Date: Thu, 07 Dec 2000 00:36:38 -0500 From: Mike Tancsa <mike@sentex.net> To: Dan Shearer <dan@tellurian.com.au> Cc: freebsd-isp@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Dynamic routing reference sites Message-ID: <4.2.2.20001206234605.01959ed8@marble.sentex.net> In-Reply-To: <Pine.LNX.4.21.0012071505580.5038-100000@calulu.shearer.org > References: <bt2u2tguvb1aq6f95dm2omnu84537pj70i@4ax.com>
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At 03:12 PM 12/7/2000 +1030, Dan Shearer wrote:
>I take it you run a non-trivial network using FreeBSD and one of gated or
>Zebra.
Not sure what the definition of non-trivial is... I have 4 eBGP peers, 2
full views. OSPF inside on 6 routers. I am AS11647
>What would you say to the common contention that Cisco hardware is
>exceedingly reliable (which is true, from my experience and that of many
>others) and that therefore PC-based hardware cannot compare to a Cisco
>when used for a border router. I keep thinking of quality PCs that are
>used in industrial applications for example, and in space missions and
>military tanks. It's pretty good hardware and it isn't good when a fan
>stops.
For my ATM gear, I use Cisco. The switches are on 4hr smartnet contract
(not cheap). Even so, I doubt if the device failed, I would see a
replacement unit in 4hrs, since its a good 2hr drive from the city where
they are stored. In the best of circumstances and unless they have
ambulance like deployment, I doubt they would be here for a good 6hrs at
least. Having a idle replacement unit sitting here is quite expensive... At
some point we will be able to justify it, but it does cost a lot.
For my border routers, having a cold swap PC sitting around doing nothing
ready to be deployed is VERY cheap by comparison.... So it comes down to a
calculated risk. Given your network, can you cost justify the Cisco gear
? If yes, then go with the Cisco. If no, go with the PC solution.
>It seems to me that a competent Unix sysadmin can gain real control by
>using a full Unix machine (well, a carefully secured Unix machine) as a
>border router. But many very competent Unix sysadmins disagree with
>comments along the line of "why bother".
>I have certainly seen networks wallowing helplessly because Cisco (and
>Bay, now Nortel) routers were misbehaving from a software perspective. I
>don't think Cisco has anything much to offer software-wise except a nice
>command interface and many manuals.
Yes and no. IOS will give you a LOT more features than Zebra and gated
will.... BUT, do you need those features for your application ? Also, if
your organization is 'gated'ified' or 'zebraized', and you have one person
who knows it all, what do you do if he/she leaves ? If you have Cisco
gear, you have options in terms of support... You can call up Cisco and
buy the solution. For some organizations, this is quite important.
Furthermore, you can send people on any number of courses to be trained to
operate cisco gear. Again, for some organizations this is important, for
others, it does not matter.
---Mike
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Mike Tancsa, tel +1 519 651 3400
Network Administration, mike@sentex.net
Sentex Communications www.sentex.net
Cambridge, Ontario Canada www.sentex.net/mike
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