[GLLUG] Aggregated network connection

[Clay Dowling]

On 5/15/12 3:44 PM, contactus at etherportcomputers.com wrote:
> I like the fact, for true quality throughput, that focus is going into
> aggregated network connections and even 10GbE connections, does anyone
> have suggestions for managed switches that will support multiple NICs
> working together or a switch that will support that 10GbE connection
> without costing over $10,000? 
>
There are downsides to aggregated network connections.  They are harder
to provide upstream DDoS mitigation for if that's a service that your
service provider offers.  If your network needs are big enough that
you're considering an aggregated network connection, you are in a spot
where you need to start thinking about DDoS protection.  I've known even
small sites with a single public facing server that have been crippled
by DDoS attacks, and the resulting effects on their bottom line was not
happy.

If access to the internet is essential to your business, you will
eventually be targeted by a shakedown artist with a rented botnet and a
numbered account for you to transfer funds to.  It's cheaper to pay one
of them than to purchase a real network protection solution.  But it's
usually not cheaper to pay two of them, and if you pay once, expect to
be tapped again by somebody else.

I'm not unbiased in this: I work for Arbor Networks, and making
malefactors' days unhappy is what we do.

You should have a conversation with your network provider about what
protection options they offer.  They may also offer some variety of
cloud signalling, so that an appliance on your network can see that it's
getting flooded, and it tips off the service provider automatically, so
they can start choking down the malicious traffic.  I mention this, of
course, because we sell just such a product:
http://www.arbornetworks.com/pravail

The product is definitely cool.  And no, I don't get a commission.  But
I do own company stock, so I do have an incentive to see more people
using it.

Clay