ClearFoundation

Hi all,

The primary job of our Clear OS box is to distribute traffic across our network to different routers and servers. This is done by maintaining a static routing table from the command line - editable using nano, followed by the command to re-load the routes.

You can display the routing table from the Network Settings tab in the GUI, however this simply gives you a view of the currently loaded routes.

In our scenario we can change the routes if a connection goes down, from one server to another etc (this does happen more than it should in our rural business).

In a future release I would like to request that the static routing table becomes editable from the GUI (so remote command line access is not required).

enabled or disabled routes could be commented or un-commented out, allowing 'backup routes' to be stored in readiness for a 'swap over'.

would anyone else vote for editable routes via the GUI if I were to suggest it?

David

Hi,

I would suggest trying one of the routing protocols specifically designed for this purpose. I believe that OSPF or BGP should be able to handle something like that.

- Marcus

Hi Marcus,

Thanks for your thoughts. If I was operating a data center or mission critical network for a large business then exploring the protocols you mentioned would be good. I have had a look on Wikipedia at them, however I feel that they are beyond the technical skill level (myself included!) that our little company has - the static routing table in COS does the job perfectly for our needs.

I could have a setup with auto rollover to a second WAN, but I haven't got round to looking at this yet.

David

I haven't tried it myself, but I've seen that quagga is available in the yum repositories. I don't know how difficult it is to set up, but I think that it can do exactly what you need. I've found some documentation at: www.quagga.net/docs/quagga.html. If you look under zebra in the documentation you should find what you need.

- Marcus

Thanks Marcus
I was looking for something like this

HI Marcus,

I had a good look at the quagga link you sent, and this looks very comprehensive. If i get some time i would like to experiment with a test box. This gives an enterprise range of routing tools - however it also requires an enterprise skill level to administer it, and I believe is beyond what we require with the size of network we currently have. Ask me again when we have grown in size to have branches all over the UK and I'll have changed my mind.

My forum post was aimed significantly lower, at just incorporating an editor for the routes file in the GUI (and the option to re load it!)

David

...looking at the Zebra I could create a 'rollover' route change, so that if the destination is not available within X hops then use the next route. hummm...I will need to read up a bit more.

David

Glad it was of some help. I've studied the protocols last term at the university I go to, and I know all the theory behind them, but I've never tried to use them, since I don't really have a network infrastructure they would be useful for.

- Marcus

Hi David,

Yes, i'm trying quagga too. In ClearOS 6.3 just yum install quagga. This is great program, and in my opinion, should be integrated in ClearOS Webconfig.

What about if you put in a wishlist?
I will vote for that