So what is the difference between Vector Routing w/Best Path Routing and generic wan load balancing?

With our patent pending Vector Routing technology the EdgeXL platform provides the most secure, robust and reliable non-BGP multi-WAN connectivity solutions on the market. Our appliances link two or more wide-area network connections from one or more diverse network providers without the need for complex protocols like BGP or other expensive equipment. Beyond the additional bandwidth provided through the joining of multiple WAN links, the EdgeXL is able to deliver 99.999% network reliablity in the event of a WAN outage.

Some of our unique capabilities include:

• Best Path Routing: By de!ning critical networks the EdgeXL is able to automatically and continuously monitor these networks and manipulate the routing tables in order to always take advanatage of the most e"ective and responsive network path (SLA reporting is provided as a added bene!t).

• Multi-Level Outage Detection: Our patent pending outage detection module uses the most advance outage detection methedology available on the market today (with Virtual Technician)

• ActiveDNS: Provides the ability to actively update Internet domain name resolution in order to maximize inbound network sessions and instantly failover in the event of an outage.

What is divese link routing?

Disverse Link Routing is essentially another name or wan load balancing, or internet load balancing. This is also sometimes called network load balancing or multihoming.

Whatever the term used, it all means the same thing... connecting two or more links (generally from the Internet) so that the LAN and communicate faster, more reliabily, and generally at a lower cost, without using expensive equipment or complex protocols like BGP (Border Gateway Protocol).

BGP is a very differnt protocol to configure and generally requires an AS number which can take a very long time to aquire. Coordination with each different ISP is also required, and it may also require expensive equipment and engineers to configure.

Diverse Link Routing has none of these requirements. In fact for most environments DLR can be configured in as little as 15 minutes. Once the wan load balancing is setup, end-users will immmediately see an improvement in both speed and reliability. Many users test out the redundancy capabilities by simply unplugging the primary WAN link and are happy to see that they continue to surf the Internet without any problems.

DLR is clearly a superior method for enhancing connectivity between the LAN and WAN. While there are many products out there that perform WAN optimization and traffic shaping, none provide a low cost method for adding both additional bandwidth and redundancy at the same time.

Fluent Energy

XRoads Networks boosts productivity and reduces costs
for leading energy consulting company

About This Customer
This customer is an energy procurement consulting and technical services company that assists large corporate, industrial, and municipal entities in purchasing wholesale electricity and natural gas.

The Challenge
This year Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) were required to communicate with public energy utilities via an electronic data interchange (EDI) protocol. Since a loss of Internet connectivity in this environment can cost our company thousands of dollars in lost time and effort, it is essential to minimize any connectivity interruptions in a cost effective manner.

The Solution
After an analysis of several possible solutions, the company selected the XRoads Edge. This solution used two independent service providers connected to an XRoads Edge router. The Edge router allowed them to combine different link technologies such as DSL and T1 to optimize bandwidth, redundancy, and expense. The XRoads Edge router also provides a highly configurable set of features that helps unload LAN server functions, allowing them to configure their servers to provide highly available and redundant file serving and email functionality.

The Quote
“In addition to providing us with a highly flexible and cost effective solution, the level of technical support and service from XRoads Networks has been exceptional. Their support department assisted in evaluating our needs prior to purchase, and worked closely with us to ensure that initial installation was successful.”
Michael Mastroianni – President, Fluent Energy

We wanted to share some of our latest solutions with this community, so from time to time we will post customer feedback and case studies to see how our solutions are being used in the real world.

After a long intermission, the blog is back online.