North Atlantic Networks











FAQ

General  |  Customer Support  |  Engineering  |   Provisioning  |  Sales  |  Finance

Engineering

Q: What kind of router do I need?
Q: Can telnet applications be run over the Internet?
Q: Does my site need a firewall?
Q: I don't have a Cisco router. Should I?
Q: What is a VPN? How do I install it?
Q: What is CIDR?
Q: What is mail spooling?

 Q: What kind of router do I need?
A: In well over 90% of cases, a Cisco 1720 base unit and WIC (WAN Interface Card) will be sufficient. We also recommend that every router have a firewall installed. Be sure to contact an North Atlantic Networks sales engineer for questions regarding Cisco routing hardware. For more involved applications, North Atlantic Networks recommends the Cisco 2600 series routers. North Atlantic Networks is a Cisco Premier Certified Partner.

Q: Can telnet applications be run over the Internet?
A: Usually not. Telnet, by its nature, is very interactive. Each character must travel across the Internet to its destination, and then back again. Needless to say, it can be very frustrating waiting for each character to be displayed. Timeouts are frequent problems. Many office software products run using telnet in the background, and when telnet is asked to use the Internet as its connectivity medium, problems are not far behind. Many corporate customers choose to purchase a dedicated connection (at higher cost) for such applications, with excellent results.

Q: Does my site need a firewall?
A: Yes. North Atlantic Networks recommends that any location connected directly to the Internet have a firewall. The firewall can either be installed on your existing router, or may, for more advanced configurations, run on a dedicated device.

Q: I don't have a Cisco router. Should I?
A: Yes. North Atlantic Networks strongly believes in Cisco and recommends their products. While other routers may provide excellent services, our belief is that going with the industry leader solves many problems before they ever occur. Cisco's products are incredibly reliable and backed by a very strong support department. And, because North Atlantic Networks is a Cisco Premier Certified Partner, we are able to service your router immediately should you have any problems.

Q: What is a VPN? How do I install it?
A: A VPN, or Virtual Private Network, is a means by which the Internet can be used to share private data between locations. The VPN often replaces the very costly method of paying for a private line. To make a VPN functional, your router (or in some cases your specialized device) must be configured to accept incoming connections from external sources. An external source may be another router, or another computer such as a laptop dialing in, or a telecommuter's home system. Installation requires a certain expertise, which is usually beyond the typical MIS department. North Atlantic Networks is available to set up a VPN for customers

Q: What is CIDR?
A: CIDR is a short hand notation for subnet masks. Often times, CIDR is also called bit mask. An example: Subnet mask 255.255.255.0 is CIDR /24.

Q: What is mail spooling?
A: Mail spooling service is for hosts that do not have a full time connection or as a backup email solution in the event of your mail server going offline. Emails coming to yourdomain.com will be queued in our mail server for up to 5 days. If your mail server has an intermittent Internet connection then the mail server in your corporate LAN connects to our server to de-queue the mails.

Common PC LAN GroupWare Applications like Novell GroupWise and Microsoft Exchange support ETRN for mail retrieval. The ETRN command is an extended Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) e-mail de-queuing command that is issued to an e-mail host for Internet e-mail retrieval. Otherwise, our server will automatically send all queued mail to your server when it becomes available.