About IP routing

[eddiechu_1]

The below is my company system structure , we have three IP secments which are 168.1.172.x , 168.1.171.x and 168.1.170.x , about 50 client machine and one unix database server in each IP secment, each user need to access all servers , we have a windows NT server that dedicate for IP routing , as the NT server is not very stable , I want to let the unix server run the IP routing (, is it possible ? which one is better if run IP routing at unix server or run at a dedicate NT server ? thx

[Thayanidhi]

Does your hp-ux systems have multiple
netwrok adapters?
If you have two network adaptors per server,
configure the second network adaptors in
different sub net and connect all together.
enable GATED=1 in /etc/rc.config.d/netconf
Define the proper route in all servers for
each other.

Approach this with more care. Back up netconf
before editing.

TT

[Steven E. Protter]

Don't back up netconf in /etc/rc.config.d that will mess up your system badly.

SEP

[Tim D Fulford]

And ensure set ip_forwardig=1.

If you have 3 computers with 2 cards each, you can form a triangle with routes either way round, so if one goes down the other two should be able to route for it...

All of the good stuff above I would NOT reccomend this as the databases will probably need maintainance and so this will put extra constraints on the mainainatnance of these machines. But if you are $$$/⠬⠬⠬⠬ constrained then it will work and will be quite cheap

[Bharat Katkar]

If your are looking for reliabilty and performance i would recommend to go for a separate layer III Switch or an dedicated Router for the entire Setup.
Don't know if you can approve budget for the same.

[Thomas Bianco]

You have a few very good options here, but I think the best bet would be to tear down the NT box and rebuild it with Linux or FreeBSD.

Both have excellent routing subsystems, and are easy to configure. I would also suggest you look at consolidating your 3 subnets. Unless there is a compelling reason to have separate subnets (like a slow link between sites) everything usually works better in a single switched fabric. K.I.S.S is the word of the day.

As a high cost option, you should look into layer 3 switches. Cisco, bay networks, and foundry networks provide very high quality, low downtime, and layer 3 switches.

If you can pull it, get a layer 3 switch and consolidate into 2 or even 1 subnet.