jqj@uoregon.UUCP (JQ Johnson) (02/19/88)
Has anyone made any serious effort to use a PC with two Ethernet interfaces as an IP router? My impression is that the KA9Q code is about 95% there to make this possible. Such a beast would be very nice if possible, since current commercial routers (CISCO, Proteon, Bridge, etc.) all cost in the $9K or more range; one could configure a 12MHz PC-AT clone with disk, memory, 2 Ethernets, etc. for substantially under $2K. One would not expect performance to be comparable to that of a P4200 or CISCO, but for some applications that would not be a problem. My questions: 1/ is anyone actually doing this? What sorts of packet forwarding rates do you get on what hardware? 2/ what are the current limitations on the KA9Q code that make this idea unfeasible? I haven't looked at KA9Q in a while; does a current version have (1) support for any Ethernet I/F except 3C501? (2) packet frag/reassembly? (3) support for a range of routing protocols (RIP, HELO, EGP)? (4) all the other things RFC1009 says a gateway has to do properly? 3/ has anyone considered doing this based on one of the other IP implementations for the PC? 4/ Is there any commercial product I've missed that provides a cheap (under $5K) moderate-performance IP router?
david@ms.uky.edu (David Herron -- Resident E-mail Hack) (02/20/88)
I am tentatively planning on building a gateway this summer using a
pc/at and a couple of ether cards and the software you were
suggesting. I seem to recall, however, there being various pieces of
PD gateway software available -- for instance, the BRL gateway code.
Where/how could I get my hands on that?
A gateway for a couple thou' is very tempting
--
<---- David Herron -- The E-Mail guy <david@ms.uky.edu>
<---- or: {rutgers,uunet,cbosgd}!ukma!david, david@UKMA.BITNET
<----
<---- It takes more than a good memory to have good memories.jerry@oliveb.olivetti.com (Jerry Aguirre) (02/23/88)
The 3C501 ethernet interface supported by the KA9Q sofware will never make a high performance gateway. It has only one buffer and drops packets sent too close together or while it is transmitting.
phil@amdcad.AMD.COM (Phil Ngai) (02/27/88)
In article <15696@oliveb.olivetti.com> jerry@oliveb.UUCP (Jerry Aguirre) writes:
<The 3C501 ethernet interface supported by the KA9Q sofware will never
<make a high performance gateway. It has only one buffer and drops
<packets sent too close together or while it is transmitting.
We've got a LANCE on an AT half card. Anyone interested in porting
KA9Q to it? We might even be willing to pay (a reasonable fee). It
would also be nice if someone could fix the VT100 emulation.
--
I speak for myself, not the company.
Phil Ngai, {ucbvax,decwrl,allegra}!amdcad!phil or phil@amd.com