Re: Linux Router KIT

["Roeland M.J. Meyer" <rmeyer () mhsc com>]

At 04:26 PM 10/28/98 -0500, Adam D. McKenna wrote:
> So does linux.
>
> Linux can be:
>
> A packet forwarder (router)
> A packet filter (firewall)
> An IP masquerading packet filter (NAT firewall)
> Can run RIP, BGP, EGP, OSPF (via gated)
>
> Maybe I'm being naiive here, but what does Cisco offer beyond this (besides
> the availability of higher performance)?

Appliance level reliability, like a toaster. Plug it in, turn it on,
configure it once, forget it exists. That's why we moved our printers to a
dedicated print-server (OSIram), from the Linux hosts.

Actually, a cisco may actually double as a toaster, a foot-warmer at the
least <grin>.

BTW, I thank the list for the kind help offered with our Linux NIC routing
problem. It's still not solved, but we've been otherwise $distracted$. I
plan on implementing some of the suggested solutions this week. Again, the
issue is fall-back if our switch goes out again. For this sort of usage,
Linux routing is far cheaper than keeping a cisco laying around.

If the switch goes off, the lights go out, and the party's over. Linux
routing would keep minimal lights on so the party could continue.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Michael Shields <shields () crosslink net>
> To: dirk () power net <dirk () power net>
> Cc: nanog () merit edu <nanog () merit edu>; list () inet-access net
> <list () inet-access net>
> Date: Wednesday, October 28, 1998 4:01 PM
> Subject: Re: Linux Router KIT
>
>
> In article <19981028100541.00359 () orlando power net>,
> dirk () power net wrote:
> > Linux doesn't just kill Microsoft's NT and Solaris. It also eats
> > Cisco for lunch.
>
> This isn't true.  IOS does a lot more than just get packets from
> interface A to interface B.  (In terms of managability as well as
> functionality)
> --
> Shields, CrossLink.

___________________________________________________ 
Roeland M.J. Meyer, ISOC (InterNIC RM993) 
e-mail: <mailto:rmeyer () mhsc com>rmeyer () mhsc com
Internet phone: hawk.mhsc.com
Personal web pages: <http://www.mhsc.com/~rmeyer>www.mhsc.com/~rmeyer
Company web-site: <http://www.mhsc.com/>www.mhsc.com/
___________________________________________ 
I bet the human brain is a kludge.
                -- Marvin Minsky