Re: [nanog]software routers

[Vadim Antonov <avg () exigengroup com>]

On Sun, 22 Sep 2002, Koji Hino wrote:

> From: Vadim Antonov <avg () exigengroup com>
>  Date: Sat, 21 Sep 2002 03:06:56 -0700 (PDT)
> :> The CPUs are quite faster nowadays, and you can get things like _quad_ 
> :> 300MHz PPC core on an FPGA plus 20+ 3.2Gbps serdes I/Os - all on one chip.
> :> So building multigigabit software router is a no-brainer.
>
> Usual PCs don't have such fancy hardware...

They have quite fancier stuff inside, actually, from a technology point of
view. Your run-of-the-mill Pentium IV requires a lot more advanced
technology for design and manufacturing than the "platform FPGA" I
referred to.  The enormous design costs for those marvels of engineering
are only bearable because of high volume.

> If you call it software router, then all "network processor based
> router" should also be called software router, right?

"Software router" in my book is something which relies on programmable
general-purpose devices for implementing packet routing functions.  
Network processors do not qualify (though they're nice, when they are
actually available, which is not often - because chip vendors tend to drop
niche products pronto when in a bind).  One thing I learned well is to 
keep exotic stuff out of designs, because it never seems to be available 
w/o high-volume commitments, and even then tends to come a year later and 
full of "design features".

--vadim