Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2001 14:30:48 +1100 From: Stanley Hopcroft <Stanley.Hopcroft@IPAustralia.gov.au> To: isp@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Router based on FreeBSD vs Cisco Router Message-ID: <20011213143046.L48332@IPAustralia.Gov.AU>
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Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am writing with some remarks about the relative merits of a PC
(FreeBSD based) router and a hardware/Cisco router.
From my limited experience of routers in a medium size government
business, it seems to me that one should look very hard at PC based
routers rather than hardware, if one wants a very stable and manageable
routing platform with a modest number of interfaces.
Cisco routers win in my view with exotic/non IETF protocols and
(b)leeding edge stuff; they lose as far as stability/maintainability -
no user repairable parts (replace the box or at least the main board)
and value for money.
Measurement/deliverable PC Cisco Notes
Flexibility
. interfaces + More avail from Cisco
. protocols + This is pretty close
. integration + eg Snort, argus or ntop
. Serial interfaces + Must source 3rd party
cards and get them
going. Not too bad.
Performance NA NA No clear winner
(from a non-ISP point
of view)
Expandability No clear winner.
- PC from ethernet
mem point of view
Value for money +
Stability + When Ciscos develop
mem problems they
reboot; hard to fix.
Ease of use
. OSPF + Pretty marginal
. NAT +
. Exotic stuff + ISDN/ATM/OSPF over ISDN
. ACL + Again, very close.
If you want a modest number of 10/100 ethernet ports - say up to 20 -
then you could save both bucks and sweat with a PC based product.
Likewise perhaps another good application of a PC router is for
redundant internal default gateways (running VRRP) or likewise at the
border (with BGP) and a couple of serial cards.
If however you want a layer 3 switch, then it seems there is no PC based
substitute.
Is this generally favourable experience with FreeBSD based PC
routers shared by others ?
Thank you,
Yours sincerely.
--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stanley Hopcroft Network Specialist
------------------------------------------------------------------------
'...No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the
continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a
manor of thy friend's or of thine own were. Any man's death diminishes
me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know
for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee...'
from Meditation 17, J Donne.
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