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<p>Just to give an idea. I'm using multiple GNU/Linux routers with
an Intel Atom C2758 (8-core SoC) and 8 GiB RAM to handle ~2k
routes with Bird. Bird itself doesn't make a dent in CPU. These
are building access routers; traffic is around 80 Mbit/s each (~ 6
kpps), with connection tracking and NAT. Using 2*1 Gbit bond,
builtin NICs from the SoC with igb driver. CPU load is usually
next to 0 with regular traffic.</p>
<p>I've tested this setup to 1.4 Mpps (Gbit line rate with small
packets), *without* conntrack/NAT. It stresses the 8 cores, but
works. With NAT, I can get up to ~ 200 kpps.</p>
<p>As it turns out, the C2000 line isn't so great at staying alive
for more than a few months though [1]... but that's on its way to
being fixed.</p>
<p>Regards,<br>
Israel G. Lugo<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>[1]
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.anandtech.com/show/11110/semi-critical-intel-atom-c2000-flaw-discovered">http://www.anandtech.com/show/11110/semi-critical-intel-atom-c2000-flaw-discovered</a><br>
</p>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 03/07/2017 06:46 PM, Matthew Walster
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote
cite="mid:CADLW2vyWh5++pJzsEsHGUWf=ucCSV7LWk9dvVE=vY0vDFN6iCw@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span
style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">On 7 March 2017 at
05:57, Clément Guivy </span><span dir="ltr"
style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><<a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:clement@guivy.fr"
target="_blank">clement@guivy.fr</a>></span><span
style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"> wrote:</span><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra">
<div class="gmail_quote">
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0
.8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72" lang="FR">
<div class="m_-6194341938125616323WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Hello, I am
considering the setup of BIRD as a router to
handle our internet traffic. One information I
fail to find is hardware requirements.</span></p>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Clément,</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Let's
just clear one thing up straight away -- BIRD is a
daemon for routing protocols, not for routing traffic
itself. BIRD itself will handle your requirements in
terms of the BGP information incredibly well. As I
understand it, BIRD only utilises one CPU core, but this
is not the bottleneck factor here.</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">When the
FIB has been calculated, it is usually exported to your
kernel (we'll assume Linux for now) via Netlink
messages. Depending on how efficient your kernel is at
building the trie structure, this may actually take more
time than processing the BGP Updates!</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Once the
routes are loaded into the kernel, it is the kernel
(usually) that forwards the traffic. This is usually
(roughly) proportional to the performance of your
processor. You will probably have to make iptables
changes to prevent that restricting the performance at
high levels.</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">That
said, 1Gbps of IMIX traffic should easily be forwarded
by any modern x86-like server out there. Just be aware
that it will be more susceptible to small-packet attacks
due to the lower packet-per-second throughput compared
to routers you may be used to.</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Hope that
helps!</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Matthew
Walster</div>
<br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
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