Hi,

Currently, is it possible to run a large network with Free Software?

If a large organization would like to run only Free Software, how would their network infrastructure be?

Which devices and software should they use to replace their proprietary stackable 48-port switches which have optical uplinks?
And their high-performance routers with optical and other interfaces?
And their powerfull multi-feature firewalls?
And so on.

Which existing hardware and software would you use?
Let's think we are millionaires.

Thank you.

Hey there.

Well. This isn't a guide on how to open source your company. The best you can hope for in this forum is how to make proper use of OpenWRT in your environment.

Why would someone throw out perfectly working hardware and software and replace it by something different? Just for the sake of having it "free", despite you already payed for the other stuff?

Having a company with a couple of 48 port fiber uplink switches doesn't exactly say much about the size of the large network you're talking about. Our company has a couple of those and we are only 50 people. As soon as you add some access points, some VoIP phones, some links for desktop computers, some printers, etc., you can easily multiply the number of people in a company by four or five to get to the number of 1GE ports you need. So just throwing a 48 port switch with fiber crosslinks in the discussion doesn't say anything about the network size you're aiming for.

As four routers, firewall and stuff: You're clearly in the range of regular Xeon based rack mount servers. There's not much to say about the hardware. Dive into discussions with your hardware distributors and calculate conditions.

We run a couple of racks filled with Dell, HP and Supermicro servers driving VMware ESXes. All the software we have, no matter if its routers, firewalls, wifi management, VoIP servers or authentication endpoints, are just virtual machines.

So, can you run e.g. OpenWRT in such an environment? Yes, you can. Is there any benefit over business grade software you would run instead? No that I know of.
It all boils down to this: You need to be able to manage your environment. You need to know all the little switches and buttons for configuration, you need to know your way around problems, and you need to have people in your phone book you can simply pay a grant or two per day to repair things, once you crash them.

Could you please explain the hardware and software you currently use and add the hardware and software you wish to replace them with? Then someone can comment on that and argue whether its a good idea or not.

Regards,
Stephan.