Remote Site Management

This chapter provides an overview on managing remote site profiles using the web browser based OfficeConnect Remote 840 Manager. If you need information on setting up or initially configuring the unit, see the OfficeConnect Remote 840 SDSL Router Installation Guide. This section is divided into the following parts:

• "Remote Site Overview"

• "Managing a Remote Site Profile"

• "Configuring Network Service Information (PPP / RFC 1483 / RFC 1490)"

• "Configuring ATM Information"

• "Configuring Protocol Parameters"

• "Monitoring Remote Site Connections"

To set up connections over the WAN, a remote site profile must be created and edited for each remote location you want to connect to. With this profile, you specify ATM virtual circuit or Frame Relay DLCI information, protocols, and addresses that determine the method of connection and communication to the remote site.

You first need to add a remote site profile, and then you modify the profile to include WAN connection and network information.

The following list summarizes the necessary information.

• WAN - Network Service (PPP / RFC 1483/RFC 1490) information, and ATM Virtual Channel (VC) or Frame Relay (DLCI) information

• IP - IP addresses, address translation tables, static routes, and RIP usage.

• IPX - IPX network address information, static routes and services, and RIP usage.

• Bridging - Bridging (enable / disable) to the remote site.

If you need to connect to multiple remote sites such as the Internet and a remote office, you should set up a remote site profile for each location.

Once created, remote site profiles can be enabled or disabled. When a profile is enabled, the OfficeConnect Remote 840 reads the connection parameters for the remote site from the profile and continuously attempts to establish a connection to the remote site.

When a profile is disabled, the connection will be terminated and no other data will be directed to the remote site.

Configuration changes to a remote site profile do not take effect until the next time the profile is enabled. The OfficeConnect Remote 840 Manager automatically disables and re-enables the remote site profile when the Modify button is pressed on the Remote Site menu page.

To disable or enable a profile manually, clear or check the Enable Remote Site checkbox as appropriate.

Once you start modifying a Remote Site, you must click Modify before you exit the Remote Site screens, or else the data you entered will be lost. Also, remember to save your configuration before rebooting your OfficeConnect Remote 840 so that your changes will be written to permanent FLASH memory.

Adding a Remote Site Profile

1 .   From the OfficeConnect Remote 840 Manager home page, select Configuration > Remote Sites (WAN). Then click the Add button to bring up the Remote Site General Add screen.

2 .   Enter the Remote Site Name. Enter a name to use to identify the remote site profile. (Ex: ISP or CorpOffice)

3 .   Ensure that the Enable Remote Site box is checked if you want to the connection to come up as soon as you finish the configuration.

4 .   Click Add. Then click Save Configuration on the sidebar to permanently save the changes.

The Network Service (PPP and RFC 1483/ RFC 1490), ATM, and network protocol (Bridging, IP, and IPX) information has not been configured yet. To make a connection with the remote site you must configure the Network Service, ATM, and at least one network protocol. (See "Configuring Network Service Information (PPP / RFC 1483 / RFC 1490)", "Configuring ATM Information", and "Configuring Protocol Parameters" for details.)

Modifying a Remote Site Profile

1 .   From the OfficeConnect Remote 840 home page, select Configuration > Remote Site (WAN).

2 .   Select the name of a remote site profile and click Modify. This brings up the Remote Site General Modify screen.

3 .   Change configuration parameters as needed and use the Next button to continue to the ATM, IP, IP Advanced, and IPX configuration screens.

For quick help on specific parameters, click the Help button located at the bottom of each screen.

For more detailed help, go to the appropriate place in this guide (see "Configuring ATM Information" and Configuring Other WAN Parameters).

• Click Modify on any screen to set all the Remote Site parameters.

• Click Save Configuration on the sidebar to permanently save the changes.

1 .   From the OfficeConnect Remote 840 home page, select Configuration > Remote Site (WAN).

2 .   Select the name of a remote site profile and click Delete. This brings up the Remote Site General Delete screen.

3 .   To delete the profile, click Delete. To return to the remote site profile selection list, click Prev.

A Network Service defines the data encapsulation and protocol characteristics for the connection between two packet switching devices.

The OfficeConnect Remote 840 supports PPP, RFC 1483 and RFC 1490 Network Services. The OfficeConnect Remote 840 and the remote site must both use the same Network Service in order for a connection to be established.

For PPP, the authentication name and password must be provided to allow the connection to be established. The OfficeConnect Remote 840 supports both PAP and CHAP authentication.

The Network Service parameters can be configured on the Remote Sites General screen.

1 .   Access this screen by going to the OfficeConnect Remote 840 home page. Select Configuration > Remote Sites (WAN), select a defined remote site and click Modify.

2 .   This will access the Remote Sites General Modify Screen.

3 .   If your unit is using ATM, the Remote Sites General Modify Screen will contain the following fields:

4 .   Select the network service to be either RFC 1483, or PPP.

If PPP, enter the Authentication Name and Authentication Password provided to you. You can change the header compression from the default of none to TCP/IP if you wish.

5 .   Click Next to proceed to the ATM Configuration screen.

Frame Relay

1 .   If your unit is using Frame Relay, the Remote Sites General Modify screen will contain the following fields:

2 .   Enter a name to identify the remote site.

3 .   Select Network Service to either PPP over Frame Relay or RFC 1490.

If you select PPP over Frame Relay, enter the Authentication Name and Authentication Password provided to you. You can change the header compression from the default of None to TCP/IP if you wish.

4 .   Enter the DLCI.

5 .   Check the Enable Bridging and Enable MAC Encapsulated Routing boxes according to your service provider's directions.

6 .   Check the Enable Remote Site box.

The ATM parameters are supplied by your service provider. These parameters consist of:

• ATM VC information

• ATM Category of Service parameters

ATM allows for permanent connections (PVCs) and switched connections (SVCs). For a PVC, the required VC information parameters consist of the Virtual Path Identifier (VPI) and Virtual Channel Identifier (VCI).

The VPI / VCI uniquely specify the path to the remote site and are placed in the ATM cell header that is used to route each cell to the remote site.

Two remote site profiles with the same VPI and VCI cannot be active simultaneously. You may encounter this situation if you want to log in to the same remote site with different PPP authentication parameters. You should disable all profiles using the same VPI / VCI and then enable the one that should be active.

For SVCs, there is not a fixed VPI / VCI. Instead, a destination address is used to set up a path through the ATM backbone network when the connection is to be established. Currently, the SVC capability is disabled in the OfficeConnect Remote 840.

ATM Category of Service parameters specify characteristics (also referred to as traffic shaping) of data transmitted from the OfficeConnect Remote 840 to the remote site. They have no effect on data transmitted from the remote site to the OfficeConnect Remote 840.

ATM Modify Screen

Go to Configuration > Remote Sites (WAN). Select a site from the list and click Modify.

Click Next to proceed to the ATM Modify screen. The screen contains the following fields:

• If PVC is selected, enter the VPI and VCI.

  • VPI - The Virtual Path Identifier (VPI) is part of the cell header for the cells that are transferred over this connection.

  • VCI - The Virtual Channel Identifier (VCI) is part of the cell header for the cells that are transferred over this connection. If you are configuring multiple VCs, enter the number of the respective VC in this field.

• If necessary, enter any Category of Service parameters that have been provided to you.

  • UBR - Unspecified Bit Rate; no limit has been specified for the rate for information flow.

  • VBR - Variable Bit Rate; a certain rate has been specified for the flow of information.

  • CBR - Constant Bit Rate; a constant rate has been specified for the flow of information.

• Enter the cell rate transmission parameters, if applicable.

  • PCR - The Peak Cell Rate is the maximum amount of cells per second transmitted over this connection. This is determined by the minimum intercell spacing in seconds, which is the time interval from the first bit of one cell to the first bit of the next cell.

  • SCR - The Sustainable Cell Rate, in cells/second. This is the rate at which cells are transmitted over this connection. This is the maximum average rate or cells that are sent in bursts at a peak rate.

  • BT - The Burst Tolerance (also referred to as Maximum Burst Size), in cells/second. This is the maximum number of cells that can be sent at the peak rate.

    If no traffic shaping parameters have been provided you should choose the default parameter of UBR with a PCR value of 0. The OfficeConnect Remote 840 will attempt to use all of the upstream bandwidth when transmitting data to the remote site.

There are more WAN connection parameters that can be configured, such as IP routing, IPX routing, Bridging, and Address Translation. Instructions for configuring these parameters are located in:

• "Configuring IP Routing"

• "Configuring IPX Routing"

• "Configuring Bridging"

• "Network Address Translation Using the OfficeConnect Remote 840"

• To determine which remote sites have been configured and to see a summary of the remote site WAN parameters, access the Monitor > Remote Sites > Remote Site Status screen.

• To monitor packet counters for a specific remote site, access the Monitor > Remote Sites > Remote Site Counters screen. (Remote Site Counters are only applicable for active connections.)

• To determine whether a remote site connection has been established or to determine why a connection is not working properly, check the connection event log. This log is accessed at Monitor > Events > Connection Event Log.

• To monitor throughput for all active remote sites, access the Monitor > ATM Throughput screen.

For more information on these and other monitoring capabilities, see Chapter 11, "Monitoring the OfficeConnect Remote 840".