From owner-freebsd-isp Fri Nov 15 09:40:16 1996 Return-Path: owner-isp Received: (from root@localhost) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.5/8.7.3) id JAA02140 for isp-outgoing; Fri, 15 Nov 1996 09:40:16 -0800 (PST) Received: from pinky.junction.net (pinky.junction.net [199.166.227.12]) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.5/8.7.3) with SMTP id JAA02093 for ; Fri, 15 Nov 1996 09:40:04 -0800 (PST) Received: from sidhe.memra.com (sidhe.memra.com [199.166.227.105]) by pinky.junction.net (8.6.12/8.6.12) with ESMTP id JAA26245 for ; Fri, 15 Nov 1996 09:55:27 -0800 Received: from localhost (michael@localhost) by sidhe.memra.com (8.6.12/8.6.12) with SMTP id JAA03365 for ; Fri, 15 Nov 1996 09:36:14 -0800 Date: Fri, 15 Nov 1996 09:36:13 -0800 (PST) From: Michael Dillon To: isp@FreeBSD.org Subject: Re: Router Purchase - the bottom line In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Organization: Memra Software Inc. - Internet consulting MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: owner-isp@FreeBSD.org X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Precedence: bulk On Thu, 14 Nov 1996, Dror Matalon wrote: > Am I the only paranoid person on this list or are there other people > that would not feel comfortable running FreeBsd as a router unless > they were mirroring the disk. FreeBsd are great servers, but if > anything fails it's the disk. I'd rather not have this extra > risk on my routers. On a machine with enough RAM you can either boot from floppy or the network. Once gated is running the only this it needs the disk for is logs and you can either disable them or redirect them across the net via NFS or use a RAMDISK and config gated for small log files only. Disk is only required to boot. > Also, for our customers we're happy with the Ascend Pipeline 130 > with built in CSU. You can get one for less than $1200 it does > Frame and even has an ISDN line for backup. These units > are the same size of a Pipeline 50 -- not much bigger than most > modems. Is a Freebsd box with a T1 card and a CSU any cheaper? Customers usually need a mail server, and web server as well as a router. Not to mention a firewall. For the load that the typical small to mid-sized office puts on their INternet connection, a FreeBSD box with an ET card and the right software can do the whole job. Add ssh and you can remotely admin the machine for the customer too. As always, there's more than one way to skin a cat. Some ISP's focus strictly on access and leave the other details to other companies. But some would like to provide their customers with a complete packaged solution like most VAR's do. Michael Dillon - ISP & Internet Consulting Memra Software Inc. - Fax: +1-604-546-3049 http://www.memra.com - E-mail: michael@memra.com