See if you cant get FIOS if not then have a chat with Verizon business unit and see what kind of deal they can cut you on a T-1.  And uhhh dont you have a Masters in MIS?

Quoted: I need to replace our business DSL. We have 15 VPNs terminating into our Potomac Mills location and our database (and other) servers backup each day to the EMC datacenter.  Our DSL can no longer handle the load without noticeable latency. I'm thinking I need something in excess of 2Mb/second upload and download.  What are my options??? Geek-ology welcome. Thanks, Dave Hensley

You need neither a T3 or OC3...don't sign the contract!

If you want a professional consultation I can provide one.  We have been providing Network, Data, and Security solutions for small companies like yourself that have multiple locations across the east coast for years based out of the Richmond metropolitan area.

Network Data Security Experts, Inc.

Ask for Frank. Phone: (804) 521-7946

Well glad I could help. But yeah talk to the Verizon folks they will be glad to hook you up.

You might look at a DS-3 with a low commit rate so soften the cost.  That should be somewhere in the 3-4K/month range.  If your colo space is in the metro area then you might also be able to do a metro ether, but I'm not too familiar with that type of connectivity.

w

Quoted: I need to replace our business DSL. We have 15 VPNs terminating into our Potomac Mills location and our database (and other) servers backup each day to the EMC datacenter.  Our DSL can no longer handle the load without noticeable latency. I'm thinking I need something in excess of 2Mb/second upload and download.  What are my options??? Geek-ology welcome. Thanks, Dave Hensley

For the kind of money that your going to pay for a DS3/OC3, might want to consider colocation options and termination of the VPNs at a datacenter.  With the sales volume that you mentioned earlier, it time to consider a business continuity plan.  Just a couple of thoughts.

--Olivers_AR

PS:  Will trade IT Architecture for firearms

I've been out of that business for a while but here's what I remember.
T3 lines are a common aggregation of 28 T1 circuits that yields 44.736 Mbps total network bandwidth. A T3 line typically costs more than $3000 USD per month. A T1 line can transmit 1.544 megabits per second.
OC-1 (Optical Carrier) is a SONET line with transmission speeds of up to 51.84 Mbit/s. These are generally used for connecting Metropolitan Area Networks and not for connection to individual clients. An OC-3 is 155Mbit/s.

You can get several t1's bonded, you don't need to jump all the way to a T3 or similar.

What you need is more like NxT-1 (pronounced N by T-1) since a normal T-1 is 1.5 Meg this would make any combination 2xT-1 = 3 meg and 3xT-1 = 4.5 Meg, etc.  You will find that almost any carrier in the area will offer a T-1 at about $400 per month.  and you can get one and see how it works than add another and have it bonded with the first.  If you decide that you can split the data running to EMC away from the other data, it may save you a negligible amount of money.

If you decide to get a bonded T-1 service start with 3 meg, this will require a specific router so keep that in mind if you start with a single T-1 with plans for growth in the next 3 years.  A router can cost anywhere from $900 to $9,000 but you probably dont need to go crazy here.  I am a Cisco Sales Engineer and of course would recommend that for all of the bells and whistles relating to security and the ability to upgrade to all kinds of cool and functional  features in the future.  You can buy a plain vanilla router that will handle your exact situation that isn't Cisco and still be happy.  

I could go on and on about the features and what you can do in the future and that's all well and good.  You would be smart to own your router so you have control over it.  You may be offered a choice to lease the router where your carrier has control over it.  There is nothing wrong with this, but if you want to leave them, you give it up as well.  Also, owning your router allows you to make changes in the future that you will not be allowed if they own it.

One good name for a generic router that has many years of solid performance is Linksys  which is owned by Cisco now and another is Evergreen.  I'm not sure if you have any plans of changing your phone system or if you plan on moving your office space anytime soon, but those are important motivating factors in making your decision on what you buy now, even if that decision is two years off, it's worth considering some options.

Jim
Email me if you want more info.  

Quoted: For the kind of money that your going to pay for a DS3/OC3, might want to consider colocation options and termination of the VPNs at a datacenter.  With the sales volume that you mentioned earlier, it time to consider a business continuity plan.  Just a couple of thoughts. --Olivers_AR PS:  Will trade IT Architecture for firearms

This man has a good idea there.

If you want to keep it in house; consider NxT1s at your remote locations and a DS3 at your central location. If you have that many VPNs terminating, you might want to sit down with the boss and figure out if there is a business need for a real WAN; not something thrown together with VPNs across the public internet. When you start weighing downtime against guaranteed SLAs from a WAN provider, you can start to see the positives there.

Verizon and Sprint have good MPLS WAN offerings and they are made to connect locations spread all over the place.

OC3s would run you at least 10K a month to the Net; not including construction costs and the like; we have two right now and even with fairly heavy discounts from Verizon, it still runs 10K a month, each.

I also do IT Networking full time and on the side as well.

TR

height=8

Quoted: Jim, Are you in the NOVA area?   I have several people I was with in the USMC who know work for CISCO.  Dave West and Daryl Korintha.   Anyway, if you're in the NOVA area, I'd like to pick your brain. height=8 Quoted: What you need is more like NxT-1 (pronounced N by T-1) since a normal T-1 is 1.5 Meg this would make any combination 2xT-1 = 3 meg and 3xT-1 = 4.5 Meg, etc.  You will find that almost any carrier in the area will offer a T-1 at about $400 per month.  and you can get one and see how it works than add another and have it bonded with the first.  If you decide that you can split the data running to EMC away from the other data, it may save you a negligible amount of money. If you decide to get a bonded T-1 service start with 3 meg, this will require a specific router so keep that in mind if you start with a single T-1 with plans for growth in the next 3 years.  A router can cost anywhere from $900 to $9,000 but you probably dont need to go crazy here.  I am a Cisco Sales Engineer and of course would recommend that for all of the bells and whistles relating to security and the ability to upgrade to all kinds of cool and functional  features in the future.  You can buy a plain vanilla router that will handle your exact situation that isn't Cisco and still be happy.   I could go on and on about the features and what you can do in the future and that's all well and good.  You would be smart to own your router so you have control over it.  You may be offered a choice to lease the router where your carrier has control over it.  There is nothing wrong with this, but if you want to leave them, you give it up as well.  Also, owning your router allows you to make changes in the future that you will not be allowed if they own it. One good name for a generic router that has many years of solid performance is Linksys  which is owned by Cisco now and another is Evergreen.  I'm not sure if you have any plans of changing your phone system or if you plan on moving your office space anytime soon, but those are important motivating factors in making your decision on what you buy now, even if that decision is two years off, it's worth considering some options. Jim Email me if you want more info.

I am 10 miles south of Leesburg, VA
Pretty close to Manassas

Quoted: Quoted: I need to replace our business DSL. We have 15 VPNs terminating into our Potomac Mills location and our database (and other) servers backup each day to the EMC datacenter.  Our DSL can no longer handle the load without noticeable latency. I'm thinking I need something in excess of 2Mb/second upload and download.  What are my options??? Geek-ology welcome. Thanks, Dave Hensley For the kind of money that your going to pay for a DS3/OC3, might want to consider colocation options and termination of the VPNs at a datacenter.  With the sales volume that you mentioned earlier, it time to consider a business continuity plan.  Just a couple of thoughts. --Olivers_AR PS:  Will trade IT Architecture for firearms

I would seriously look at colocation options as well.  Since it sounds like you already have your own equipment and software licenses, costs would probably be much better than doing this on your own, plus the infrastructure and data centers would be much more robust.   I have dealt with several entities in the a similar situation, and almost all have went to a colocation setup.  You would get much better redundancy, security, and bandwidth options.  

If you do go at this on your own, the suggestions of bonding multiple T1/DS1 lines would be the best bet.  For routing gear, I like the Juniper and Cisco offerings, especially with the ease of finding technicians who are familiar with them.  Also, invest in good intrusion detection and firewall technology for your assets.