remember the "diameter of the internet"?

Tue Jun 18 23:59:06 UTC 2002

Thus spake "Vadim Antonov" <avg at exigengroup.com>
> Actually, not.  A router is a hell of a lot simpler than a Class-5
> switch, particularly if you don't do ATM, FR, X.25, MPLS,
> QoS, multicast, IPv6, blah, blah, blah.

The data plane is remarkably easier.  The control plane is arguable.  And
without ATM, FR, MPLS, QOS, multicast, etc. nobody will be buying your router.

> Demonstrably (proof by existence), those switches can be
> made reasonably reliable. So can be routers. It's the fabled
> computer tech culture of "be crappy, ship fast, pile features
> sky high, test after you ship" aka OFRV's Micro$oft envy,
> which is the root evil.

The question is actually whether anyone would pay the cost of a perfect router.
People complain that today's routers are too expensive, and most vendors are
going bankrupt or giving up.  Many of those were marketing to the "featureless
and reliable" niche.

S