If frame relay goes down what is an ideal
and cost effective backup to have?
Also, having frame relay does it mean you have
an internet connection or do  you have to have an
internet connection?
For example, if a branch office connects to a central office thru frame relay does it mean that the branch office
has a internet connection?  or does it have to be connected to the central office to its internet connection.
thanks for the help

Many companies will use ISDN as a cost-effective backup to frame relay.  Depends on your needs as to whether that is right for you.

Frame relay is going to utilize your providers switches and is not public.  You will need a separate Internet connection.  Therefore you can implement Internet access at each office or centrally and have the branch offices route to the office with the Internet connection.

From a cost and security perspective it would be cheaper, safer, and easier to have one access point to the Internet.

Frame relay is a point to point connection between two sites. It does not touch the Internet at all. Having frame relay does not mean you have Internet connection/access. Most companies use ISDN Bri as the backup of frame relay. Cost wise, ISDN is cheaper to get as backup. However, ISDN Bri has a usage charge like making a long distance call to the backup destination. (1) ISDN Bri is about $120 per month for line charge with Verizon in the Northwest.

If you want to go to the Internet, you need to talk with you Internet Service Provider. ATT & Verizion are ISP that will provide Internet Service to business with different speed.

Hope this help!

ISDN is a common application for backing up frame-relay.
It's important though to know which CPE devise will initiate
the backup. For instance if you have a T1/FT1 frame-relay
and have external CSU/DSU's when the T1 goes down they can
initiate the ISDN dial backup, but they won't initiate dial
backup if there is a problem at the frame-relay switch, the
 PVC, or something gone awry within your router. The T1 will always show up but your frame connection will be down.
It's best to initiate the dial-backup either thru the router
or with a frame-relay aware CSU/DSU, a devise which monitors
frame-relay connection as well as the wan connection.

Personally, I would get a internet VPN appliance to act as the backup over business class cable/DSL.

Nortel Contivity boxes work well for this.