There is absolutily no (technical) reason that you cannot successfully
"route" gigabit ethernet at line rate using off the shelf and extremely
cheap PC technology and a bit of clue.
Note that this specifically does not cover a Linux "router", as denoted by
the "a bit of clue" clause. Also note that Zebra is stable and useful only
when it is doing nothing or next to nothing.
Do not assume that because you have never seen something done [well], or
because you lack the knowledge to do something [well], that it cannot be
done [well]. This also applies to accepting vendor excuses for what can
or cannot be done.
Don't be absurd, I can walk into fry's and pick up a motherboard with
64bit/66mhz PCI, some Netgear GA620's, and all the other components for a
1GHz computer for under $1000.
Note that this specifically does not cover a Linux "router", as denoted by
the "a bit of clue" clause. Also note that Zebra is stable and useful only
when it is doing nothing or next to nothing.
Jumping in over my head:
I have both (intel/alpha) Linux boxen running Zebra (for BGP only)
with ethernet, T1 and (lanmedia) DS3 interfaces as well as Cisco's ranging
from 25xx to 75xx.
*nix boxen acting as routers are certainly useful, very flexible
and stable when used appropriately. Zebra does basic BGP pretty darn well.
OSPF and other things are still broken but the future is bright. I use
them and will continue to.
They do not compare on the same scale as purpose built hardware and
OS's like the Cisco's, Lucent, Ascend... equipment. Anyone that thinks
that they compare directly is delusional, as I was.