Frame Relay encap vis-a-vis point-to-point at UUNET

[Barry L James <bjames () mis net>]

Hey all,

        We just got a third T1, this time through UUNet and when I looked
at their router configuration I got a little surprise.  We ordered a
point-to-point circuit that is being terminated at their detroit POP.  The
configuration, however, sets up the line as a frame relay encap on a
sub-interface (on a Cisco, of course :).  When I talked to my UUNet rep he
advised that this was the way "every large ISP did it" which I knew wasn't
exactly true since our MCI and AT&T (just recently transitioned from the
BBN backbone to the AT&T network) does not use this configuration.  He
insisted that it was still a point to point and that the frame relay
encapsulation was used to enhance the connection.

Well, I had him grab an engineer (he was an SE) that could possibly
explain it better to me (since the SE said F/R was used to decrease RIP
broadcasts across their backbone) and the engineer said this (basically):
the circuit is terminated in a cascade 9000 f/r switch (used for port
density) which went to a HSSI interface in a Cisco 7xxx series router
which connected directly to their ATM network.  Therefore, the f/r encaps
were needed to speak with the cascade.  The engineer advised we had a full
CIR and would not suffer any bandwidth loss from using f/r encap.

Now, I guess my question is: am I getting sold the brooklyn bridge here?
I mean, not that I wouldn't like to *own* the brooklyn bridge (well, I'd
rather have the triboro or the washington, but anyway...).  Is this f/r
encap going have any adverse affect on the quality of this connection
(assuming that this is *NOT* a point-to-point into a frame cloud) or am I
getting shoveled a load of copralite?

Thanks!

Barry

Barry L James           | Mikrotec Internet Services, Inc (AS3801)
Director R & D          | 1001 Winchester Rd
bjames () mis net               | Lexington KY 40505
http://www.mis.net/     | 606/266.5925   800/875.5095
Member AAAI, IEEE # 40277528
---
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