[GLLUG] FLOSS Router

[Nix]

On 28 Feb 2016, Mike Brodbelt spake thusly:

> If you want to run a more full features distro, Soekris engineering
> have always done lovely little systems.

Unfortunately they have more or less stopped producing anything: new
development is on hold and all their existing boxes are rather aged
(this post brought to you via a net5501, which as of kernel 4.2 has a
most unfortunate crash bug in the VIA Rhine networking code fixed, so it
won't spontaneously crash or watchdog-reboot under network load any
more: major kudos to François Romieu for finding it on Easter weekend
last year, particularly given that I could give him almost no useful
information! Kernel 4.4.x is the first one for at least four years that
has not spontaneously watchdog-rebooted on me even once on the net5501.)

I'm musing over a box from ADI Engineering in future, for the distant
future when my Soekris is no longer beefy enough or both it and its
backup die. I need lots of Ethernet ports, though: the RCC-VE 4860's six
ports are only just enough. The forthcoming BCC-VE has a wondrous
superfluity: 16 (!) RJ45 1GiB Ethernet ports, two SFP GbE ports (!) and
six 10GbE ports. "Throw away all your switches" levels of portage, plus
things like redundant power boards which given my experience with the
Soekris crap power supplies is reassuring. (However, because it's in
pre-production I have no idea how much it'll cost. Probably far more
than anyone sane could possibly afford unless they're running a
datacentre.)

-- 
NULL && (void)