At 04:26 PM 10/28/98 -0500, Adam D. McKenna wrote:
So does linux.
Linux can be:
A packet forwarder (router) A packet filter (firewall) An IP masquerading packet filter (NAT firewall) Can run RIP, BGP, EGP, OSPF (via gated)
Maybe I'm being naiive here, but what does Cisco offer beyond this (besides the availability of higher performance)?
Appliance level reliability, like a toaster. Plug it in, turn it on, configure it once, forget it exists. That's why we moved our printers to a dedicated print-server (OSIram), from the Linux hosts. Actually, a cisco may actually double as a toaster, a foot-warmer at the least <grin>. BTW, I thank the list for the kind help offered with our Linux NIC routing problem. It's still not solved, but we've been otherwise $distracted$. I plan on implementing some of the suggested solutions this week. Again, the issue is fall-back if our switch goes out again. For this sort of usage, Linux routing is far cheaper than keeping a cisco laying around. If the switch goes off, the lights go out, and the party's over. Linux routing would keep minimal lights on so the party could continue.
-----Original Message----- From: Michael Shields <shields@crosslink.net> To: dirk@power.net <dirk@power.net> Cc: nanog@merit.edu <nanog@merit.edu>; list@inet-access.net <list@inet-access.net> Date: Wednesday, October 28, 1998 4:01 PM Subject: Re: Linux Router KIT
In article <19981028100541.00359@orlando.power.net>, dirk@power.net wrote:
Linux doesn't just kill Microsoft's NT and Solaris. It also eats Cisco for lunch.
This isn't true. IOS does a lot more than just get packets from interface A to interface B. (In terms of managability as well as functionality) -- Shields, CrossLink.
___________________________________________________ Roeland M.J. Meyer, ISOC (InterNIC RM993) e-mail: <mailto:rmeyer@mhsc.com>rmeyer@mhsc.com Internet phone: hawk.mhsc.com Personal web pages: <http://www.mhsc.com/~rmeyer>www.mhsc.com/~rmeyer Company web-site: <http://www.mhsc.com/>www.mhsc.com/ ___________________________________________ I bet the human brain is a kludge. -- Marvin Minsky