Except that the goal you set below is very very hard to do on a software router unless its CPU has packet classification properties implemented in HW. In some systems, just the act of receiving the packet in the ISR and classifying it into a bucket is enough to overwhelm the system without proper hardware assist. Bora -----Original Message----- From: Mark Smith [mailto:nanog@85d5b20a518b8f6864949bd940457dc124746ddc.nosense.org] Sent: Monday, July 19, 2010 2:39 AM To: Tim Durack Cc: NANOG list Subject: Re: Vyatta as a BRAS And that's the crux of the issue. Can the box survive if line rate maximum PPS is being aimed at it, either for forwarding or at the control plane? If the answer is yes, then whether it is a "software router" or "hardware router" is academic.