Hi, On Fri, 20.02.2009 at 11:49:19 -0600, tico <[email protected]> wrote: > Toni Mueller wrote: >> I'm looking into ways to handle STM-1 connections. I dimly remember >> that there were Marconi cards, that were supported, but can't find them >> anymore. What would be the recommended method these days to terminate >> STM-1 circuits, possibly on an OpenBSD based router, please? >> > I don't ever remember hearing about a (OpenBSD-supported) PCI card that > would handle an STM-1 -- there are a couple that will handle T1/E1, but > I believe that the "biggest" TDM circuit that OpenBSD can terminate > directly is perhaps a DS3, via a lmc(4) card, though I have yet to > find/use one myself.
in hindsight, I may have confused support in FreeBSD with support in OpenBSD for an STM-1 ATM card, a few years ago. Sorry. > You can find a number of vendors that supply DS3-to-100BaseT or > STM1-to-GigE media converter, STM-1-offerings seem to be much less frequent than DS3-offerings. > but you have to run in them in pairs on both ends of your > point-to-point circuit of course. For DS3, that would be true, but I've been told that this would not be true for STM-1 circuits. > If you're getting a transit from an upstream provider you're screwed > unless the provider will deliver ethernet to you (which is > increasingly the case, since TDM circuits are super expensive per > megabit compared to [metro-] ethernet). Perceived cost is one of the reasons why I'm looking into operating an STM-1 circuit instead of a Fast-Ethernet Circuit. But I don't have hard numbers yet. > If you go with the "media converter on both ends" option, be sure to > find one that drops the link on the ethernet side when the STM1 side > goes down, and vice versa, so your routing protocols can take > appropriate action and not continue to blackhole traffic during outages. Right. That's another issue with the Ethernet I currently have: It does _not_ drop link when the fibre goes down. There is even no ETA as to when this will be fixed - the carrier only talked about "wait for a fix from <vendor>, but don't know when it will be available". > Imagestream (proprietary+linux based) works for a good+cheap solution > that can talk iBGP to your other ethernet-only routers. Or just get a > used Juniper/Crisco/whatever. See also Sangoma's Wanpipe offerings > (FreeBSD/linux). Thanks for your advice, but I want a "solution" centered around OpenBSD. I've been burned by vendor lock-in often enough to try hard to avoid doing it again. FWIW, I've talked to Imagestream a few years ago, and was really not impressed with their offering, in several respects. Kind regards, --Toni++
