OT: ISPs: Linux's role nowadays

[Chris Adams]

Once upon a time, Tom H <tomh0665 at gmail.com> said:
> How about Vyatta? They are Linux-based and claim to have the same
> performance as Cisco routers. They started out as software-only but
> seem to be pushing "appliances" more and more, like
> http://www.vyatta.com/downloads/datasheets/vyatta_3500_datasheet.pdf

If I am buying a dedicated box anyway, what do I gain with buying Linux?
I have enough trouble sometimes getting good support for arcane bugs on
Juniper and Cisco; I really don't want to have to deal with a much
smaller company that didn't write (and may not understand) all the code.
While I can dig into the code to find bugs myself sometimes, I can't
always do that myself (and I can't afford to do that if it is my whole
network that is down).

A quick look at Vyatta compares their box to the Cisco software routers,
not the "real" hardware-based forwarding routers.  They also have a
simplified feature set (no QinQ, MPLS, telco links over T1 speed, etc.).
The port density is also weak; I have a couple of hundred T1 customers
in just two slots of an eight-slot, 5U Juniper.  Junipers can have
redundant routing and forwarding engines that switch in a fraction of a
second in case of failure (and also allow you to do software upgrades
with essentially zero downtime).

I run Linux everywhere it makes sense, and have for more years than most
(I've been running Linux-based ISPs for over 14 years and Linux on my
desktop for longer than that).  It just doesn't make sense in an ISP
environment to run Linux on the routers.
-- 
Chris Adams <cmadams at hiwaay.net>
Systems and Network Administrator - HiWAAY Internet Services
I don't speak for anybody but myself - that's enough trouble.