tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post3638474328885373441..comments2024-03-29T11:00:39.953+00:00Comments on RevK<sup>®</sup>'s ramblings: CISCO & FireBrick?RevKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12369263214193333422noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-7618765750192359142017-11-10T10:42:32.318+00:002017-11-10T10:42:32.318+00:00Just to add, the pictures show that these are not ...Just to add, the pictures show that these are not dry joints. They are unleaded solder joints that do not look as nice as leaded solder joints and can often look like dry joints. Sorry for any concern this caused and thanks for sending the pictures.RevKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12369263214193333422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-73764810363918731872017-11-10T01:24:18.699+00:002017-11-10T01:24:18.699+00:00Please email the pictures to us, with serial numbe...Please email the pictures to us, with serial number, that is a concern. The quality control is very high, and I know, for example, that the first batch of 2900 have all had X-ray inspection as well. The PSU design is also completely different on the FB2900.RevKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12369263214193333422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-20009424461662135472017-11-09T22:44:51.496+00:002017-11-09T22:44:51.496+00:00I’m very much looking forward to the 2900 being re...I’m very much looking forward to the 2900 being released - to try it out with a somewhat unusual Microwave/FTTC hybrid connection.Philnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-52197286669079606132017-11-09T22:27:32.170+00:002017-11-09T22:27:32.170+00:00Very much looking forward to the FB2900... maybe, ...Very much looking forward to the FB2900... maybe, in time, even a couple of FB6000 if they drop in price to 'make way' for the FB9000 as the new top-end model ;-)<br /><br />I *do* have a request though...<br /><br />I just came back from a datacentre visit to diagnose a FireBrick FB2700 which went offline a couple of days ago and, as has happened before with an end users' FireBrick FB2700, the PSU was faulty so it was duly swapped with a replacement which I had the foresight to ask for in advance (and was shipped without question, postage paid, by your helpful staff).<br /><br />To keep slightly on topic, I would *never* have got a free out-of-warranty PSU replacement from Cisco... even if I had a support contract with them... and that is one reason, among many, why I choose to use FireBricks on my network.<br /><br />Unfortunately though, while I had the unit open, I took the time to inspect the underside of the PCB to check for 'tin whiskers' shorting out the USB pins that was causing a variety of USB-related error messages to flood the telnet console of the device (this was suggested by one of your staff as a possibility for the errors).<br /><br />I was shocked to see how many dry solder joints plagued the bottom of that PCB and I have *never* seen that many on a piece of commercially-produced hardware before; took a couple of pictures with the phone on my camera before I reassembled the unit and put it back into production (the replacement PSU solved the issue!).<br /><br />So, can you please ensure that the FB2900 models which ship to the general public will go through a more rigorous quality control procedure than the FB2700 which made it into my hands ?<br /><br />Of course, the dry solder joints may not make much difference to the reliability of the unit (as I am not an electronics engineer although I do repair Sinclair ZX Spectrum PCBs as a hobby) but I know, from both private and public conversations that I have had with you, that you have poured many years of your life into the FireBrick in order to make it what it is - most users may never see the PCB inside their unit but I would like to think that you would take the same pride and care in manufacturing the PCB as you would the rest of the product.<br /><br />Thanks for listening!Terry F.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13969846575454712191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-33539674572550239392017-11-09T15:46:42.147+00:002017-11-09T15:46:42.147+00:00Of course, however good you are with Cisco kit, yo...Of course, however good you are with Cisco kit, you literally wrote and built the firebrick kit from scratch, and can bug fix yourself (if any bugs exist) and all design decisions were made by you, so it fits exactly what you need!<br /><br />Other ISPs using Firebricks is of course a ringing endorsement though. Perhaps Firebrick could be the next UK Tech success story (a-la ARM).<br /><br />I'm somewhat surprised there is not more interest in Firebricks (as UK developed etc) from the likes of UK MOD.rtho782https://www.blogger.com/profile/02052870855136709228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-44061032218002011132017-11-09T09:03:29.960+00:002017-11-09T09:03:29.960+00:00I understand and of course I am biased as well. I ...I understand and of course I am biased as well. I hope you like it if you do try one. It is very different to Cisco.RevKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12369263214193333422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-9085144208174587072017-11-09T08:53:04.323+00:002017-11-09T08:53:04.323+00:00I'm a cisco engineer and so am slightly biased...I'm a cisco engineer and so am slightly biased in my hardware choices.<br /><br />I have have to try a firebrick one of these days, see what all the fuss is about ;).Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07881999902740428848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-68940115871348717272017-11-09T08:01:50.253+00:002017-11-09T08:01:50.253+00:00Ah, thanks (edited). I think he is Mickey's br...Ah, thanks (edited). I think he is Mickey's brother, and lives in Wales.RevKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12369263214193333422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-82235854072014722922017-11-09T00:08:25.037+00:002017-11-09T00:08:25.037+00:00Our company and customers have also had outages du...Our company and customers have also had outages due to bugs in Cisco IOS, but the nature of any software is when you use it enough you will encounter all sorts of weird, relatively one-off bugs. The other day one of our customers reported an issue with DHCP. No config errors, nothing stealing addresses, no L2 or L3 issues, but the relatively low end Cisco router did have an uptime of 18 months. One reboot, problem solved.<br /><br />Who knows how Firebricks would perform if your core network was 10x the size, 50x the size. Or if most of the Internet backbone was running on it. Lack of fast ports aside which kills modern scalability requirements stone dead, I suspect you would either end up with a lot of software forks, or a lot more code being added if it was widely used in bigger networks.<br /><br />When you have widely deployed kit, you have a lot of weird edge cases, a lot more features that specific customers need, and a lot more code. Microsoft and co will be in the exact same boat with Windows.<br /><br />"No one ever got fired for buying IBM" is still a thing.Ferrocene Cloudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16369912816749718336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-53875240170995685762017-11-08T20:05:54.113+00:002017-11-08T20:05:54.113+00:00Who's this Mikey Mouse of which you speak? Has...Who's this Mikey Mouse of which you speak? Has Mickey got an impostor?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-64087823994401941842017-11-08T19:46:58.848+00:002017-11-08T19:46:58.848+00:00Excellent hardware and a fantastic ability to conf...Excellent hardware and a fantastic ability to configure via XML OR TTW makes it a winner for me.SimonFhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03711861360301638111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-9221043443254862992017-11-08T19:41:22.338+00:002017-11-08T19:41:22.338+00:00Out of interest, have you looked at putting FireBr...Out of interest, have you looked at putting FireBrick software atop either white box switches or Open Compute Project Networking designs?<br /><br />Basically two different ways to get access to the fast ASICs that switches are based on, but put different software on top.Simon Farnsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15190608047563530091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-48175098040983922792017-11-08T19:10:59.310+00:002017-11-08T19:10:59.310+00:00Can I treat myself to a 2900 for Christmas then?Can I treat myself to a 2900 for Christmas then?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04106608439342270314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993498847203183398.post-72627552203457894962017-11-08T18:22:47.322+00:002017-11-08T18:22:47.322+00:00Pity the company that I used to work for hit the w...Pity the company that I used to work for hit the wall before I got to order, play and enjoy the FB2900!<br /><br />The beauty of smaller (boutique) companies is their ability to deliver what clients want. Some of the FireBrick features were as a direct result of the usage scenarios that we had (extras token for example). Try getting the big boys to add features that your edge usage scenario demands!Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12294088409054894031noreply@blogger.com