Re: [uknof] Full table routers

[Will Hargrave]

Hi John,

Why not simply accept fewer routes (plus a default) into the existing 
Arista EOS BGP and so the hardware FIB? Then you can actually take 
advantage of the hardware forwarding.


With this setup you’re using the relatively slow control plane (the 
Intel FM6000 was released a decade ago and I can’t imagine Arista 
paired it with a super-fast SoC…) to route and that won’t work very 
quickly at all. In fact it may not have enough RAM and CPU to 
effectively deal with a modern full table, it would be better to just 
use a modern 1U server for this.


Will

On 28 Jun 2023, at 21:21, John P Bourke wrote:


Hi

I may have “an” answer.  I think the Americans call this a “Hail 
Mary Pass”.


I have a bunch Arista 7150s, which are EOL and a disappointment.  But 
I found this.


https://research.kudelskisecurity.com/2015/10/01/hacking-arista-appliances-for-fun-and-profit/#comments

The Arista runs a full Centos 7.6.  You strip out the Arista BGP 
process and BIRD (or FRR I guess) and you have a route server.  I say 
route server, because by pulling the Arista BGP process you have no 
interaction with the RIB.


Thanks

John

BTW – Not dissing Arista.  The 7150 is a bit of a unicorn in their 
portfolio, using a chipset from Intel which they bought from a 
startup, which Intel then dropped so Arista understandably did not put 
a lot of effort into beyond the High Frequency Trading use cases that 
this low latency switch is good for.



From: Tim Bray 
Sent: Wednesday, June 28, 2023 6:56 PM
To: uknof@lists.uknof.org.uk
Subject: Re: [uknof] Full table routers

On 28/06/2023 10:27, John P Bourke wrote:
Any recommendations for full table routers.  We don’t need more than 
10G.


I used Debian + FRR on HP proliants.   With startech Nics with intel 
chipset.Unusual, but did the trick.  Help that there was a 
whole stack of the same hardware running services in the same place.   
 They take a while to boot, but you can make it faster and I think the 
newer variants are better.




Software wise, takes a bit of getting used to.   Sometimes conflict 
between FRR and what Debian wants to do for network setup.  Also 
you can use CAKE :)  Also run any scripts or monitoring you want 
onboard (like counting the BFD flaps per hour to watch the problems 
that go away and come back very quickly)


See also distributions that bundle FRR more specifically for 
networking rather than a general distribution.


--

Tim Bray

Huddersfield, GB

t...@kooky.org

+44 7966479015

Re: [uknof] Full table routers

[ch]

On Wed, 28 Jun 2023 at 11:27, John P Bourke
 wrote:
> Any recommendations for full table routers.  We don’t need more than 10G.

Mikrotik CCR2116[1] or CCR2216[2]?

[1]: https://mikrotik.com/product/ccr2116_12g_4splus
[2]: https://mikrotik.com/product/ccr2216_1g_12xs_2xq

Re: [uknof] Full table routers

[John P Bourke]

Hi

I may have “an” answer.  I think the Americans call this a “Hail Mary Pass”.

I have a bunch Arista 7150s, which are EOL and a disappointment.  But I found 
this.

https://research.kudelskisecurity.com/2015/10/01/hacking-arista-appliances-for-fun-and-profit/#comments

The Arista runs a full Centos 7.6.  You strip out the Arista BGP process and 
BIRD (or FRR I guess) and you have a route server.  I say route server, because 
by pulling the Arista BGP process you have no interaction with the RIB.

Thanks

John

BTW – Not dissing Arista.  The 7150 is a bit of a unicorn in their portfolio, 
using a chipset from Intel which they bought from a startup, which Intel then 
dropped so Arista understandably did not put a lot of effort into beyond the 
High Frequency Trading use cases that this low latency switch is good for.


From: Tim Bray 
Sent: Wednesday, June 28, 2023 6:56 PM
To: uknof@lists.uknof.org.uk
Subject: Re: [uknof] Full table routers

On 28/06/2023 10:27, John P Bourke wrote:
Any recommendations for full table routers.  We don’t need more than 10G.

I used Debian + FRR on HP proliants.   With startech Nics with intel chipset.   
 Unusual, but did the trick.  Help that there was a whole stack of the same 
hardware running services in the same place.They take a while to boot, but 
you can make it faster and I think the newer variants are better.



Software wise, takes a bit of getting used to.   Sometimes conflict between FRR 
and what Debian wants to do for network setup.  Also you can use CAKE :)
  Also run any scripts or monitoring you want onboard (like counting the BFD 
flaps per hour to watch the problems that go away and come back very quickly)

See also distributions that bundle FRR more specifically for networking rather 
than a general distribution.

--

Tim Bray

Huddersfield, GB

t...@kooky.org

+44 7966479015

Re: [uknof] Full table routers

[Tim Bray via uknof]

--- Begin Message ---

On 28/06/2023 10:27, John P Bourke wrote:


Any recommendations for full table routers. We don’t need more than 10G.

I used Debian + FRR on HP proliants.   With startech Nics with intel 
chipset.    Unusual, but did the trick.  Help that there was a whole 
stack of the same hardware running services in the same place.    They 
take a while to boot, but you can make it faster and I think the newer 
variants are better.



Software wise, takes a bit of getting used to.   Sometimes conflict 
between FRR and what Debian wants to do for network setup.      Also you 
can use CAKE :)  Also run any scripts or monitoring you want onboard 
(like counting the BFD flaps per hour to watch the problems that go away 
and come back very quickly)


See also distributions that bundle FRR more specifically for networking 
rather than a general distribution.


--
Tim Bray
Huddersfield, GB
t...@kooky.org
+44 7966479015
--- End Message ---

[uknof] Full table routers

[John P Bourke]

Hi

Any recommendations for full table routers.  We don't need more than 10G.

Thanks

John