From owner-freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Sat Jan 20 04:49:35 2007 Return-Path: X-Original-To: freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Delivered-To: freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [69.147.83.52]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id BF9F916A401 for ; Sat, 20 Jan 2007 04:49:35 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from phi@evilphi.com) Received: from mail.twinthornes.com (mail.twinthornes.com [65.75.198.147]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 985AD13C465 for ; Sat, 20 Jan 2007 04:49:35 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from phi@evilphi.com) Received: from [10.9.70.4] (c-24-20-142-99.hsd1.mn.comcast.net [24.20.142.99]) by mail.twinthornes.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 949D6F23; Fri, 19 Jan 2007 20:49:34 -0800 (PST) Message-ID: <45B19F2D.7080108@evilphi.com> Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2007 20:48:45 -0800 From: Darren Pilgrim User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.5.0.9 (Windows/20061207) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: "Matthew D. Fuller" References: <45B00728.5050207@gmail.com> <200701192030.l0JKUN9v059140@lurza.secnetix.de> <20070119231601.GE63694@over-yonder.net> In-Reply-To: <20070119231601.GE63694@over-yonder.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Cc: freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: what can i do with a 486? X-BeenThere: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Non technical items related to the community List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2007 04:49:35 -0000 Matthew D. Fuller wrote: > On Fri, Jan 19, 2007 at 09:30:23PM +0100 I heard the voice of > Oliver Fromme, and lo! it spake thus: >> Personally I prefer to use a FreeBSD machine as a router, because I >> dislike "black boxes". > > I second and carry the motion. Show me a consumer-grade black-box > "router" that I can run tcpdump on, then maybe I'll think about > switching... but probably not by a long shot. Well I do have a Linksys WRT54G with hacked firmware... :) These days I'd rather install a Cisco 1605R than a old computer with FreeBSD on it. No moving parts and it's getting expensive to build and support old PC hardware (the cost of DRAM is the real issue). I do still have a few FreeBSD routers: underclocked Pentium with a large heat-sink, 48 or 64 MB RAM, DC-DC PS with a wall-wart and a CF card in an IDE reader from which an md / is loaded. In my experience, there just isn't enough power in a 486 to handle being a broadband router. A 100MHz Pentium running RELENG_4, however, has more than enough to handle DSL and cable modem speeds with a pair of fxp interfaces. -- Darren Pilgrim