Octolinks SW88 8PORT 2PORT Multi Wan Load Balancing Router

June 24th, 2011
Octolinks SW88 8PORT 2PORT Multi Wan Load Balancing Router

The Octolinks SW88 8PORT 2PORT Multi Wan Load Balancing Router offers a large number of features and is considered to be among the most reasonably priced routers in the market today. It makes it possible for users to make sure that the load on their systems is balanced sufficiently with the help of a handful of WAN circuits. You may question this feature by saying that every other router offers the same so what makes the Octolinks SW88 8PORT 2PORT Multi Wan Load Balancing Router so special? Well it does so at quarter the price! That’s right, this product will give you everything you need but without cleaning you out.

With the help of this router, a number of bandwidth circuits can operate at the same time but that doesn’t mean that one will have to suffer for another- not at all. Since the load is balanced equally, it doesn’t matter what the size of your circuit is, you will always be on the receiving end of high-speed and efficient service. In addition to that, the router also carries out health checks on a regular basis so as to make sure that if a problem crops up, it can fix itself without harming the other circuits in the network. However, if you wish to keep a particular circuit ‘away’ for specific tasks, you can do so without worrying about loss of speed or efficiency.

The benefits of the Octolinks SW88 8PORT 2PORT Multi Wan Load Balancing Router can therefore, be summed up in a few words- it is fast, efficient, reliable and stable. It will not break down no matter how overwhelming the internet traffic gets which basically means that your work will never be interrupted. The initial set up is easy as well and you will not face any problems with the VPN tunnels.

As far as the drawbacks of the product are concerned, it has to be said that the basic web interface of the Octolinks SW88 8PORT 2PORT Multi Wan Load Balancing Router leaves a lot to be desired and should be checked by the manufacturers. Apart from that, it is also known to overheat if not used with a cooling fan, especially if you plan to fix it up in a room or area with no air conditioning.

This router is recommended for all businesses alike, no matter how big or small they may be. The heavy-duty product can handle almost anything so you don’t need to worry about repairs for at least some time. Basically, as long as you treat it well, it will return the favor and if you let it overheat or breakdown, it will obviously create problems for you.

All in all, the Octolinks SW88 8PORT 2PORT Multi Wan Load Balancing Router is decent in terms of its price and feasibility, to find out more about this product, click here.

D-Link DAP-2553 Air Premier N Load Balancing Router: A Review

June 24th, 2011
D-Link  DAP-2553  Air Premier N Dual Band PoE Access Point, Selectable Dual Band Draft 802.11n

The D-Link DAP-2553 Air Premier N Load Balancing Router weighs about 1.8 pounds and measures at 10.8 x 8.3 x 2.8 inches. It has been manufactured in such a way that it has the ability to not only work at a faster pace when compared to older models but to also provide more effective results. The best part is that the antennas can be removed so as to give the user wider coverage as far as usage is concerned. In addition to that, it also comes equipped with load-balancing attributes so as to make it easier for users to enhance performance as and when need be.

Additional significant features are as follows-
1) WEP and Personal/ WPA2/ Enterprise WPA wireless security

2) A wide array of wireless modes some of which include 2.4 GHz: Mixed 802.11n, 802.11g and 802.11b and 5 GHz: Mixed 802.11n, 802.11a; 802.11a only; 802.11n.

3) Transmit Power Control

4) MAC Address Filtering

5) More than four VLANS

The D-Link DAP-2553 Air Premier N Load Balancing Router has about a dozen or so features more which primarily focus on the schedule of the product and certain statistics concerning the WLAN and Ethernet. As you can see, this list of characteristics is literally bursting at the seams which can only mean one thing- the product is superior in a number of ways and has a lot to offer in terms of performance and operation.

Talking about the strengths of the D-Link DAP-2553 Air Premier N, it is a very stable product and because it allows users to group two devices together easily, it becomes all the more reliable.

Coming to the weaknesses of the D-Link DAP-2553 Air Premier N , it cannot be ignored that the preliminary set up process can be a bit tedious and frustrating so if you don’t know how to go about it, it is recommended that you contact a professional and ask him to do the needful. Another problem is that the D-Link DAP-2553 Air Premier N doesn’t support WPS because manufacturers thought that the target group wouldn’t require the same.

You may have already guessed it but keeping the above-mentioned features in mind, it has to be said that the D-Link DAP-2553 Air Premier N  is meant for the business environment. If you have just stepped into this competitive environment, you will find it easier to grow and function with the help of this product. The design, the features as well as its capability all point to one fact- it will help you manage your business better and hence, give you that initial push that every new business needs.

 

Duolinks SW24 Vpn Dual Wan Load Balancing Router

June 24th, 2011
Duolinks SW24 Vpn Router Dual Wan

The Duolinks SW24 Vpn Dual Wan Load Balancing Router offers a decent number of benefits and a few limitations but before we get to those, you should familiarize yourself with the basic features it has to offer-

1) Reliable Load Balancing- the Duolinks SW24 Vpn Router Dual Wan will allow you to work at a faster speed thanks to the two WAN ports. You will have the option of configuring the load balancing settings in such a way that you will be able to track your internet traffic in such a way that it’s at par with your needs and requirements.

2) Virtual Private Network- the user has the option of tapping into the myriad of VPN tunnels, the best of which include LAN-to-LAN and Remote-to-LAN.

3) Firewall- the SPI firewall that comes equipped with the Duolinks SW24 Vpn Router Dual Wan will ensure that your system is never attacked by any kind of virus and the like. This way, you will be able to ensure continuity in terms of your tasks and schedule.

4) Filters – thanks to this feature, nobody else will be able to poke their nose into your business. You will be able to control your network and keep yourself separate from the other users using the same integrated network. Every group will have its own set of rights and hence, privacy.
Other features focus on network traffic, Ethernet and configuration features.

The strengths of the Duolinks SW24 Vpn Router Dual Wan are literally limitless because firstly, it is built in such a way that you can be rest assured that it will never get damaged; secondly, it takes little to no time to set up and become a part of the user’s network, no matter what OS the system runs on and thirdly, the overall layout of the Duolinks SW24 Vpn Router Dual Wan makes it easy to recognize issues, if any and also makes it possible to keep the wires away from each other. If that wasn’t enough, the interface is easy to use and is 100% customer friendly. You will never find anything wrong with it or find a reason to complain.

The only limitation that can be identified at the moment is that if a user has complex needs as far as networking is concerned, he may find it difficult to work with the Duolinks SW24 Vpn Router Dual Wan but otherwise, the product is top-notch and literally void of any problems.

This router is recommended to be used by small and medium business owners as they will be able to tap into all the above-mentioned features and be able to utilize the entire potential of the product. It’s also great for home-use, preferably by a large family!

All in all the Duolinks SW24 Vpn Router Dual Wan is a great product to invest in because it won’t die out on you or create any obstacles that will get in your way. What more can you ask for?

Why do We Need Server Load Balancing?

March 16th, 2011

In networking, load balancing is a technique employed to help in the even distribution of work across network links. Hardware such as load balancing routers and load balancing software are used to help in this function. A load balancing solution is used to help distribute requests across multiple servers that actually appear as one server to the requester.

Server groups actually have multiple servers to handle to high volumes of traffic. Load balancing hardware is used to help route requests to multiple servers and send the data back to the client at a high speed.

Server load balancing helps in the allocation of traffic across network servers in a more or less even spread. In this way, overloading one server is avoided. Network performance is greatly enhanced when traffic is efficiently routed across multiple network servers rather than to one single server. In this way one server is not overwhelmed with fluctuations in activity. Reliable networking involves several factors including high availability, low downtime, fault tolerance and clustering. These provide the infrastructure needed to ensure reliability and steady connectivity to the internet.

Why do we need server load balancing? Consider a scenario where only one web server is in operation to handle all incoming requests to your company website. When the business is being established, it may be possible to handle the volume of traffic your site receives with one web server. However, as the business grows, the one server will not be sufficient to handle the high volume of traffic to your website. Webpages will load slowly and you will have users waiting till the server is free to process client requests. This is not a good thing as people are not very good at playing the waiting game. Impatience with the lack of fast connectivity can send your potential customers into the arms of the competition.

Scary thought indeed! There will come a time when upgrading the server will not be cost effective any more. What do you do in such a situation? The solution is load balancing where more servers are added to help make the distribution of the load possible. With a group of servers or server cluster the load can be distributed and this applies to various server types like database servers and application servers among others.
When you have multiple web servers in your server group, the incoming traffic can be evenly allocated among the different servers. However, to the client it should appear as one server only rather than several servers. A case in point is that of the internet browser.

Load balancing that is used for distributing HTTP requests is known in network parlance as IP Spraying. The equipment is a a hardware load balancer or simply load balancer that helps to intercept the requests and route them to a server in the server group.

To sum up the article, the act of balancing the server load through the distribution of incoming HTTP requests to diverse nodes inside a server group or cluster is termed server load balancing. The primary goal is to optimize system performance through higher availability and scalability.

The Function of Hardware Load Balancers

March 1st, 2011

hardware load balancerWe live in an internet age where people spend large portions of the day connection to the information highway. There are so many businesses that have gone online in an effort to reach a global customer base. Many of us have made the effort to understand the concept of the internet and how it can help us. That said, the world of information technology is not an easy one to understand because of the changes wrought from day to day.

Are you looking for information on load balancing? Are you trying to understand the concept and what it can mean for your business? Do you need information on hardware load balancers? Stay with us to find the answers to your questions in a simple, easy to understand article that can help you.

It is always best to begin with the basics. In this case, let’s understand the function of load balancing before moving on to hardware load balancers. In network ‘speak’, load balancing is the physical act of distributing the workload as evenly as possible over two or more network links, computers, CPUs or other resources. The underlying principle of load balancing is to optimize and maximize performance and resource utilization.

Quite simply hardware load balancers help to shift the load from just one server to multiple servers. Evenly spreading the load helps to reduce overload and increase response time. The use of multiple components whether it is network links or computers or anything else, rather than one component, dramatically increases reliability.

A hardware load balancer or HLD is often referred to as a “layer 4-7 router”. This is a physical device that directs the computers to different servers within the network. This routing is based on various factors like server processor utilization, overall performance of the server and number of connections to the server.

When you make use of a hardware load balancer, the probability of overloading a server is greatly reduced. Further, each computer connected to the network benefits in terms of optimized bandwidth. Network downtimes; traffic prioritization; end to end application monitoring; security attacks and user authentication among others are all possible with the use of hardware load balancers.

There are several load balancing software available to help effectively use the load balancing technique. There are some primary reasons why hardware load balancers are used and these include: increasing system capacity; improving performance in terms of consistency and output and providing hardiness and flexibility of the system.

How exactly does hardware load balancing work? Network traffic is directed to shared IPs or virtual IPs. The request is received and the load balancer attached to the IP and decides where to direct the request. This is where load balancing strategy comes into play. It helps to identify the best route in terms of traffic volumes and sends the information along what is often the best possible route.

When the request is forwarded to the appropriate server, the server will respond. And either send the information back to the load balancer or directly to the end user via a default gateway.