ZyXEL Communications ZyWALL 1000 Trunks, 11.1 Trunks Overview, 11.2 Trunk Scenario Examples, 11.3 Load Balancing Introduction

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Trunks

This chapter shows you how to configure trunks on your ZyWALL. See Section 5.4.3 on page 115 for related information on these screens.

11.1 Trunks Overview

You can group multiple interfaces together into trunks to have multiple connections share the traffic load to increase overall network throughput and enhance network reliability. If one interface’s connection goes down, the ZyWALL sends traffic through another member of the trunk. For example, you can use two interfaces for WAN connections. You can connect one interface to one ISP (or network) and connect the another to a second ISP (or network). The ZyWALL can balance the load between multiple connections (see Section 11.3 on page 219). If one interface's connection goes down, the ZyWALL can automatically send its traffic through another interface.

You can use policy routing to specify through which interface to send specific traffic types. You can use trunks in combination with policy routing. You can also define multiple trunks for the same physical interfaces. This allows you to send specific traffic types through the interface that works best for that type of traffic, and if that interface’s connection goes down, the ZyWALL can still send its traffic through another interface.

11.2 Trunk Scenario Examples

Suppose one of the ZyWALL's interfaces is connected to an ISP that is also your Voice over IP (VoIP) service provider. You may want to set that interface as active and set another interface (connected to another ISP) to passive. This way VoIP traffic goes through the interface connected to the VoIP service provider whenever the interface’s connection is up.

Another example would be if you use multiple ISPs that provide different levels of service to different places. Suppose ISP A has better connections to Europe while ISP B has better connections to Australia. You could use policy routing and trunks to send traffic for your European branch offices primarily through ISP A and traffic for your Australian branch offices primarily through ISP B.

11.3 Load Balancing Introduction

On the ZyWALL, load balancing is the process of dividing traffic loads between multiple interfaces. This allows you to improve quality of service and maximize bandwidth utilization.

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ZyWALL USG 1000 User’s Guide