Date: Fri, 24 May 1996 08:43:24 -0500 (CDT) From: "Karl Denninger, MCSNet" <karl@mcs.com> To: winter@jurai.net (Matthew N. Dodd) Cc: dennis@etinc.com, hackers@FreeBSD.org Subject: Re: ISDN Compression Load on CPU Message-ID: <m0uMx9I-000IDOC@venus.mcs.com> In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSI.3.93.960523234754.23587C-100000@sasami> from "Matthew N. Dodd" at May 24, 96 00:24:48 am
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
> I don't think its unusual for the Ascend to be a better solution for this > problem. That doesn't mean that there is no place for unix based > solutions. Failure to consider ALL options can be expensive. > > > Now figure the fact that the $2,000 P130 price is a LIST price, and is > > typically discounted 20-30%, that this thing draws something like 18 > > watts, and can literally be stuck on a wall near the Ethernet concentrator > > that feeds your offices, while your "PC" requires not only a keyboard and > > monitor (big and bulky) but draws a couple of hundred heat-producing watts > > from the wall. > > I'm not going to use a PC as an office router. However, if I put together > a firewall/mailhost/caching-proxy/WWW/FTP server, for an end user, it may > be worth the $1000 to put the sync card on that box and have a one box > solution. It all depends on what solution is best for the customer. > > For some problems FreeBSD is a viable solution to consider when you review > all of your options. > > Have a good one. > > | Matthew N. Dodd | winter@jurai.net | http://www.jurai.net/~winter | > | Technical Manager | mdodd@intersurf.net | http://www.intersurf.net | > | InterSurf Online | "Welcome to the net Sir, would you like a handbasket?"| That's the point Matthew. First, commercial boxes come with support. Support that an ISP will NEED. There is definitely a place for these things, yes. But when you are operating a company which is selling access to the PUBLIC, and those customers want support and operational systems, you have to have a way to give it to them. I'm not going to try to claim that there is no place for FreeBSD-based routers. There *IS*. But to try to claim that they *replace* the typical CISCO solution, or the typical end-user attachment solution, is nuts. Two different targets, two different markets. I can live with some quirky problem, or work to fix it myself, in a Unix machine that is being used as a file or compute server. I absolutely *CANNOT* live with that same problem in a core router on my network. Among other things, I screw *other providers* with those problems when they show up on my core. That is unacceptable. And frankly, if the argument is "cheaper is better", I generally say "you haven't considered ALL the costs." I can always come up with a cheaper solution if I leave a few of the costs out of the equation. And yes, Dennis, I am a developer. 99% of the software running here, including the entire FreeBSD-based authentication and database systems at MCSNet, were written by me. 15+ years of experience in this industry. -- -- Karl Denninger (karl@MCS.Net)| MCSNet - The Finest Internet Connectivity Modem: [+1 312 248-0900] | T1 from $600 monthly; speeds to DS-3 available Voice: [+1 312 803-MCS1] | 21 Chicagoland POPs, ISDN, 28.8, much more Fax: [+1 312 248-9865] | Email to "info@mcs.net" WWW: http://www.mcs.net/ ISDN - Get it here TODAY! | Home of Chicago's only FULL Clarinet feed!
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?m0uMx9I-000IDOC>