You are correct that on core routers, the brunt of the work is done in ASICs, and CPU is a slower path. People should know that Cisco takes this discrete fact

You are correct that on core routers, the brunt of the work is done in ASICs, and CPU is a slower path. People should know that Cisco takes this discrete fact and then extends and over-hypes it. The differentials between ASICs and CPU are not to the extent that Cisco make it out to be, where it seems like CPU is not even an option at all on most of the network. Also, Cisco has an overbroad notion of how necessary their particular routers and switches are in your network, when in many places in the network, off-the-shelf hardware, CPUs and software would do fine (for much cheaper). For the past few years, people have been developing software solutions like quagga, BIRD, XORP and OpenBGPD/OpenOSPFD. They have seen some heavy production use ( http://www.openbgpd.org/users.html http://www.openbgpd.org/users.html ). OpenBGPD even teased out problems in Cisco routers - some standards-compliant packets OpenBGPD sent out would crash Cisco routers. People appreciate the openness, the flexibility and the extensibility and the price of these solutions. ASICs are faster than CPU in the core of the core, but don't let that fact get you ensnared in Cisco marketing hype and FUD. People are paying a lot of money to Cisco on the low and medium end for equipment that could be replaced much cheaper with off-the-shelf hardware and free and open software.