Hi Nick,
You're done. You can buy more recent server hardware and get another small bump. You may be able to tweak interrupt rates from the NICs as well, trading latency for throughput. But basically you're done: you've hit the upper bound of what slow-path (not hardware assisted) networking can currently do.
Options:
1. Buy equipment with a hardware fast path, such as the higher end Juniper and Cisco routers.
2. Split the load. Run multiple BGP routers and filter some portion of the /8's on each of them. On your IGP, advertise /8's instead of a default.
Regards, Bill Herrin
Hey Bill, thanks for your reply!!!! Yeah option 1...... I think we will do whatever it takes to avoid that route. I don't have a good reason for it, it's just preference. Great manufactures/produts.... etc..., we just like the flexibility we get with how things are setup right now. Not to mention extra rack space! Option 2 is exactly what we are looking at. But before that, we are looking at upgrading to a PCIe 3 x8 or x16 as mentioned earlier for that "small bump". If we hit 25% increase in throughout then that would keep the barracudas in suits at bay. But for now, they are really breathing down my back... :) N.