[dba-Tech] The perfect router

[Jim Lawrence]

We have been hearing a lot lately on how easy our routers, our first line of defence, can be hacked. In fact there are commercially available software, on the dark market of course, that provide an excellent set of tools that allow virtually any router to be hacked...by any hacker, even the "script kiddie" variety. The state of most of our router offerings is terrible. Their hardware is old, out-of-date, cheap and then consider the software is even worse. There is no logical software upgrade pass, that anything but a real tech could manage, without potentially "bricking" the product and even then there is no profitable reason why a router company should support out of dated equipment.

That said, there is a solution. There is a line of superior routers, that have first class hardware, come pre-installed with exceptional software and even have an automated (or manual) update cycle and even emergency patches to protect against the latest threats...all just like a real computer. The price is not real cheap, comparison to some of the junk on the market, ($85.50), but it is definitely not expensive considering that the router has features that a $1,500 Cisco may not even have:

http://www.gargoyle-router.com/shop/products/gargoyle-gigabit-router-1-1

Each port can be individually managed, all ports are full Giga-byte ports, it has the lowest latency of any commercial router, all activity on each port, from each address can be fully monitored and it even uses an SSH tunnel to access passwords, a supporting tech can manage all the network's traffic remotely. A remote tech can even login to stations on the network, in case of an emergency. Check out some of the graphics from some of the features:

http://www.gargoyle-router.com/wiki/doku.php?id=screenshots 

Finally, there is online support that can provide assistance. Their routers can run on all platforms, Windows, OSx and Linux as the interface is through the browser. (Note: older versions of IE do not have SVG support and a third party driver will have to be installed so the graphics can be displayed.) The router software is fully Open Source so the stability, security, flexibility and longevity is more than guaranteed. To make the best use of the router(s), there is a full set of documentation from the basics, how to properly deploy the product and even how to do some additional development on the software. I have heard on a podcast, from a number of techs and developers, who use the router, some exclusively and they all are very happy with the product. 

For the record, this will definitely be my next router.

Jim