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> > The majority of differences between routers is just firmware and packaging, the guts are all the same. > > The firmware is the part you really have to

> > The majority of differences between routers is just firmware and packaging, the guts are all the same. > > The firmware is the part you really have to worry about, though Professional quality routers often use ASICs to handle most of the processing, which is quite a bit faster, engineered to perform at specific workloads, and is more reliable. [1] Big iron gear are often specialized versions of blade servers. [2] And tons of software controls go into the CPU and software design to protect against firmware hacks, reverse-engineering, data exfiltration, counterfeit parts, insecure connections, license tampering, and hardening against internal compromise. [3] Aside from the CPUs and other guts inside the router, newer Cisco gear supports network adapters from Broadcom, Intel and QLogic. [1] https://blogs.cisco.com/wireless/not-all-802-11ac-aps-are-created-equal-demand-the-full-story https://blogs.cisco.com/wireless/not-all-802-11ac-aps-are-cr... [2] https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/servers-unified-computing/ucs-5100-series-blade-server-chassis/index.html https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/servers-unified-compu... [3] https://www.design-reuse.com/articles/20671/security-embedded-design.html https://www.design-reuse.com/articles/20671/security-embedde...

wtallis 9y ago
I don't think Belkin/Linksys operates in those market segments. It doesn't appear that they have any rackmount routers at the moment, just a tiny VPN router and some rackmount Ethernet switches. The rest is WiFi routers that are unlikely to have any significant hardware acceleration beyond a built-in Ethernet switch with basic NAT capability. There's not much separation between data plane and control plane in those products.
electrum 9y ago
You can see an open source version of "big iron" networking gear, both hardware [1] and software [2]. They also use ASICs for most of the work and run Linux on the host CPU (so they can be managed like normal servers). [1] https://code.facebook.com/posts/843620439027582/facebook-open-switching-system-fboss-and-wedge-in-the-open/ https://code.facebook.com/posts/843620439027582/facebook-ope... [2] https://github.com/facebook/fboss https://github.com/facebook/fboss
- kingosticks 9y ago
  > Our Wedge top-of-rack switch follows this basic design and uses a single Broadcom Trident II ASIC The chassis may be open-source but the guts of that thing is a (high-end Broadcom chip, just like everyone else.

wtallis 9y ago

I don't think Belkin/Linksys operates in those market segments. It doesn't appear that they have any rackmount routers at the moment, just a tiny VPN router and some rackmount Ethernet switches. The rest is WiFi routers that are unlikely to have any significant hardware acceleration beyond a built-in Ethernet switch with basic NAT capability. There's not much separation between data plane and control plane in those products.

electrum 9y ago

You can see an open source version of "big iron" networking gear, both hardware [1] and software [2]. They also use ASICs for most of the work and run Linux on the host CPU (so they can be managed like normal servers). [1] https://code.facebook.com/posts/843620439027582/facebook-open-switching-system-fboss-and-wedge-in-the-open/ https://code.facebook.com/posts/843620439027582/facebook-ope... [2] https://github.com/facebook/fboss https://github.com/facebook/fboss

kingosticks 9y ago
> Our Wedge top-of-rack switch follows this basic design and uses a single Broadcom Trident II ASIC The chassis may be open-source but the guts of that thing is a (high-end Broadcom chip, just like everyone else.