MikroTik Routers and Wireless – Software RouterOS continues to mature as we move through the versions in the teens. When we transitioned between ROSv5 and ROSv6 in the early 2010s, it was right around this version numbering that we started to see production stability. By the time 6.2x versions came out, the general consensus was that v6 was ready for prime time. We are getting closer to that point in ROSv7 – depending on your use case. Certainly, there are still issues to solve for advanced users like ISPs and Data Centers that need protocols like BGP, OSPF, IS-IS and MPLS, but simpler use ..read more

[adrotate banner=”4″] Breaking the 80 Gbps barrier!!! The long wait for real-world 1072 performance numbers is almost over – the last two VMWARE server chassis we needed to push the full 80 Gpbs arrived in the StubArea51 lab today. Thanks to everyone who wrote in and commented on the first two reviews we did on the CCR-1072-1G-8S+.  We initially began work on performance testing throughput for the CCR1072 in late July of this year, but had to order a lot of parts to get enough 10 Gig PCIe cards, SFP+ modules and fiber to be able to push 80 Gbps of traffic through this router. Challenges ..read more

  [adrotate banner=”4″]   As we all patiently await the release of RouterOS (RoS) v7 beta, MikroTik has announced a change in the way RoS development is organized.  There will now be three different tracks of development: Bugfix only – When a current build is released, only fixes to known bugs will be added to this branch of development Current – Current release will contain bugfixes and new features Release Candidate – The release candidate will remain the development build for the next “current” release.   Graphical Overview of the new development cycle Im ..read more

[adrotate banner=”4″] Here is Part 1 of the CCR1072-1G-8S+ review in case you missed it! CCR1072-1G-8S+ Ultimate BGP Performance test After many days of testing, Part 2 is finally here! Welcome to the stubarea51.net BGP gauntlet. We subjected the CCR1072 to different types of network torture stress testing. Continuing on from our initial review, we chose BGP as the first way to test the limits and capacity of the CCR1072-1G-8S+. Here is an overview of our lab environment to test the new CCR CCR1072-1G-8S+ CCR1009-8G-1S-1S+ CRS-125-24G-1S+ x86 VMs on ESXi 6.0 for upstream BGP peering (2 ..read more

Part 2 is on the way! It has been a busy week and we have been working hard on CCR1072 testing. The full review for BGP Performance is still a few days away, but here is a sneak preview of some of the testing in the stubarea51 Lab. We put just under 1.7 Million routes across 4 BGP peers into the CCR1072-1G-8S+ and it was fully converged in 2 Minutes and 42 seconds. Here is a screen shot of the CCR1072-1G-8S+ after converging with 4 full feeds.  ..read more

[adrotate banner=”4″] Came across several interesting articles that claim there is a change in the way Dyre aka Upatre malware is spreading. Dyre seems to be getting a lot of press as it is used in browser hijacks to compromise online banking credentials and other sensitive private data. However, most recently – instead of infecting hosts, it appears to be compromising routers as well.  Blogger krebsonsecurity.com writes: Recently, researchers at the Fujitsu Security Operations Center in Warrington, UK began tracking Upatre being served from hundreds of compromised home routers ..read more

[adrotate banner=”4″] 07/25/2015 – Thanks to Normunds @ MikroTik for sending over photos of the production CCR-1072-1G-8S+ which have now been included in the slideshow [metaslider id=52] CCR-1072-1G-8S+ available soon @ http://www.roc-noc.com/mikrotik/routerboard/CCR1072-1G-8Splus.html UPDATE 7/10/2015 – MikroTik officially lists the CCR1072 http://routerboard.com/CCR1072-1G-8Splus NOTE: The pictures in this review are of a pre-production CCR1072. The CCR1072 that is shipping has some minor differences on the mainboard and the case. MikroTik is sending updated pictures and we will post those ..read more

IP ArchiTechs switch centric core being built in the Denver DC. Dec 2018 Overview This is an article i’ve wanted to write for a long time. In the last decade, the work that we have done at iparchitechs.com with WISPs/FISPs in network design using commodity equipment like MikroTik and FiberStore has yielded quite a few best practices and lessons learned. While the idea of “router on a stick” isn’t new, when we first started working with WISPs/FISPs and MikroTik routers 10+ years ago, we immediately noticed a few common elements in the requests we’d get for consulting: “I’m out of ports on my ..read more

IP Infusion just released OcNOS version 6.0 and the release notes, as well as press release, show a focus on EVPN with an MPLS data plane. Don’t forget EVPN and VxLAN aren’t mutually exclusive, EVPN runs on and was originally designed for a MPLS data plane. I recently discussed this on a podcast EVPN doesn’t need VxLAN if you want to know more on that topic. Lets take a look at basic EVPN-VPWS and EVPN-VPLS deployment. Since we’re looking at an MPLS data plane we will utilize ISIS-SR for MPLS. We’re utilizing ISIS-SR as it is increasingly replacing LDP and RSVP-TE for label distribution. IGP a ..read more

At IP Architechs we perform a lot of network migrations and it is no secret network migrations/ maintenance windows can be one of the most nerve-racking things for engineers, managers, and business leaders for a variety of reasons. For the engineers the uncertainty might be caused by fear of failure, not being able to predict the outcome due to complexity, rushed on preparation to meet a deadline, or a litany of other reasons. For managers and business leaders it might be more along the lines of; what happens if this goes wrong, how will this effect my bottom line, are there going to be 1000s ..read more