What is the limit? (was RE: multi-homing fixes)

Wed Aug 29 15:00:03 UTC 2001

On Wed, Aug 29, 2001 at 10:41:09AM -0400, Andrew Partan wrote:
> To the extent that this is true, and to the extent that router
> vendors can and are willing to fix the problem, and to the extent
> that ISPs can and are willing to deploy the new gear, and to the
> extent that the overall problem is fixable by making the nodes that
> make up the entire system faster, this is only a one-shot fix.

Maybe.  For a single CPU, getting up to the state of the art, yes,
it is a one shot fix.  Mind you it's one shot that could add _years_
of service to the existing solution (a 10x speed up in CPU could
give us 3+ years right there, if you believe doubling every year).

I think there is real promise in SMP though.  There are many SMP
applications that scale near linearly, and I think properly designed
routing can be one of them.  If a linear SMP solution can be found
then there is at least one way to scale the routing infrastructure
to near infinate size simply for $$$'s.

Even if a modest 4 processor design using the latest technology 
could only yeild a one time, 50x speed up that would give us 5+ years
(again, doubling every year) of not worrying about that end of it
to work on new protocols and the like.  Heck, if you believe the
predictions in 5 years we'll be out of address space and ASN's 
anyway, so a 'one shot' fix might take us to the end of the IPv4
days.

-- 
Leo Bicknell - bicknell at ufp.org
Systems Engineer - Internetworking Engineer - CCIE 3440
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