On the down side, given Microsoft's licensing policies for
NT server, RAS only makes sense in small POP's because you
must have a license for each simeltaneous connection (as far
as I know). This quickly makes RAS uneconomic when compared
to a Portmaster (Don't know the exact break-even, but it's
probably around 20 ports).
I would agree with Dan. If you've already got a Portmaster
solution working and you're happy with Radius, it's probably
best to stick with it. Livingston will eventually add good
SNMP support so that you can have strong monitoring as well.
Regards/Kyle Townsend
----------
From: Dan Geiger
Sent: Thursday, October 24, 1996 12:20 PM
To: Bob Southwick
Cc: portmaster-users@livingston.com
Subject: Radius vs RAS
>Date: Thu, 24 Oct 1996 06:08:41 -0800
>From: sysop@akcache.com (Bob Southwick)
>Organization: Neptune
>To: portmaster-users@livingston.com
>Subject: Radius vs RAS
>Sender: owner-portmaster-users
>Reply-To: sysop@akcache.com (Bob Southwick)
>
>Hi
>
>I have to make a decision here. Our 30 port PM2e is full now.
>
>What would be the pros and cons of an NT RAS server as opposed
>to another PM?
Some quickies [I acknowledge upfront that I am a biased, Livingston employee
;-)]:
-Has your current PM2e worked well for you thus far? If it has, why change?
If performance is an issue for you, we know that PM2e's support 30 modems at
full throttle. Can an NT RAS run full throttle on all ports?
-Liv has been providing remote access for ISPs since before ISP initials
meant something. We have 10s of thousands of units in field. This is our
main business and we have very knowledgable engineering and support
organizations to back it up. Frankly, I've only heard of NT RAS being used
by an ISP once (just last week at a tradeshow)--so I don't believe the field
experience or knowledge base for supporting NT RAS for ISPs is up to snuff.
Clearly this is not Microsoft's main line of business ;-). If you have
problems with NT RAS, how confident are you that Microsoft will fix the
problems?
-Does NT RAS support RADIUS? I looked on MS web site and saw no mention of
RADIUS. Clearly if no RADIUS support, MS has not created an ISP solution.
I'm interested in any general feedback on this topic too.
Regards, Dan
>
>Of course cost is always a factor, but performance is the higher
>priority. This would be pretty much exclusively dialup PPP
>access with eventual ISDN in about a year.
>
>Thanks
>
>Bob Southwick
>--
>Director, Neptune Alaska - http://www.neptune.com
>HC31 Box 5099A Wasilla Ak 99654 - 907-373-3209 fax 907-373-3208
>
>
==============================
Dan Geiger
Product Marketing
Livingston Enterprises
dang@livingston.com
510-485-6676
www.livingston.com