10 Things You Should Know About Multihoming
I was wondering what to do when my network was frequently running down. I contactedsome experts who told me that the problem was from my internet service provider – ISP – and that my link was down. I was disappointed as I had a lot of things to do. I was in this state of confusion when a friend introduced multihoming to me and that solved my problem.Lucky me.
More to it, the solution also revealed 10 secrets and benefits of multihoming to me. And I want you to also know them.
What is Multihoming?
Multihoming is a system or a mechanism in which a local computer network is connected to more than one ISPs.
The Ten Things
1)Wider Bandwidth
One benefit of multihoming is that it gives you access to wider bandwidth. This is because the number of internet services providers you connect determines the bandwidth as each has a specific bandwidth.
2) Continuous Internet Access
Multihoming guarantees continuous internet access because if one ISP runs down, the other connected networks will keep functioning and remember my problem before that friend introduced multihoming to me. I am now enjoying all round internet access.Very incredible.
#3) Reduces Backup Congestion
In a case where you do a lot of internet backups, multihomed network shares the files to backup files among the various internet service providers. This reduces traffic or congestion that might arise in the case of you using a single face ISP.
We are still discussing the 10 things you should know about multihoming. I hope you are still here?
4)Setting Up
If you are thinking about multihoming, the basic thing you should consider is the settings requirement. In the multihoming setup requirements, one needs multiple network adapters, multiple modems, an edge router that supports a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) because this balances the load in each modem automatically, hence reducing traffic. You will need multiple of these because each ISP requires a network adapter as well as a modem.
5) Equal Load Distribution
One of multihoming’s basic functions is that it balances or distributes the loads as received by various host computers. For example, if 50 host computers are using a single ISP, the load becomes so heavy on the ISP but a situation where 2 ISPs are used, the load of the 50 computers is equally distributed to each ISP, hence balancing the load.
#6) Multiple Address Spaces With Single Nic (Network Identification Card)
Multihoming sometimes allows us to assign multiple address spaces to a single NIC. This is what most people call multihosting though this system is rarely used today.
7) Provides Satisfaction And Efficiency
Why are you still down casted as I was because my network was frequently down? I believe your customers and clients are starting to loose trust in your company. Take my advice and have your network multihomed. This will make your business operate efficiently and you will have some personal sense of satisfaction, especially if your business is solely internet based.
8) Provides Redundancy
Multihoming also provides redundancy and establishes gateway services. Redundancy in a way that it reduces the pressure on the network.
9) Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)
Setting up multihoming is important but one funny and at the same time surprising thing is that it cannot be done on a MicrosoftWindows machine except with static addresses and to do this, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol must be enabled.
Refer to How to turn on DHCP in Windows 8 and How Do I enable or disable DHCPto learn how to enable DHCP on your computer. They have tutorials for almost all windows operating system versions.
10)Drawbacks
Not everything in the garden is rosy.Multihoming also has its drawbacks because of the use of different servers on one host computer. That is because if one system goes down, there is an extra load on the others which mightreduce the network strength. To overcome this failover capability, one needs to get an edge router which may be very expensive. Meaning, people of low financial status cannot multihome even if they want to.
In Conclusion
Looking at the various advantages of multihoming, we realize that it helps keep our business running with satisfactory results. In view of these facts, if you’ve not started multihoming, its time you give it a try now that you know these 10 things about multihoming.
