From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Thu Jun 9 22:01:05 2011 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 191091065672 for ; Thu, 9 Jun 2011 22:01:05 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from DStaal@usa.net) Received: from mail.magehandbook.com (173-8-4-45-WashingtonDC.hfc.comcastbusiness.net [173.8.4.45]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id DF9438FC15 for ; Thu, 9 Jun 2011 22:01:04 +0000 (UTC) Received: from [192.168.1.50] (Mac-Pro.magehandbook.com [192.168.1.50]) by mail.magehandbook.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id ED64A73D; Thu, 9 Jun 2011 18:01:03 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 09 Jun 2011 18:01:03 -0400 From: Daniel Staal To: Chad Perrin , "freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG" Message-ID: In-Reply-To: <20110609184829.GC33714@guilt.hydra> References: <20110609005656.GA9183@thought.org> <15630_1307624948_4DF0C5F4_15630_82_1_D9B37353831173459FDAA836D3B43499BF89C4A2@WADPMBXV0.waddell.com> <20110609184829.GC33714@guilt.hydra> X-Mailer: Mulberry/4.0.8 (Mac OS X) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Cc: Subject: Re: Long Day's Journey into X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list Reply-To: FreeBSD Questions List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 09 Jun 2011 22:01:05 -0000 --As of June 9, 2011 12:48:29 PM -0600, Chad Perrin is alleged to have said: > Are parts available for building an inexpensive switch, perhaps with the > ability to use a stripped-down FreeBSD to run the thing? The closest > I've found so far is this: > > http://www.automationworld.com/products-2039 > > It says "make your own", but it looks to me like what they mean by that > is "put it in your own box and brand it with your name; power supply not > included". > > The hardware requirements for building a switch are, unfortunately, > outside my area of expertise. --As for the rest, it is mine. Depending on your needs, Soekris, ALIX, or Netgate products could all work. Most don't have large numbers of ports (2-5 built in are standard, and some have expansion capability), but can run some higher-level processing while doing switching work. It may or may not be cost-effective though. Especially if all you need is pure switch. Daniel T. Staal --------------------------------------------------------------- This email copyright the author. Unless otherwise noted, you are expressly allowed to retransmit, quote, or otherwise use the contents for non-commercial purposes. This copyright will expire 5 years after the author's death, or in 30 years, whichever is longer, unless such a period is in excess of local copyright law. ---------------------------------------------------------------