Relationship between router hardware and operating system software

The router system is a combination of hardware and software. The hardware can be an ARM kernel, MIPS kernel, PPC, or Intel CPU. This core part is equivalent to the CPU of the PC we use. A pc generally only needs one Nic, but the router needs multiple NICs. Currently, most PC NICs are connected to the CPU bus through the PCI bus, and all data exchange needs to be processed by the CPU. However, in the design of vro, NICs are generally directly connected to the data bus, which is much more efficient than the PCI connection of the PC. Some advanced vro NICs use dedicated chips, there is a data processor on the chip, and the data transfer between the network card and the network card does not require too much CPU involvement. In addition to the CPU and nic, the router system also has flash and memory. Flash is equivalent to PC hard disk, and the memory is equivalent to PC memory. Because the router system is used to forward data, the PC system is designed to meet the needs of an Application Service or office or home interface, such as editing and storage, although the Router Design and PC design are basically similar in theory, there are CPU/memory/"Hard Disk", but actually they are very different. We can look at the following aspects:

1. First, the hardware difference. After installing a PC, we can constantly install applications and store files written by ourselves or from other machines and networks. Therefore, we hope that the larger the hard disk, the better; the program design of the office system does not take into account the memory optimization, the memory usage, the memory is not enough, but also borrowed from the hard disk. Therefore, to install the PC, as long as the funds permit, we can use 1 GB instead of 512 MB. Because PCs generally use Windows, the faster the CPU runs under the same operating system, the faster the program runs. However, as we all know, in the same hardware, Linux is faster than Windows, and the Linux running program consumes less memory than Windows, resulting in high efficiency.

As we have said before, the system design of the router is used to forward data packets, send Internet packets to the local PC, and also send packets from the local PC to the Internet. In addition to packet forwarding, vrouters also need to do management and other work. After you buy a vro, you do not need to install programs in the vro as you do on Windows, or store Internet-downloaded items in the vro. Therefore, the flash of the router is generally used to install the operating system software of the system, and there are configuration files. Therefore, there is no need for too much capacity or hard disks as large as PCs. Generally, a good vro system is very small and may be less than 2 m. In this case, 8 m or even larger flash is meaningless. In the same way, the memory is also the case. The router's function is to forward data packets. The efficiency of hardware memory usage depends on the streamlined software. A good system only needs a few megabytes of memory when running, it is useless to add more memory. If a system says that my memory is bigger than others and my flash is bigger than others, it is just a one-sided misleading, unless his program is too inefficient and there are too many useless code, more flash and memory are needed, and more memory and flash are required. In the end, the buyer must pay the extra money.

Therefore, if the promotion only says that the hardware is good, it is like a PC uses a CPU of P4 3.2 GB, memory 1 GB, and hard disk 120 GB, however, if a user installs a DoS operating system without applications, the system may not meet the needs of most users. Therefore, the system needs a good combination of software and hardware.

There is another difference: the router's hardware design is uninterrupted, but the PC is not. You can drive a good router for a year, it can still maintain the stability of the hardware, rather than the server), you just need to drive for a week, you have to be careful.

2. The second is the software difference. From the perspective of Microsoft, the software used in PC is DoS, followed by Windows 3.1, Windows 95/98, and Windows 2000, XP, and 2003, which are widely used today. I believe that in addition to a few old-fashioned users, the CPU clock speed is higher and the memory and hard disk are huge. No one will install DoS or Windows 3.1 for office and home use. The reason is obvious. The same is true for Routers. A good hardware system requires an operating system software to work together. The software is large and small. Unlike PC, we all use a limited number of software. Therefore, when buying a machine, we only need to compare hardware. In addition to hardware, the router is more important than its operating system. Unlike desktop software, most of the market for these software is occupied by Microsoft, which is the product of the company, which is used. Hardware is a clear concept, software is the core, and the center of the router manufacturer. Huawei is a large enterprise in China and an international communication company. Although its products all seem to have hardware, it still claims to be a software enterprise. Why? Because software is the core of Huawei's competitiveness. Cisco is the boss of a router. What is its value? Is its IOS. Therefore, if a company has technical capabilities, it will know whether it has its own operating system.