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Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.mel.connect.com.au!munnari.OZ.AU!news.ecn.uoknor.edu!news.cis.okstate.edu!news.ksu.ksu.edu!news.physics.uiowa.edu!math.ohio-state.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!newsfeed.internetmci.com!news.dacom.co.kr!news.uoregon.edu!symiserver2.symantec.com!news.central.com!news From: tedm@central.com Subject: Re: FreeBSD Routing... as good as hardware ? X-Newsreader: IBM NewsReader/2 v1.2 Reply-To: tedm%toybox@agora.rdrop.com Sender: news@news.central.com (Usenet Netnews) Organization: Beaverton Location, Peter Norton Group Message-ID: <DL22xx.KD9@news.central.com> References: <4covfb$1g7@news.mistral.co.uk> <4cvfg5$pur@news.voicenet.com> Date: Fri, 12 Jan 1996 06:49:09 GMT Lines: 42 In <4cvfg5$pur@news.voicenet.com>, The Notorious B.S.D. (The Notorious B.S.D.) writes: >plaker@cybar.co.uk (Pete) wrote: > >>I've been convinced that FreeBSD would be a good OS for my pentium >>mail/web/news/ftp LAN server, but can FreeBSD on a seperate >>386 really be as reliable and more monitorable and configurable than >>the 'black box' option ? > >> If so, this is much much cheeper, why >>doesn't EVERYBODY do this instead of spending a fortune on a hardware >>router ? > >You have to define what you mean by cheaper. In my estimation, money >spent on a dedicated router is among the best investments you can make >toward your LAN's success. > [such deleted] >Cisco techs can (if you're stumped) dialin and configure your router, >save the routing configs in non-volitile flash RAM, and you can >essentially forget having to do anything more to this !!VITAL!! piece >of your networking puzzle. Ah, yes, the old cry of "lets pay someone else to do our job for us" Personally, I wouldn't let Cisco techs, or any outsider for that matter, dial in to something as !!VITAL!! as my routers. But, then again, I don't regard my network as a puzzle either. Complex, yes, a puzzle, no. There is nothing wrong with using servers as routers. In fact, there is something to be said for it - your more likely to be working with a server daily, so you are going to be more familiar with it, when it dies your probably going to be able to fix it faster. If you consider a network as a collection of black boxes that you use as _applicances_, rather than _tools_ your not going to have a very good network. In my estimation, money spent on an admin who isin't going to be fazed by something as common as a router failure, and is not afraid to experiment with any useful tool out there, is among the best investments you can make towards your LAN's success.