2

We currently have 1 ISP and are adding a second. I need to load balance this into our current network so it shares the bandwidth between our 2 ISPs. We have a total of about 10 external IP addresses that will need to be able to route to the correct servers on our network.

Our network structure is an ASA5505 (and identical failover system) with unlimited users/security+ licenses. From here it just routes to the switches/patch panel and network.

I know there are hardware solutions that you can plug in. Like sonic wall does this.

But there’s also an exterior BGP/Multi homing option that can be used.

We are a company with 40+ employees and reliability to the internet is key for us as we are a software company.

masegaloeh
  • 18,498
Lbaker101
  • 309

1 Answers1

3

For using multiple outgoing connections, all you need is something to route the traffic appropriately. There are a number of free linux/BSD router distros that will work fine, such as m0n0wall.

However, to share the same set of public IPs on multiple incoming connections, ISP participation is required.

This is indeed referred to as multi-homing, and requires the use of BGP, an assigned AS number, and ownership of an IP space.

This is not often feasible for such small IP spaces; you may be able to get a redundant link from one ISP, in which case they will take care of the multi-homing, but that doesn't protect you against that ISP going down...

An alternative is to host your critical services in a datacenter, which will be redundant in all respects (power, cooling, hardware, connectivity) - but you will have to compare costs.

adaptr
  • 16,746