Re: wanted: new cisco router for cvs connection

[Victor <victord_(_at_)_paid_(_dot_)_com>]

Ben Goren wrote:

> On Fri, May 30, 2003 at 10:30:38PM +0200, Jakob Schlyter wrote:
>
>
> > we   need   a  new   cisco   router   for  the   connection   to
> > cvs.openbsd.org.
>
>
> First, this is in  no way a troll; nor is  it a criticism. I'm not
> qualified to criticise.
>
> I'm  curious: what  is it  about the  cisco router  that makes  it
> preferable to a ``normal''  computer (i386, Sun, whatever) running
> OpenBSD for  this application? I can make  guesses--hardware being
> at the top of the list--but I've never had to deal with networking
> at this level so all my guesses would be completely uninformed.
>
> Would it be  possible to use OpenBSD in this  situation at all? If
> so, what would it look like? I have in mind a computer with one or
> more  fast PCI  busses and  as many  quad ethernet  cards as  will
> physically fit...but,  again, this is  out of my league  (which is
> why I'm asking).
>
> Might OpenBSD  be a reasonable  fit in some similar  situations to
> this one?
>
> Cheers,
>
> b&

You could. But routers don't have disks, so no storage to fail. Routers 
have custom OS which is specifically designed for routing. Routers have 
tcp/ip stack specifically tuned for routing. Routers have redundant 
parts and special risc cpu's. Sure, you could use a unix box, but 
routers are just better and faster.

Also, you don't just need eithernet cards. You need DSU/CSU modules.
You can get 2 or 3 intel gigabit eithernet cards, put them in a box, 
attach a 512mb flash chip as a drive and install a really lean linux or 
openbsd install. Then run gated or zebra and pf/netfilter and have a 
pretty decent router. I think OpenBSD supports some PCI DSU/CSU modules, 
but they're somewhat expensive, $1000 or so...

Something like this maybe:
http://www.daemonnewsmall.org/sanpcicarwit.html