datta@ee.utah.edu (Sanchaita Datta) (06/12/91)
Hi, I am new to the net management world. I have a few questions about Network Management for routers. 1. Why is the 68000 microprocessor the preferred choice for routers? 2. What are the advantages of using 68000 for snmp agent for routers? 3. Are there public domain sources for: -- UDP/IP stack -- SNMP agents for routers and HUBs All the info. I can get would be greatly appreciated. Thanx Sanchaita datta@ee.utah.edu
BILLW@MATHOM.CISCO.COM (William "Chops" Westfield) (06/15/91)
1. Why is the 68000 microprocessor the preferred choice for routers? Flat address space well suited toward embedded applications requiring large memory. While the 386 might be made itno a reasonable router, it has not been available for nearly as long as the 68000. Nor have the various RISC processors. Network byte order == computer byte order for most popular protocols. Many routers are based on BSD unix, which was widely available for 68000 architectures long before other processors. Cisco's original router was very similar to a SUN-1, for example (cisco being essentially the "other half" of Stanford's SUN project) (hardware-wise. The cisco software isn't at all derived from unix.) Better C compilers available (consequence of preceeding comment.) 2. What are the advantages of using 68000 for snmp agent for routers? I suspect that ASN.1 is sufficiently complicated that it removes any particular advantage the 68k might have had. That doesn't mean it isn't still a better overall choice - a router has to do more than run SNMP. 3. Are there public domain sources for: -- UDP/IP stack -- SNMP agents for routers and HUBs BSD TCP is sort of public domain, as are a number of PC packages for the MAC, Amiga, etc. A bunch of free software is available for BSD unix, including some SNMP implementations from MIT and CMU. BillW -------