[ale] Re: how to use Two modems in linux(mandrake 7.1) or what ever works.

Eric Z. Ayers eric.ayers at mindspring.com
Tue Jun 20 21:16:49 EDT 2000


OK, I dug a little more and found:

PPP Multilink Protocol for Linux
http://linux-mp.terz.de/

and an alternative implmentation at:

http://mp.mansol.net.au/

-Eric.

Eric Z. Ayers writes:
 > 
 > Hi Lee Roy, Arthur, Linux Gals and Guys,
 > 
 > The Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts is and always has been:
 > 
 >   A forum for both new and experienced users of Linux.
 > 
 > And this list is an open forum at that.  Unmoderated, uncensored,
 > untamed.  Please feel free to post questions and answers.  There are
 > no formal guidelines, but I would ask that you try to consult any
 > documentation you can find first, and when you get around to asking
 > your question, tell the group what documentation you've looked at and
 > what you've already tried, what error messages (if any) you are
 > getting and most people will be happy to help out. 
 > 
 > 
 > Having said that, this isn't really a helpdesk either, it's just a
 > group of folks with a common interest trying to learn and have fun.
 > 
 > I am not without sin - I have been known to flame occasionally too,
 > but so far I see no egregious offenses warranting such.  Please
 > remember that your conversations on this list are public and are
 > archived in a public place for anyone to read.  A good guideline would
 > be to not say things you wouldn't want your future spouse or
 > grandchildren to read. 
 > 
 > As far as multilink PPP goes, I have no experience and I missed part
 > of this thread.  
 > 
 > A search for 'multilink ppp' turned up nothing on www.linuxdoc.org
 > turned up nothing. Ditto for linux.com but 
 > 
 > I know there is something called 'EQL' that takes 2 lines and turns it 
 > into one network link.  Here's what I found under
 > /usr/src/linux/Documentation/eql.txt It is quite old.  There is
 > another protocol I THOUGHT was called 'multilink ppp', but I can't
 > find anything about it.
 > 
 > Regards,
 > -Eric.
 > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 > 
 >  EQL Driver: Serial IP Load Balancing HOWTO
 >   Simon "Guru Aleph-Null" Janes, simon at ncm.com
 >   v1.1, February 27, 1995
 > 
 >   This is the manual for the EQL device driver. EQL is a software device
 >   that lets you load-balance IP serial links (SLIP or uncompressed PPP)
 >   to increase your bandwidth. It will not reduce your latency (i.e. ping
 >   times) except in the case where you already have lots of traffic on
 >   your link, in which it will help them out. This driver has been tested
 >   with the 1.1.75 kernel, and is known to have patched cleanly with
 >   1.1.86.  Some testing with 1.1.92 has been done with the v1.1 patch
 >   which was only created to patch cleanly in the very latest kernel
 >   source trees. (Yes, it worked fine.)
 > 
 >   1.  Introduction
 > 
 >   Which is worse? A huge fee for a 56K leased line or two phone lines?
 >   It's probably the former.  If you find yourself craving more bandwidth,
 >   and have a ISP that is flexible, it is now possible to bind modems
 >   together to work as one point-to-point link to increase your
 >   bandwidth.  All without having to have a special black box on either
 >   side.
 > 
 > 
 >   The eql driver has only been tested with the Livingston PortMaster-2e
 >   terminal server. I do not know if other terminal servers support load-
 >   balancing, but I do know that the PortMaster does it, and does it
 >   almost as well as the eql driver seems to do it (-- Unfortunately, in
 >   my testing so far, the Livingston PortMaster 2e's load-balancing is a
 >   good 1 to 2 KB/s slower than the test machine working with a 28.8 Kbps
 >   and 14.4 Kbps connection.  However, I am not sure that it really is
 >   the PortMaster, or if it's Linux's TCP drivers. I'm told that Linux's
 >   TCP implementation is pretty fast though.--)
 > 
 > 
 >   I suggest to ISPs out there that it would probably be fair to charge
 >   a load-balancing client 75% of the cost of the second line and 50% of
 >   the cost of the third line etc...
 > 
 > 
 >   Hey, we can all dream you know...
 > 
 > 
 >   2.  Kernel Configuration
 > 
 >   Here I describe the general steps of getting a kernel up and working
 >   with the eql driver.	From patching, building, to installing.
 > 
 > 
 >   2.1.	Patching The Kernel
 > 
 >   If you do not have or cannot get a copy of the kernel with the eql
 >   driver folded into it, get your copy of the driver from
 >   ftp://slaughter.ncm.com/pub/Linux/LOAD_BALANCING/eql-1.1.tar.gz.
 >   Unpack this archive someplace obvious like /usr/local/src/.  It will
 >   create the following files:
 > 
 > 
 > 
 >        ______________________________________________________________________
 >        -rw-r--r-- guru/ncm	198 Jan 19 18:53 1995 eql-1.1/NO-WARRANTY
 >        -rw-r--r-- guru/ncm	30620 Feb 27 21:40 1995 eql-1.1/eql-1.1.patch
 >        -rwxr-xr-x guru/ncm	16111 Jan 12 22:29 1995 eql-1.1/eql_enslave
 >        -rw-r--r-- guru/ncm	2195 Jan 10 21:48 1995 eql-1.1/eql_enslave.c
 >        ______________________________________________________________________
 > 
 >   Unpack a recent kernel (something after 1.1.92) someplace convenient
 >   like say /usr/src/linux-1.1.92.eql. Use symbolic links to point
 >   /usr/src/linux to this development directory.
 > 
 > 
 >   Apply the patch by running the commands:
 > 
 > 
 >        ______________________________________________________________________
 >        cd /usr/src
 >        patch </usr/local/src/eql-1.1/eql-1.1.patch
 >        ______________________________________________________________________
 > 
 > 
 > 
 > 
 > 
 >   2.2.	Building The Kernel
 > 
 >   After patching the kernel, run make config and configure the kernel
 >   for your hardware.
 > 
 > 
 >   After configuration, make and install according to your habit.
 > 
 > 
 >   3.  Network Configuration
 > 
 >   So far, I have only used the eql device with the DSLIP SLIP connection
 >   manager by Matt Dillon (-- "The man who sold his soul to code so much
 >   so quickly."--) .  How you configure it for other "connection"
 >   managers is up to you.  Most other connection managers that I've seen
 >   don't do a very good job when it comes to handling more than one
 >   connection.
 > 
 > 
 >   3.1.	/etc/rc.d/rc.inet1
 > 
 >   In rc.inet1, ifconfig the eql device to the IP address you usually use
 >   for your machine, and the MTU you prefer for your SLIP lines.	One
 >   could argue that MTU should be roughly half the usual size for two
 >   modems, one-third for three, one-fourth for four, etc...  But going
 >   too far below 296 is probably overkill. Here is an example ifconfig
 >   command that sets up the eql device:
 > 
 > 
 > 
 >        ______________________________________________________________________
 >        ifconfig eql 198.67.33.239 mtu 1006
 >        ______________________________________________________________________
 > 
 > 
 > 
 > 
 > 
 >   Once the eql device is up and running, add a static default route to
 >   it in the routing table using the cool new route syntax that makes
 >   life so much easier:
 > 
 > 
 > 
 >        ______________________________________________________________________
 >        route add default eql
 >        ______________________________________________________________________
 > 
 > 
 >   3.2.	Enslaving Devices By Hand
 > 
 >   Enslaving devices by hand requires two utility programs: eql_enslave
 >   and eql_emancipate (-- eql_emancipate hasn't been written because when
 >   an enslaved device "dies", it is automatically taken out of the queue.
 >   I haven't found a good reason to write it yet... other than for
 >   completeness, but that isn't a good motivator is it?--)
 > 
 > 
 >   The syntax for enslaving a device is "eql_enslave <master-name>
 >   <slave-name> <estimated-bps>".  Here are some example enslavings:
 > 
 > 
 > 
 >        ______________________________________________________________________
 >        eql_enslave eql sl0 28800
 >        eql_enslave eql ppp0 14400
 >        eql_enslave eql sl1 57600
 >        ______________________________________________________________________
 > 
 > 
 > 
 > 
 > 
 >   When you want to free a device from its life of slavery, you can
 >   either down the device with ifconfig (eql will automatically bury the
 >   dead slave and remove it from its queue) or use eql_emancipate to free
 >   it. (-- Or just ifconfig it down, and the eql driver will take it out
 >   for you.--)
 > 
 > 
 > 
 >        ______________________________________________________________________
 >        eql_emancipate eql sl0
 >        eql_emancipate eql ppp0
 >        eql_emancipate eql sl1
 >        ______________________________________________________________________
 > 
 > 
 > --
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