Re: Linux Router KIT

[Matei Conovici <cmatei () roedu net>]

> > Will you please point out other router than cisco which has EIGRP ?
> My point exactly.

Ah, so you are using _only_ cisco in your network ? Tough!

> > What kind of interface do you want ? You have async (multiport
> > async), sync, ethernet, fddi and now atm is coming. BTW, do you get
> > arcnet with cisco ? :-)
>
> HSSI? 

I'm sure that the moment someone will have a reasonably priced card
for a PC and make specs available, linux will support it (probably BSD 
as well). 

> > IPX and appletalk have been there for a _long_ time.  There is also a
> > Linux DECNET project.
> Great, another *project*.

... for a protocol that everyone *uses* :-)

> >  > Also, for a long time, Linux had a hard time with lots or routes. 
> >
> > Define lots. You want full BGP table in a PC router ? Why :) ?
>
> Isn't that the crux of the conversation here?

No ?! Point being that a PC router (eventually running linux) can be
more than successfully used as a low-to-middle end router, at very
good value for money. Anything more than this looks a bit absurd to me
... If I have the money to pay for multiple transit providers, I most
certainly have the money for a 4500 or more (as in real router) ...

And BTW, I didn't imply that a linux box has troubles with many
routes, but I never tested it myself. But once I read the source code
for route.c and I don't think the number of installed routes is an
issue.

> > ...
> Thus, omre reason to not use a PC for routing..

> > PCs simply were not built for forwarding packets and fast I/O.
> Again, thanks for agreeing.

But I don't :-) I just think they should not be used for
high-performance stuff, but perform just fine as long as you know what
to expect.

> > Of course a Linux/PC will never beat a cisco :-) but the cost is
> > sometimes an order of magnitude lower for roughly the same
> > performance.
> Not since the 2600 and 3600 have been released.

Fine, replace "an order of magnitude" with "a lot cheaper" and you're
still close enough :-)

However, we're beating a dead horse. I think we both realize what can
and can't be done with a PC router.

It's just that you were overly criticizing Linux as a router without
being at least informed and I felt an urge to react because I'm a
happy linux user :-))

Cheers,

-- 
Matei CONOVICI, cmatei () roedu net