x86-based, barebone router

I need kind of a programmable router running on Linux or FreeBSD
based on an x-86 arch-type box that should comsume the minimal amount
of power (like a basic router) ...
~
Ideally I shouldn't even need a fan. Just the most minimal hardware
to run networking, a firewall, rated DHCP (some internal ports get
more bandwidth than other), port redirection ...
~
The thing is that most routers come programmed with their software or
firmware and are hard to tinker with
~
How do you think I could/should go for it?
~
Do you know of people doing these kinds of things?
~
lbrtchx

In comp.security.firewalls (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> I need kind of a programmable router running on Linux or FreeBSD
> based on an x-86 arch-type box that should comsume the minimal amount
> of power (like a basic router) ...
> ~
> Ideally I shouldn't even need a fan. Just the most minimal hardware
> to run networking, a firewall, rated DHCP (some internal ports get
> more bandwidth than other), port redirection ...
> ~
> The thing is that most routers come programmed with their software or
> firmware and are hard to tinker with
> ~
> How do you think I could/should go for it?

http://www.pcengines.ch/
http://www.soekris.com/

And don't cross-post without a followup-to. Fixed.

cu
59cobalt
--
"If a software developer ever believes a rootkit is a necessary part of
their architecture they should go back and re-architect their solution."
--Mark Russinovich

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> I need kind of a programmable router running on Linux or FreeBSD
> based on an x-86 arch-type box that should comsume the minimal amount
> of power (like a basic router) ...

Well, you could get a router running on GPL code like some routers from
Linksys, Netgear, Buffalo, and others.

I have a Linksys WRT54G flashed with a 3rd party firmware
HyperWRT+Thibor. The web configuration is extended but most important
you have shell access on the box. For instance, I can configure the
packet filter directly with iptables. If you need something special you
can also compile your own binaries and install them.

A good starting point for reading is the web site of DD-WRT, another 3rd
party firmware project for the WRT54G and more routers (other brands,
too). http://www.dd-wrt.com/ In particular look at the Wiki where you
can read which routers and brands can be flashed with DD-WRT (and other
3rd party firmware).

For the WRT54G you should also read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WRT54G
If you buy the WRT be sure not to buy one of the versions with less
memory like the WRT54Gv5,v6,v7.

Gerald

["Followup-To:" header set to comp.os.linux.networking.]

On 2007-03-26, Gerald Vogt <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> For the WRT54G you should also read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WRT54G
> If you buy the WRT be sure not to buy one of the versions with less
> memory like the WRT54Gv5,v6,v7.

It's not always easy to find older hardware. The WRT54GL is a current
model that supports DD-WRT as well as OpenWRT. It's not x86, but it is
very simple hardware that supports linux readily.

--keith

--
kkeller-(E-Mail Removed)
(try just my userid to email me)
AOLSFAQ=http://www.therockgarden.ca/aolsfaq.txt
see X- headers for PGP signature information

You may wish to investigate David Davis CCIE: How do Vyatta's open
source routers stack up to Cisco?

http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=node/11977

and Vyatta - Welcome to Open-Source Networking:

http://www.vyatta.com/

Sincerely,

Brad Reese on Cisco
Network World Magazine Cisco Subnet
http://www.networkworld.com/subnets/cisco/

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:

> I need kind of a programmable router running on Linux or FreeBSD
> based on an x-86 arch-type box that should comsume the minimal amount
> of power (like a basic router) ...
> ~
> Ideally I shouldn't even need a fan. Just the most minimal hardware
> to run networking, a firewall, rated DHCP (some internal ports get
> more bandwidth than other), port redirection ...
> ~
> The thing is that most routers come programmed with their software or
> firmware and are hard to tinker with
> ~
> How do you think I could/should go for it?
> ~
> Do you know of people doing these kinds of things?
> ~
> lbrtchx

http://www.mini-box.com/s.nl/sc.8/category.19/.f

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

> I need kind of a programmable router running on Linux or FreeBSD
> based on an x-86 arch-type box that should comsume the minimal amount
> of power (like a basic router) ...

For quite some time, my home router was an old DEC machine - a dual
Pentium 133 with 96 megs, and no hard drive. It ran Coyote Linux which I
modified to use an SMP kernel just for kicks. While saturating a 6-megabit
line with multiple bittorrents, I measured the electrical draw from the wall
at 45 watts.

I have a couple of Via C3-based machines now which don't do any better,
and one draws MORE power from the wall. Between having a hard drive,
CD-ROM, and seemingly much lower-efficiency power supplies, the actual power
draw is often 65 watts. A P3-650 with three hard drives in use as a file
server only drew barely more than that.

As another comparison, I have some Athlon64 3800+ machines which, when
under easy usage (say, surfing), only draw about 60 watts from the wall. In
fact, in planning for UPS capacity, I found that those machines WITH a 19"
LCD would only draw more than 100 watts together a few times during the
"usage cycle" - startup, network login, normal usage, shutdown.

In any event, ANY of those machines will have much more than enough power
for routing - the dual Pentium 133 very rarely exceeded a load of .02, and
CPU time spent in system usage was rarely more than 1% or 2%.

As others have said, to get power levels much lower than those, you'll
have to go to non-x86 hardware. One of the routers on which you can put
Linux (and hence, customize to a great extent) will probably use 1/4 of that
power.

Steve Wolfe wrote:
>
> As others have said, to get power levels much lower than those, you'll
> have to go to non-x86 hardware. One of the routers on which you can put
> Linux (and hence, customize to a great extent) will probably use 1/4 of that
> power.
>

I put a meter on my WRTSL54G (or whatever alphabet soup Linksys came up
with) and it metered at a whopping 70 ma booting and about 140 ma when
the radio came on.

I could be wrong on those numbers by a few ma, but work out the math:

140 ma @ 5v = .7W

Whee! a 200 MHz MIPS chip is a nice thing.

--Yan

CptDondo <(E-Mail Removed)> writes:

> Steve Wolfe wrote:
>> As others have said, to get power levels much lower than those,
>> you'll have to go to non-x86 hardware. One of the routers on which
>> you can put Linux (and hence, customize to a great extent) will
>> probably use 1/4 of that power.
>
> I put a meter on my WRTSL54G (or whatever alphabet soup Linksys came
> up with) and it metered at a whopping 70 ma booting and about 140 ma
> when the radio came on.
>
> I could be wrong on those numbers by a few ma, but work out the math:
>
> 140 ma @ 5v = .7W
>
> Whee! a 200 MHz MIPS chip is a nice thing.

Most (all?) of the Linksys routers have ARM chips. Still nice, of
course.

--
Måns Rullgård
(E-Mail Removed)

Måns Rullgård wrote:
> CptDondo <(E-Mail Removed)> writes:
>
>> Whee! a 200 MHz MIPS chip is a nice thing.
>
> Most (all?) of the Linksys routers have ARM chips. Still nice, of
> course.
>

Are you sure about that? OpenWrt only has experimental arm support but
very stable MIPS support. Most of the chips are MIPS.

http://wiki.openwrt.org/TableOfHardware

--Yan