Routers vs. PC's for routing - was list problems?

Thu May 23 14:15:29 UTC 2002

On Thu, 23 May 2002, Daryl G. Jurbala wrote:

> And that's MY real question.  Who has actually done this in a production
> environment that can speak with some real experience on the topic?  What
> can you replace with a linux box to route and run BGP for you in real
> life?  A 7200?  Bigger.

I ran a 100% PC router network for almost 2 years. I used them from 
everything from edge aggregation to core routers. You can make BGP do 
whatever you want in real life on a PC. I used modified GateD code and 
after some work became very happy with it. 

> I don't have the facilities to try these things out for real, and
> frankly would be worried about the uptime and finding the RIGHT PC
> hardware that isn't complete junk.

Yes, you need to build your own. 

> So I guess it's really two questions: what is a PC capable of replacing
> as far as throughput goes, and just how reliable can a clone (or pick
> your manufacturer) be compared to a unit that was designed by electronic
> engineers to function as a 24x7 mission critical box?

When you want to push over 30 meg you are better off looking at something 
other then a x86 to route packets.

><>
Nathan Stratton				CTO, Exario Networks, Inc.
nathan at robotics.net                  nathan at exario.net
http://www.robotics.net                 http://www.exario.net