The fact remains that a ping packet stream a Linux 386SX would barely
notice maxes out a 7010 (far more powerful CPU)Bzzzt. That's a 30Mhz 68040 you're talking about. You're 386SX is on par
if not ahead. And you might recall that it's handled at process level,
whereas Linux does it at kernel level (or at least other Unixen do).
Considering the general trend in other markets
towards cheaper, faster CPU's, I hope Cisco is
working on router rev's with far more CPU and
memory capacity at marginal price increase.
I don't know how deeply the proprietary hardware
is embedded in IOS. Of course, there may not be
enough competitive pressure on Cisco to rev up
their product line so quickly.
While I'm at stating the obvious in armchair
router design, how about the next 2500 series
with a modest 100 MHz CPU and 32MB and so on
for the 4xxx and 7xxx series?
Sanjay.