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> From: Butch Kemper <kemper@bihs.net>
> To: texas-isdn@tiug.org; portmaster-users@livingston.com
> Subject: MLPPP/ISDN with more than 2B Channels
> Date: Tuesday, July 29, 1997 7:33 PM
>
>
>
> I have been asked if it is possible to do MLPP via ISDN with more than 2B
> channels? The configuration would involve two ISDN lines for a total of
4B
> channels.
>
> Does anyone have any information to share with me about this possibility?
>
If your willing to consider an ISDN bus card rather than a stand alone
router, you can let Microsoft MLPPP stack handel the bonding and
authentication. Windows 95 can be used as a dial-up server but NT is a
much better platform.
I know both Teles and Eicon make cards that are ISA or PCI Bus. At least 3
ISDN cards can reside in a single PC. There are even 3X and 4X BRI cards
that could yield you 9 to 12 BRI's per system. Both Eicon and Teles load
low level drivers into NT that treat the ISDN cards as network adapters and
you can make the individual B-Channels available as Wan-mini-ports with all
Microsoft services available. For most dial-in/dial-out situations Windows
RAS (Remote Access Server) will handle all your needs.
Another neat thing that both Teles and Eicon do is load a set of Virtual
Modems. These appear as installed devices and can be used as V.120, V.110,
FAX, 56K, and even V.32. This enables you to choose how each
dial-up-networking-icon will connect to the remote user. The V.32
emulation even lets you call from an ISDN line to a plane old analog modem
(still about 14.4 but higher speeds are coming).
Finally the Eicon and Teles cards load a protocol stack known as CAPI 2.0.
This is a very powerful tool that allows you to run a number of software
packages that talk to the CAPI. You can use voice applications that are
integrated into your sound card and speakers. A number of EDI software
packages use CAPI for automated file transfers between automotive
manufacturers with sophisticated tracking and record keeping functions.
You can get very elegant and write your own applications in C++ that let
you do advanced Networking functions like Bandwidth on demand and AO/DI.
CAPI has been an open standard in Europe for years and a lot of development
was even done in the public domain with shareware and freeware programs
available all over the internet and BBS communities.
In your simple model you could run NT server with two Teles or Eicon single
BRI cards.
Teles has their low end cards onsale for $ 99.00 each and Eicon has a
special for TIUG members in the low hundreds. With both manufacturers you
can go through several upgraded cards that add pots or additional features
but most of these cards are under $ 300.00. Some have built in U
interfaces as well as S/T so you can pretty much choose what you want.
This is tuly the tip of the iceberg. If you have a large network or are an
ISP you can jump from the lower end cards to vendors like Xircom (Formerly
PRI) or Promptus. These manufacturers have single BRI cards but they
specialize in multiple BRI cards and PRI/T1/E1 cards in single and multiple
flavors. These guys have low level drivers for most every UNIX system as
well as OS/2, NT and they cover all busses even VME.
They can break the limit barriers of conventional PC systems and I've even
seen a setup with 50 dual T1 cards residing in a single machine. They also
supply a complete API so developers can take full controll of all the
layers and services available in ISDN.
There is a link for "MORE INFORMATION" on the TIUG web page (www.tiug.org)
that will lead you to Dan Kegal's excelent web page on ISDN vendors and
equipment. You can find the vendors I mentioned and many more from there.
I'm certainly not limiting the possible vendors to Eicon or Teles, I'm just
using them as an example.
> TIA,
>
> Butch
>
> Butch Kemper | Free sound advice available
> Brazos Internet Consulting Group | "95% sound and 5% advice"
> 409-361-2324 | Refunds cheerfully provided
>
Good luck and let us know how your poroject proceeds.
Gene
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J. E. "Gene" Chesser chesser@tiug.org
http://home1.gte.net/gchesser/ 915-646-2116
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Texas ISDN Users Group http://www.tiug.org/
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