[nsp] Opinions on automatic failover sought

[Bruce Robertson]

Hi, folks!  I'm in need of opinions.

We supply connectivity using wireless bridges (Trango).  On failure of the
wireless connection, we would like to implement automatic failover to DSL,
ISDN, T1, whatever.

In the lab, we have this working at layer 3 with OSPF, and I'm about to try a
layer 2 solution using spanning tree.  I'm pretty happy with the OSPF solution,
and I'm very comfortable with OSPF, but the spanning tree implementation
could be much cheaper.  (Only a switch needed with DSL backup, or a switch and
cheap router for T1, ISDN, etc, rather than the more expensive router required
for the OSPF solution.)  The downside is that we're new to spanning tree, and
have no practical experience with how well it handles failover.

The question is, which method is more robust, and scales better?  All things
being equal, cost will win out, but if there are strong reasons to prefer the
OSPF method, we'll live with the higher cost.

Any real-world stories and opinions are welcome!

--
Bruce Robertson, President/CEO				     +1-775-348-7299
Great Basin Internet Services, Inc.			fax: +1-775-348-9412
http://www.greatbasin.net