What is soft routing?

Soft routing refers to the use of desktop computer or server with software to form a routing solution, mainly rely on software Settings, to achieve the function of the router; On the other hand, hard routing is based on unique hard equipment, including processor, power supply, embedded software, to provide the router function.

Platform windows platform and Linux/bsd platform

Popular software RouterOS,m0n0wall

Software router is not complicated, very simple, will use ordinary operation PC can install software routing, as the name implies that the system software is set to complete the routing function

According to different operations, it can be divided into software routers based on windows platform and Linux/bsd platform. Software firewalls based on Windows platform are more common such as ISA Server, Winroute Firewall, soft route management of grass online behavior, etc. Some of these software is commercial, usually according to the number of authorized users of different charges and different, the purchase of legitimate software firewall costs for many small and medium-sized enterprises is no doubt a large amount of expenses, grass online behavior management soft route is currently limited based on the windows platform and the main free soft routing software; And the software firewall based on the Unix/Linux platform is generally less contact, benefit from the open source operation, the current software firewall based on the Unix/Linux platform like bamboo shoots constantly launched, most of these software firewalls are free, Common systems include sea spider, ikuai8, RouterOS, m0n0Wall, SmoothWall, Ipcop, CoyoteLinux[1], etc. These systems have low hardware requirements, and even only need a 486 computer, a floppy disk, and so on. Two network cards can be installed out of a very professional software firewall, which for many friends have eliminated down low grade computer, means to take an eliminated computer, install a set of free firewall software, do not spend a penny on DIY a professional firewall, and these systems themselves also contain the NAT function, at the same time can achieve broadband sharing, This means that the free firewall is actually a great broadband router, which is exciting, but for now such free soft routes are often used to survive or cause user dissatisfaction with too many ads inserted.

Software router

Different software routers have different functions, and most Linux/ BSD-based freeware routers are not worse than commercial routers, but more powerful than commercial routers.

At present, most of the common hardware broadband routers are implemented by software, which is the same as the software router, and the software router is general

intel82574L soft route NIC

The hardware configuration is higher than the hardware broadband router configuration, so in some cases the speed is more stable than thousands of dollars of hardware router faster. As for the stability of the software router, thanks to the stable Linux and BSD kernel, the stability of the software router is very good. The software router does not need to restart, and theoretically the running time is unlimited.

Accessories required

An ordinary PC with more than 486 and 8M memory can be added with two network cards. Some software routers such as CoyoteLinux only need a floppy disk. There are no special requirements for network cards, common Rtl8139 and 530tx, 3COM905B-TX, Intel82559 server network card can be, but according to our experience, a good working software router, network card must be good, so we will recommend you to use iNTEL or 3COM brand network card, especially Intel82559 effect is very good. If the economic conditions permit, it is a good choice to buy an electronic hard disk or CF-IDE adapter card coupled with CF memory card, so that the software router can be compared with the hardware router.

Prospect of Development

Software routers will gradually occupy more of the hardware router market

Software router

Router can not eliminate hardware router, their market positioning is different, and in the high-end only hardware router can be competent, but for general applications such as Internet cafes, schools, organs and other software routers can obtain higher economic benefits.

Learning by technology

At present the more popular software routers are foreign, foreign software router developer's official website is a good place to learn.

Is it illegal?

Most software routers are open source or software, so we can install software router for others to charge a certain fee, as long as the heart is not too black on the line, in addition to the heart always miss you know the net friend, of course, like RouteOS/SMOOthwall commercial version is a fee software, D version of the advice you do not use, Of course, you can also use it. It is better to use it yourself, otherwise you will be responsible for the consequences.

The Benefits

There are many advantages of soft routing, such as the use of cheap desktop computers, with free Linux software, soft routing elasticity, and desktop processor performance is strong, so the processing efficiency is good, but also easy to expand. However, it also requires technical personnel to master more professional knowledge, such as setting method and parameter design, and the setting is also more complicated, and it requires technical personnel to have a certain strain technical ability. At the same time, if the hardware configuration of the desktop is not well selected or reasonable, and if the router functions for a long time, the probability of failure will be very high. With a desktop computer, the cost is not low, but if you want to use the server, the cost is higher, the technical staff learning process is more tedious.

Comparison of soft and hard routes

Conceptual aspect

Soft routing is usually done using a common computer, using a common operating system such as linux or windows, so the routing setup is in fact windows

intel82576 Soft route NIC

Or the linux setup, or the configuration of your computer. The PC can be a very old 486 or a more advanced PC/server. Software and hardware are separate; Hardware routers, mostly based on embedded system architecture, use self-developed or off-the-shelf embedded operating systems such as Vxworks, Montavista and uClinux as operating systems, and then cooperate with the routing software developed by system manufacturers. Software and hardware are mutually compatible. The hardware router uses a special operating system, so Hyperterminal (computer) is used to manage the router through console. The management of hardware routers is usually realized by using dedicated command line, graphical interface or network management software.

The hardware architecture of the software router is universal and suitable for the installation and use of various applications. It is not designed only for the router. The hardware architecture of hardware routers is designed for routers, and some cpus are developed for network applications.

Hardware assembly

Users of software routers may have to assemble their own hardware, while the average PC may have no network card (such as the very old 486) or only one network card, and users may have to install additional network cards to meet the routing function. The hardware may have compatibility issues that the user must solve; The hardware router users do not need to assemble the hardware themselves. The collocation design of the hardware has been completed by the system manufacturer and has been strictly tested, so there will be no incompatibility.

Software Installation

Users of software routers must install their own software, some of which is free and some of which requires royalties. Hardware router users do not have to install software, which is embedded in the product's flash memory.

Software Maintenance

Software routers offer free software that is usually non-commercial, open code that is developed and modified by a few scattered experts for interest. Functional integrity and debugging cannot be guaranteed; The software function of hardware router is developed by the system manufacturer, which has high consistency. The increase of functions and error removal are maintained by the system manufacturer. Users only need to upgrade the software. The upgrade software can be obtained through a reliable channel and the after-sales service can be guaranteed.

Quality of collocation

Software router software must accommodate off-the-shelf hardware (bcm5709s soft routing network cards such as PCS) as well as off-the-shelf operating systems (such as Windows and Linux) that are not designed specifically for networking/routing functions. Stability cannot be generalized, users must pay relative cost, time, energy, and money; The software and hardware of the hardware router adopt the embedded operating system and match each other, so the overall design is simple and efficient, not only stable, but also easy to set up, and the product cost plus the user's cost is relatively low.

Use the interface

In a software router, different software has different methods, some are Windows, some are command line commands. Not necessarily easy to understand. Some require very specialized knowledge; Hardware router Settings are mostly done in the way of Web GUI, emphasizing user friendly, according to specific functions to make a simple and easy to understand setting.

Distinction of rank

There is no difference between software routers, and the performance depends on the PC and software that the tester chooses. Therefore, it may not be suitable for different network/routing applications. The more advanced the application environment requires more professional knowledge to cope with it; Hardware routers will be developed for different levels of network/routing applications to achieve better cost performance.

Working Environment

Software routers can only work on Ethernet networks to realize the interconnection between local area networks. Hardware routers have rich interface types and are applicable to various types of networks, such as LAN interconnection, WAN interconnection and Internet interconnection. In addition, the efficiency of the two is different. Soft routing can be applied to small networks with low communication efficiency, while hardware routing can be applied to large, medium, small networks with high communication efficiency.

application

In general, different products are suitable for different customer groups. From many product development perspectives, the software approach applies to the more technically competent

ntel82573 Soft route NIC

The network management system (NMS), which wants to devote its energy to other valuable areas, mostly uses hard routing. Due to the limitation of computers, the soft route can only use Ethernet cards. Therefore, it is limited to the connections between Ethernet networks. The soft route is used only when multiple network segments are divided between Ethernet networks.

If the network is large enough to be divided into subnets, then the efficiency of soft routing is obviously not enough to meet the high-speed communication between the networks. In terms of price, soft routing is the price of a computer, and the price of hardware routing is different according to the different performance and there is a big difference. To be honest, a computer is more efficient than a hardware router when it comes to just implementing NAT.

Combined with various considerations, buyers must fully understand their own network environment and investment plan to consider how to choose a router. The author gives an example to analyze the working environment requirements of Internet cafes. Internet cafes have the following common points for router requirements: data processing capacity should be strong enough, the Internet high-speed unimpeded, large data traffic does not drop, do not stop; With a high degree of stability and reliability, can be a long time uninterrupted stable work; It should have strong compatibility and be able to adapt to different access services of different operators. Easy installation, easy configuration, easy management, easy to use, user-friendly user interface; Under the premise of ensuring the performance, we should have a reasonable price, with excellent performance-price ratio.

Therefore, for a certain scale of Internet cafes, they are more inclined to use hard routing, the use of hardware router will bring greater advantages, such as molding equipment, a debugging without maintenance, no parts maintenance trouble; Professional factory technical support, professional software free upgrade; It can realize line backup, load balancing, policy routing and many other applications in line with Internet cafes. Most products use network dedicated CPU to solve the complex problem of network routing. Professional technical tracking can solve the continuous emergence of new problems in the network application, all free to solve and so on.