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A brief history of router architecture

blog.apnic.net

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Re: A brief history of router architecture

#11

Post by ngcc_hk »

But is this within or external to the router. After SNA and token ring, the Ethernet-cum-internet decentralised not just the net but also the router, switch, cable up to internet (local : ospf and ...).

Not sure why it seems to talk about the router. Even a small floor network does not run on one router. But panels, switches, routers, ups ... abd that is in 1990s to now.

The internal architecture ... is that so important. (Some big router-switch with many cards may be. But that is not the only one approach.)

Re: A brief history of router architecture

#13

Post by tony1athome »

ngcc_hk wrote: post #11

But is this within or external to the router. After SNA and token ring, the Ethernet-cum-internet decentralised not just the net but also the router, switch, cable up to internet (local : ospf and ...). Not sure why it seems to talk about the router. Even a small floor network does not run on one router. But panels, switches, routers, ups ... abd that is in 1990s to now. The internal architecture ... is that so impor…

Everything that I talk about is internal to the router.

Some of us think that the architecture of big routers is plenty important. It's those routers that hold up the backbone of the Internet and a whole lot of other places.

Yes, you can build distributed routers. The supernode that I discuss is one such example. But that doesn't mean that you want to build it with a bunch of tiny home routers that you bought off the shelf at Fry's. You still want to start with fairly chunky building blocks, otherwise you end up suffering from a lot of inefficiencies just interconnecting things. Jonathan Turner calls this the 'small switch penalty'.

Re: A brief history of router architecture

#14

Post by oaiey »

tony1athome wrote: post #12

Thank you for the kind comments. If you have questions, I'm happy to answer them. -- Tony Li

I missed a statement about the transition between internal and external scaling. In the beginning of the article it is all about internal computer architecture, later more about deployment.

What is the state of internal architecture?

Re: A brief history of router architecture

#15

Post by janwillemb »

tony1athome wrote: post #12

Thank you for the kind comments. If you have questions, I'm happy to answer them. -- Tony Li

> In the beginning, routers were simply generic computers, with Network Interface Cards (NICs) attached to a bus.

I'm a total network noob, but I do want to know more about how they work. Your article could help me, I think. But this statement already puts me off: what is a bus? I just can't picture what that's supposed to mean. Sorry if that's a stupid question. Maybe the article is just not for me and I need some primer first.

Re: A brief history of router architecture

#16

Post by frabert »

janwillemb wrote: post #15
tony1athome wrote: post #12

Thank you for the kind comments. If you have questions, I'm happy to answer them. -- Tony Li

> In the beginning, routers were simply generic computers, with Network Interface Cards (NICs) attached to a bus. I'm a total network noob, but I do want to know more about how they work. Your article could help me, I think. But this statement already puts me off: what is a bus? I just can't picture what that's supposed to mean. Sorry if that's a stupid question. Maybe the article is just not for me and I need some p…

A bus is something computers and peripherals comunicate on. Think PCI, PCIexpress, USB

Re: A brief history of router architecture

#17

Post by [deleted] »

oaiey wrote: post #14
tony1athome wrote: post #12

Thank you for the kind comments. If you have questions, I'm happy to answer them. -- Tony Li

I missed a statement about the transition between internal and external scaling. In the beginning of the article it is all about internal computer architecture, later more about deployment. What is the state of internal architecture?

[deleted]

Re: A brief history of router architecture

#18

Post by stack_underflow »

teleforce wrote: post #8
the_only_law wrote: post #5

This is why I stay on HN. This is such a niche, interesting subject that I never would have found otherwise. I’ve been looking for networking resource that go in depth on things like this, rather than just configuring and setting up equipment. Does anyone know anything like this? I’m especially interested in ones for telecommunications networking technology.

Please check this book "Computer Networking : A Top-Down Approach" By Kurose & Ross. It is the best textbook on computer networking, bar none. The latest edition also covers modern networking concepts, for example Software Defined Networks (SDN). [1] https://www.amazon.com/Computer-Networking-Top-Down-Approach...

The Kurose/Ross textbook is also a favourite of mine.

Consider checking out https://book.systemsapproach.org/index.html as a free alternative as well.

The authors develop the book, as well as a few micro-books on topics like SDN, 5G, TCP congestion control, on github: https://github.com/SystemsApproach

They also have a blog with regular updates: https://www.systemsapproach.org/blog

And if you're curious about the motivation behind the project, they have a whitepaper: Open Source Networking Education: A Systems Approach - https://www.systemsapproach.org/uploads/4/7/7/4/47748257/sig...

Re: A brief history of router architecture

#19

Post by janwillemb »

frabert wrote: post #16
janwillemb wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In the beginning, routers were simply generic computers, with Network Interface Cards (NICs) attached to a bus. I'm a total network noob, but I do want to know more about how they work. Your article could help me, I think. But this statement already puts me off: what is a bus? I just can't picture what that's supposed to mean. Sorry if that's a stupid question. Maybe the article is just not for me and I need some p…

A bus is something computers and peripherals comunicate on. Think PCI, PCIexpress, USB

Is it like a bunch of wires?

Re: A brief history of router architecture

#20

Post by antoinealb »

janwillemb wrote: post #19
frabert wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A bus is something computers and peripherals comunicate on. Think PCI, PCIexpress, USB

Is it like a bunch of wires?

It's both a bunch of wires as well as the definition for the protocol that uses said wires.
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