> Wouldn't it be great >if routers had the equivalent of 'User mode Linux' each process >handling a service, isolated and protected from each other. The >physical router would be nothing more than a generic kernel handling >resource allocation. Each virtual router would have access to x amount >of resources and will either halt, sleep, crash when it exhausts those >resources for a given time slice.
This is possible today. Build your own routers using the right microkernel, OSKIT and the Click Modular Router software and you can have this. When we restrict ourselves only to router packages from major vendors then we are doomed to using outdated technology at inflated prices. --Michael Dillon