Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2001 16:46:51 +1030 (CST) From: Dan Shearer <dan@tellurian.com.au> To: Kal Torak <kaltorak@quake.com.au> Cc: freebsd-isp@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: 2 cisco's and a fbsd box running bgp Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.21.0101031635450.23776-100000@calulu.shearer.org> In-Reply-To: <3A52C152.A75D1882@quake.com.au>
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On Wed, 3 Jan 2001, Kal Torak wrote:
> Nope you will just have to take my word for it :P
Well, this is what I'm trying to get at. In fact I have used free software
to do routing before, and would do so again in the right circumstances,
just as I happily use Ciscos in the right circumstances (and I'm no
routing guru, far from it. But I know when something works and when it
doesn't :-)
I know of a small number of sites who are using free software for routing
BGP and OSPF, and I am pretty sure that there is a very much larger number
of sites represented on this list, the Zebra list, the LRP list and the
mrtg list.
But I'm looking for a really good answer to give to people who snort "Oh
but nothing but a Cisco can reliably route packets at ethernet speeds in
a BPG/OSPF environment". After debate here and plenty of other places, and
from personal experience, it seems to me that the issues are:
- port density. Ciscos are much denser.
- fringe features. IOS implements some things that free routers
don't.
- top end performance. Ciscos win when the packets flow fast because
of their custom packet processing cards. Equivalents can be bought
for PCs but they are expensive.
- support. If you are a big Cisco customer you can usually expect
quite good customer service, and may even get good service if you
are a small customer.
If you don't want or need these four things then free software should do
the trick.
On problem people have cited that demonstrably doesn't exist include
hardware reliability. PC-based 1/2RU firewalls are sold for
mission-critical purposes, and have been delivering for years. Nokia is
perhaps the best-known big brand that sells FreeBSD inside a very reliable
Intel box for this purpose.
--
Dan Shearer
Open Source Manager
dan@tellurian.com.au
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