Setting Multiline Load Balancing; Setting The Maximum Number Of Dial-Out Ports - Lucent Technologies PortMaster 4 Configuration Manual

Setting Multiline Load Balancing

You can set several ports to connect to a single location to distribute heavy traffic loads.
This capability is called multiline load balancing. You can define a threshold—known as
a high-water mark—for a location. The high-water mark triggers the PortMaster to bring
up an additional connection to the location when the amount of data specified by the
high-water mark is queued. The PortMaster examines the queue several times a minute
to determine if the high-water mark has been reached.
Load balancing is useful for on-demand routing because additional ports for the location
are added as the load exceeds what can be handled by one port. When the ports are idle
for the time specified by the set location idletime command (see "Setting the Idle
Timer" on page 7-7), all ports used for that connection are timed out simultaneously.
Load balancing can save you money because you do not need to configure your
network to handle the maximum load between locations. Periods of heavy traffic can be
handled by additional ports on an as-needed basis. At other times, the additional ports
can be used for other purposes.
When multiple ports are in use, each packet is queued on the port with the least
amount of traffic in the queue. Ports with very different speeds must not be combined
for load balancing purposes. The overall throughput for a given number of ports is
approximately equal to the number of ports multiplied by the throughput of the slowest
port.
The following settings are used to configure load balancing and define when additional
lines to this location are dialed.

Setting the Maximum Number of Dial-Out Ports

To configure load balancing, you must define the number of dial-out ports that can be
used to dial and establish a connection with this location. This setting creates a pool of
ports that can be used at the same time to establish a connection with this location.
If the maximum number of ports is set to 0, no connection with this location is
established. If the maximum number of ports is set to any number greater than one, the
high-water mark is used to determine when additional connections are established with
this location.
When more than one line is open to a given location, the PortMaster balances the load
across each line. When the ports are idle for the time specified by the set location
idletime command (see "Setting the Idle Timer" on page 7-7), all ports used for that
connection are timed out simultaneously.
To set the maximum number of dial-out ports for a location, use the following
command:
Command> set location Locname maxports Number
The Number variable is a value between 0 and 95—the total number of available ports.
Configuring Dial-Out Connections
Setting Multiline Load Balancing
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