmn  edited by graffixx
last modified: 2002-10-27 19:11:41 |
