Diana is right. Newer switches uses ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits) to do the switching. Making the MAC Address lookup table basically hardwired into the hardware. That is why switches are basically wire speed unlike a software bridge which is slow in comparison.
Glenn, I would really doubt that you will be able to put OpenBSD or NetBSD onto this Linksys switch. The firmware (boot) and the software work together very closely on switches. If the firmware and software do not much up, you can run across problems also. I would check on Linksys.com to see if they have newer firmware and software then you have on your switch. Most managable switches will allow you to setup VLANs and SNMP through the web interface. Good Luck, rc On 4/5/07, Sam Fourman Jr. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
On 4/5/07, Steve Shockley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Siju George wrote: > > I wish somebody would design a simple hardware that has 24 or more NIC > > ports ( and of course WiFi ) and processor than can install OpenBSD. > > With PF then I could have a very inexpensive managed switch with ACLS > > for all hosts on the network:-) > > The problem isn't just getting lots of ports on a device (usb could > probably do that), it's getting lots of ports on a device and getting > them all to run at full bandwidth. > > I have been interested for quite some time in making a Switch with OpenBSD See this post http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/openbsd/2007-03/2353.html you may find this interesting Sam Fourman Jr.
