Wide Area Network

(WAN)
1

Content
Remote access overview
WAN Concepts
WAN Configurations
Point-to-point WANs
Fundamentals of WANs
Frame Relay Concepts, Config and Troubleshooting
Virtual Private Networks
IPv6
NAT/PAT

Remote Access Overview

A WAN is a data communications network covering a relatively broad
geographical area.
A network administrator designing a remote network must weight issues
concerning users needs such as bandwidth and cost of the variable
available technologies.

Circuit switching is a methodology of implementing a

telecommunications network in which two network nodes establish
a dedicated communications channel (circuit) through the network
before the nodes may communicate. The circuit guarantees the full
bandwidth of the channel and remains connected for the duration
of the communication session.

Packet-switched networks move data in separate, small blocks -packets -- based on the destination address in each packet. When
received, packets are reassembled in the proper sequence to
make up the message.

PSTN
PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network
Phone Lines switched meaning you can place a call, at will, to
other destinations.
The cable linking your house to exchange is called the Local Loop.
Designed for voice, analogue transmissions are used over the local
loop. Telco's will then use high speed digital lines to interconnect
exchanges.
This digital signal is sampled and converted using Pulse Code
Modulation (PCM). This is demodulated at the other end, and
analogue signal transported over local loop to receiving end.

PSTN

Lines can be leased, or run through the voice network.

Two methods of connection each with advantages and
disadvantages.
Modem
DSL

Modems
Messages from your PC are sent digitally to a device that will
translate to Analogue signal.
This is done in a process called modulation.
The reverse (Analogue to Digital) is a process called demodulation.
The device is called a modem

Modems & CSU/DSU

Dial-up is referred to as a switched circuit as you can hang up and
dial another number to establish a different circuit.
Modems are asynchronous, they do not maintain timing
Leased Lines with CSU/DSU are synchronous, attempting to keep in
time with other units.

Digital Subscriber Line

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) established in the mid-late 90s to address issues
with modem communication, but still use local loop.
Digital data is sent using a different frequency than voice data allowing
both to be in use at the same time.
No signal/dial Always On access.

DSL

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Equipment required:
Home end
Filter (splitting voice/data)
DSL Modem (that matches telco specification)

Telco end
DSL Access Multiplexor (DSLAM)

Voice frequency is up to 4000 Hz

Data frequency is > 4000 Hz

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DSL
Types of DSL
Asymmetric DSL
Upload and download rates can be different.
Symmetric DSL
Upload and download rates are the same
Asymetric DSL Types:
ADSL (Asymmetric), VDSL (Very-high-data-rate), CDSL
(Consumer).
Symetric DSL
SDSL (Symetric), HDSL (high-data-rate), IDSL (ISDN DSL)

DSL

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Considerations
Distance from exchange - < 18,000 ft (5km)
Quality of local loop (particularly in old houses/premises)
Type of DSL (previous slide) provided by telco

Space/Capacity on DLSAM

Speeds can range up to ~10mbps down.

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Cable Connections
Co-axial cable service allows data and TV through the same cable
(CATV)
No phone line required
Always on connection.

Data and TV (right down to individual TV channels) are separated much

like that of DSL by individual frequencies.

Cable Connections

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Speeds
3-6Mbps but this will depend
Shared infrastructure
more local users = slower speeds.

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WAN Connection Types

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WAN Connection Types

Packet switching
WAN switching method that allows you to share bandwidth with
other companies to save money. As long as you are not
constantly transmitting data and are instead using bursty data
transfers, packet switching can save you a lot of money.
However, if you have constant data transfers, then you will need
to get a leased line.
Frame Relay and X.25 are packet switching technologies.

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Defining WAN Encapsulation Protocols

Each WAN connection uses an encapsulation protocol to encapsulate
traffic while it crossing the WAN link.
The choice of the encapsulation protocol depends on the underlying WAN
technology and the communicating equipment.

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Defining WAN Encapsulation Protocols

Each WAN connection uses an encapsulation protocol to encapsulate
traffic while it crossing the WAN link.
The choice of the encapsulation protocol depends on the underlying WAN
technology and the communicating equipment.

Determining the WAN Type to Use

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Availability
Each type of service may be available in certain geographical areas.

Bandwidth
Determining usage over the WAN is important to evaluate the most cost-effective WAN service.

Cost
Making a compromise between the traffic you need to transfer and the type of service with the
available cost that will suit you.

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Determining the WAN Type to Use

Ease of Management
Connection management includes both the initial start-up configuration and the
outgoing configuration of the normal operation.

Application Traffic
Traffic may be as small as during a terminal session , or very large packets as
during file transfer.

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Max. WAN Speeds for WAN

Connections
WAN Type

Maximum
Speed

Asynchronous Dial-Up

56-64 Kbps

X.25, ISDN BRI

128 Kbps

ISDN PRI

E1 / T1

Leased Line / Frame Relay E3 / T3

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OSI Layer-2 Point-to-Point WANs

WAN protocols used on Point-to-Point serial links provide the basic function
of data delivery across that one link.
The two most popular data link protocols used today are Point-to-Point
Protocol (PPP) and High-Level Data Link Control (HDLC).

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High-Level Data Link Control

HDLC
HDLC performs OSI Layer-2 functions.
It determines when it is appropriate to use the physical medium.
Ensures that the correct recipient receives and processes the data that is
sent.

Determines whether the sent data was received correctly or not (error
detection).

HDLC

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HDLC Frame Format

The original HDLC didnt include any Protocol Type field, every company
(including Cisco) added its own field, so it became a proprietary protocol
that can be used between only Cisco routers.

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The Point-to-Point
Protocol (PPP) is
generally viewed as the
successor to the Serial
Line IP (SLIP) protocol.
PPP provides router-torouter and host-tonetwork connections
over both synchronous
and asynchronous
circuits.

PPP emerged in the late 1980s in response to a lack of encapsulation protocols

for the Internet that was blocking growth of serial-line access. PPP was
basically created to solve remote Internet connectivity problems. PPP supports
a number of network layer protocols, including Novell IPX, TCP/IP and
AppleTalk.

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The Point to Point Protocol (PPP) is the most widely used Wan protocol and
performs the following functions.
Link establishment - This function opens a connection or path between two
routers and negotiates how data will be sent across this network path.
Link quality determination - This function will test the link to make sure that the
data path is stable and reliable.
Network layer protocol configuration - This function establishes which layer 3
protocols will be sent across the data path. Since PPP can deliver multiple layer
3 protocols such as IP and IPX at the same time both sides of the connection
need to know what protocols will be sent.
Link termination - This function will terminate the WAN data path between two
routers.
With these processes in place data can be moved across a WAN link(s) with
reliability using the PPP WAN protocol.

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PPP uses a layered

architecture. With its
lower-level functions,
PPP can use:
Synchronous
physical media like
those that connect
ISDN.
Asynchronous
physical media like
those that use basic
telephone service for
modem dialup
connections.
PPP offers a rich set of services that control setting up a data link. These services are
options in LCP and are primarily negotiation and checking frames to implement the
point-to-point controls an administrator specifies for the call
With its higher-level functions, PPP carries packets from several network-layer protocols
in NCPs.

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PPP runs on the

following types of WAN
physical interfaces:
Asynchronous serial
ISDN
Synchronous serial
PPP datagram
transmission employs
three key components
to provide effective data
transmission:
Encapsulation - PPP
supports the High-Level
Data Link Control
(HDLC) protocol to
provide encapsulation.
Link Control Protocol (LCP) - An extensible LCP is used to establish,
configure, and test the data link connection.
Network Control Protocols (NCPs) - a family of NCPs are used to establish
and configure different network layer protocols.

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Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP)

PPP is a standard encapsulation protocol for the transport of
different Network Layer protocols (including, but not limited to,
IP).

It has the following main functional components

Link Control Protocol (LCP) that establishes, authenticates, and tests
the data link connection.
Network Control Protocols (NCPs) that establishes and configure
different network layer protocols.

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Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP)

PPP discards frames that do not pass the error check.
PPP is a standard protocol, and so it can be used with all types of routers
(not Cisco Proprietary).

PPP LCP Features

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Authentication
Compression
Multilink PPP
Error Detection
Looped Link Detection

PPP Authentication Methods

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Password Authentication Protocol (PAP)
Passwords sent in clear text
Remote node returns username & password

Challenge Authentication Protocol (CHAP)

Done at start-up & periodically
Challenge & Reply
Remote router sends a one-way hash ~ MD5

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PPP Multilink
PPP Multilink provides load balancing over dialer interfaces-including ISDN,
synchronous, and asynchronous interfaces.
This can improve throughput and reduce latency between systems by
splitting packets and sending fragments over parallel circuits.

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Error Detection
PPP can take down a link based on the value of what is called LQM (Link
Quality Monitor) as it gets the ratio of corrupted packets to the total
number of sent packets, and according to a predetermined value, the link
can be brought down if it is thought that its performance is beyond limits
accepted.

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Looped Link Detection

PPP can detect looped links (that are sometimes done by Teleco
companies) using what is called Magic Number.
Every router will have a magic number, and if packets were received
having the same routers magic number, then the link is looped.

Configuring PPP

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Step #1: Configure PPP on RouterA & RouterB:

Router__#config t
Router__(config)#int s0
Router__(config-if)#encapsulation ppp
Router__(config-if)#^Z

Step #2: Define the username & password on each router:

RouterA: RouterA(config)#username RouterB password cisco

RouterB: RouterB(config)#username RouterA password cisco

NOTE: (1) Username maps to the remote router
(2) Passwords must match

Step #3: Choose Authentication type for each router; CHAP/PAP

Router__(Config)#int s0
Router__(config-if)#ppp authentication chap
Router__(config-if)#ppp authentication pap
Router__(config-if)#^Z