Documentation/networking/eql.rst

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Documentation/networking/eql.rst
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.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0

==========================================
EQL Driver: Serial IP Load Balancing HOWTO
==========================================

  Simon "Guru Aleph-Null" Janes, simon@ncm.com

  v1.1, February 27, 1995

  This is the manual for the EQL device driver. EQL is a software device
  that lets you load-balance IP serial links (SLIP or uncompressed PPP)
  to increase your bandwidth. It will not reduce your latency (i.e. ping
  times) except in the case where you already have lots of traffic on
  your link, in which it will help them out. This driver has been tested
  with the 1.1.75 kernel, and is known to have patched cleanly with
  1.1.86.  Some testing with 1.1.92 has been done with the v1.1 patch
  which was only created to patch cleanly in the very latest kernel
  source trees. (Yes, it worked fine.)

1. Introduction
===============

  Which is worse? A huge fee for a 56K leased line or two phone lines?
  It's probably the former.  If you find yourself craving more bandwidth,
  and have a ISP that is flexible, it is now possible to bind modems
  together to work as one point-to-point link to increase your
  bandwidth.  All without having to have a special black box on either
  side.


  The eql driver has only been tested with the Livingston PortMaster-2e
  terminal server. I do not know if other terminal servers support load-
  balancing, but I do know that the PortMaster does it, and does it
  almost as well as the eql driver seems to do it (-- Unfortunately, in
  my testing so far, the Livingston PortMaster 2e's load-balancing is a
  good 1 to 2 KB/s slower than the test machine working with a 28.8 Kbps
  and 14.4 Kbps connection.  However, I am not sure that it really is
  the PortMaster, or if it's Linux's TCP drivers. I'm told that Linux's
  TCP implementation is pretty fast though.--)


  I suggest to ISPs out there that it would probably be fair to charge
  a load-balancing client 75% of the cost of the second line and 50% of
  the cost of the third line etc...


  Hey, we can all dream you know...


2. Kernel Configuration
=======================

  Here I describe the general steps of getting a kernel up and working
  with the eql driver.	From patching, building, to installing.


2.1. Patching The Kernel
------------------------

  If you do not have or cannot get a copy of the kernel with the eql
  driver folded into it, get your copy of the driver from
  ftp://slaughter.ncm.com/pub/Linux/LOAD_BALANCING/eql-1.1.tar.gz.
  Unpack this archive someplace obvious like /usr/local/src/.  It will
  create the following files::

       -rw-r--r-- guru/ncm	198 Jan 19 18:53 1995 eql-1.1/NO-WARRANTY
       -rw-r--r-- guru/ncm	30620 Feb 27 21:40 1995 eql-1.1/eql-1.1.patch
       -rwxr-xr-x guru/ncm	16111 Jan 12 22:29 1995 eql-1.1/eql_enslave
       -rw-r--r-- guru/ncm	2195 Jan 10 21:48 1995 eql-1.1/eql_enslave.c

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