- Will XTREME speed up a single connection to the Internet?
No, XTREME provides increased speed by providing load balancing utilizing multiple lines bandwidth.
- What methods of load balancing does XTREME provide?
There are 4 different types of Load Balancing you can set on the FatPipe.
- Round Robin would be used if you had 3 lines of similar speed, 3 T1’s 3 DSL’s. Round Robin load balancing will split up traffic equally across all 3 lines.
- Response Time would be used if you had lines of dissimilar speed such as a DSL and a T1. This algorithm will send more traffic out the line that has more bandwidth so you actually get to use the added bandwidth of your second line instead of all traffic going out at the speed of the slowest line.
- Fastest Route will send traffic out the line that has the best connection to each site that you are going to. It picks the fastest line by sending out SYN packets across all lines to each site and then using the line that receives that ACK packet first.
- Weighted algorithm configures FatPipe XTREME to balance traffic in proportion to the WAN weights defined by you. Each interface needs to be assigned a weight. For each new outbound session, this algorithm finds the interface whose current throughput to total throughput ratio is farthest below the ratio determined by its weight, and send the session on that interface.
- I have one DSL and one ISDN line. Can XTREME balance load over these two lines even though they have different speeds?
Yes, XTREME balances load over lines of similar or dissimilar speeds. In cases like this where lines are of extremely unequal speeds, we recommend using Response Time or On-Failure.
- What happens to the data when one line fails?
All FatPipe products provide automatic failover to available lines. However, a line failure can occur in the middle of a session. Depending on the client software being used, a reload may be requested or the client will automatically reconnect.
- Is it possible to set Link Speed / Duplex Mode in LAN and WAN interfaces?
Yes, this option is used to set or change the Ethernet mode such as speed and duplex for each interface. This can be set through the Graphical User Interface (GUI), under each interface by clicking on the Interface button in the main menu, and then the LAN and WAN tabs respectively.
- Does XTREME do incoming data load balancing?
No, XTREME does not load balance incoming data. However, WARP, another FatPipe router clustering device, does using FatPipe patent-pending SmartDNS technology.
- What is Reverse Mapping?
Reverse mapping is a static 1-to-1 NAT translation for inbound traffic. This will allow you to change the destination address in the packets coming in on your secondary line to match the addresses from your primary line. This “tricks” your firewall into thinking that it’s all coming from the same place. The benefit of this is that in a typical installation, no changes are required to the firewall configuration. Reverse Mapping rules are configured in the Inbound Policy page in the GUI.
- How does XTREME conserve IP addresses?
By using Reverse Mapping, servers on the LAN side of the XTREME are accessible from computers on the Internet through the mapping of a public IP address to a private IP address. In order for a server to be visible over multiple ISPs, it has to have IP addresses in the range of IP addresses provided by each ISP. For example, if there are three ISPs, three IP addresses per server are required. If one ISP fails, the data is routed over the other two. Without Reverse Mapping, each server that needs to be accessed from the outside will need three IP addresses. If there are ten servers, 3 x 10 = 30 IP addresses will be required. With Reverse Mapping, only three IP addresses are required.
Here is how it works: Each application (e.g., web server or mail server), is assigned a port number, which is universally known. For example, the standard port number for HTTP (web) is 80 and SMTP (mail) is port 25. Thus, port numbers are assigned to each server based on its applications. Three IP addresses are assigned to XTREME -- one from each ISP -- so that inbound traffic comes from all three WAN lines. When a web page request comes in, XTREME sends all requests to port 80, which hosts the web server. Similarly, emails are sent to the port that handles the email server. Thus, three IP addresses handle ALL servers.
- What is the key benefit of Reverse Mapping?
The key benefit of Reverse Mapping is the conservation of public IP space. There is no need to waste public IPs on LAN computers that only need outbound access to the Internet when they can use private IP addresses instead. Meanwhile, only those computers that need to be accessible from the Internet will need public IP addresses mapped to them. For further savings, a single public IP address can be mapped to multiple internal servers based on different port numbers.
- What is Pass-Through?
A Pass-Through statement will simply allow certain traffic based on IP address and/or port to pass through the FatPipe unchanged. This is useful because it helps with the overall goal of not making any configuration changes on the firewall during installation. Pass-Through rules are applied to control inbound traffic and can be configured in Inbound Policy page of GUI.
- Does Pass-Through require the use of Proxy ARP?
Yes. You must setup the WAN interface using the rules of Proxy ARP for Pass-Through to work.
- What is the benefit of Proxy ARP? How does it help with installing XTREME?
Proxy ARP is a special feature of XTREME. It allows you to integrate XTREME into a network with very little change to your existing LAN and WAN IP configuration. It works by taking a small subnet of your existing IP subnet and using that on the WAN interface while using the full IP subnet on the LAN interface. XTREME will automatically recognize this and route packets between the two interfaces. (The FatPipe responds to external ARP requests on behalf of internal devices using Inbound Policy rules by means of ProxyArp.)
Example
If you purchased a block of 16 IP addresses from your ISP and your network was setup with a 255.255.255.240 (/28) subnet, you would have 14 usable hosts on your network (first and last IP are unusable). Now let's assume that the router is assigned the first usable IP address, such as 12.34.56.1. To take advantage of Proxy ARP, you would assign the next IP address, 12.34.56.2 to the WAN interface with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.252 (/30). Now since 12.34.56.3 is the broadcast IP of this /30 subnet, it will be unusable on the LAN. That leaves 11 usable IPs on the LAN side: 12.34.56.4 to 12.34.56.14.
Please note that you can use a subnet larger than 255.255.255.252 (/30) on the WAN interface and still have Proxy ARP work (as long as that subnet is smaller than the full subnet assigned to you by the ISP). A/30 subnet is the smallest subnet possible and therefore uses up the least amount of IP addresses. This is why we recommend using a /30 subnet whenever possible.
- How does Proxy ARP know what ARP requests to respond to?
The XTREME will respond to ARP requests for any IP address that is in the subnets specified on the LAN interface. It will also respond to ARP requests for IP addresses that are in the Inbound Policy statements.
- When would I need to use multi-homing on the LAN?
You will want to use multi-homing on the LAN when you want a server on the private LAN to be accessible from the Internet and choose to use Inbound policy to Pass-Through instead of NATing the IP. The server would need both a public and private IP for it to be available to both clients on the Internet as wells as clients on the private LAN.
- Can I configure the XTREME remotely?
Yes. XTREME has a web-based Remote Configuration page that you can access from the Internet using any java-compliant browser and by having the “enable remote management” box checked on the WAN interface. You can view your line speeds, configure settings, and even reboot the XTREME box using the remote configuration page. You’ll need to setup a login and password. Note that the communication is encrypted.
- I cannot access the XTREME Remote Configuration page. What can I do?
If you cannot open XTREME's web-based Remote Configuration page, please check the following: From Remote: Make sure you have typed your user name and password correctly. If you're trying to access it from the LAN side, make sure the computer on the LAN is on the same IP subnet as the XTREME. Double-check the IP address and subnet on the LAN interface of the XTREME and the IP address and subnet on the client computer. Make sure the LAN line is completely inserted into the LAN port and that you have a link light. Also make sure the Firewall is set to pass port 5001 as this is the port the FatPipe GUI uses.
- What do I do when the WAN ports show up on the Remote Configuration page, but it indicates that a router is down?
Make sure the router is functional. Check to see that you have a good physical connection to the router. Double-check that the IP address, subnet mask, and gateway are entered correctly. If the router is plugged directly into the FatPipe, make sure you are using a working cross-over cable.
- Will Citrix® Thin Client server (MetaFrame™) work with XTREME? How do I configure XTREME for this?
Yes, Citrix Thin Client servers work with XTREME. FatPipe products have been thoroughly tested by with Citrix’ MetaFrame. The Citrix server will need to have an IP address that is accessible to the client PCs. If the Citrix server needs to be accessible from the Internet, you need to setup an Inbound Policy on the XTREME to allow inbound traffic to the Citrix server.
- My Citrix Server is at my ISP. How do I configure my local printer?
If the printer is on the local LAN and the Citrix server will be doing the actual printing to the printer, then the printer will need to be accessible to the Citrix server. You would need to setup an Inbound Policy on the XTREME to allow inbound traffic to the printer.
- How does XTREME work with DHCP enabled on the routers?
XTREME gives you the option of setting a static IP address or obtaining an IP address automatically using DHCP for any WAN port. Simply open the XTREME Remote Configuration page, go to the WAN's Port Page, and select "Obtain IP Address automatically from DHCP" on the WAN's Port Page of the XTREME Configuration Page.
- Can the LAN IP address be on the same subnet as the WAN?
No, the LAN and WAN IP addresses must be on different networks (subnets) for routing of packets to take place. (Refer to the question about Proxy ARP). However, with a ProxyARP setup, you will have a subnet on the LAN interface that overlaps the subnet on a WAN interface.
- How do I configure XTREME to work with internal routers?
The router's gateway address must be the IP address of XTREME's LAN interface. You would also need to setup an Inbound Policy (and possibly Static Routes) for those routers to be accessible from the outside.
- Does XTREME work with SMDS T1 service?
Yes, XTREME works perfectly with Switched Multimegabit Data Service (SMDS). The data encryption and compression of its IP traffic occurs outside of the XTREME unit.
- I have a firewall on my LAN. Do I place the XTREME unit in front or in back of the firewall? What is the initial setup procedure?
The XTREME unit sits on the edge of the LAN, in front of all internal servers, including firewalls. The XTREME unit would be placed between your routers and your firewall. The firewall's gateway address must be the IP address of XTREME's LAN interface. To allow inbound connections to servers behind the firewall, you would need to setup an Inbound Policy (and possibly with Static Routes) on the XTREME.
- What is SNMP and will XTREME work with it?
SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) is used for monitoring network devices. XTREME can be configured to send SNMP traps to a computer on the LAN that is running SNMP management software.
- Why is SNMP not working?
Check that the community name and trap destination IP are correct on the SNMP page of XTREME's Remote Configuration interface. Also make sure the SNMP management software is configured correctly on your PC.
- I have just installed the XTREME unit, yet routing does not seem to be occurring behind the firewall. Routing does seem to work if we are connected directly to the XTREME though. What's wrong?
Most likely, this is due to incorrect ARP entries in the routers and/or firewall. The fastest way to fix this is to cold reboot (turn off for 30 seconds and turn back on) the routers and firewall. Otherwise, if possible, you can go to each device and clear its ARP entries.
