[doubled112]

Like most things, really. I used to build routers from old PCs, but eventually those tiny appliances caught up with the performance/functionality I need.

You can do a lot of routing on a $70 Mikrotik, although they might not be "easy".

[esseph]

I really want to end up with one of these for at least a few months: https://mikrotik.com/product/rds2216

[bombcar]

At $2k out the door that's way more reasonable than I thought it'd be.

Too bad I can't fill it with old spinning rust.

[a96]

And no (mention of) ECC.

[simoncion]

On printed page five of the brochure [0] it mentions

  Size of RAM   32 GB ECC
  RAM type      DDR4

On the one hand, it'd be nice if that was mentioned everywhere that the RAM size was mentioned. On the other hand, perhaps ECC RAM is effectively mandatory for Enterprise equipment, so mentioning it is redundant? IDK, I don't often purchase that sort of stuff.

[0] <https://cdn.mikrotik.com/web-assets/product_files/RDS2216-2X...>

[a96]

It's because it's mandatory that it should be front and center on any list of specs. But better late than never, I guess. Thanks for digging it up.

[simoncion]

> It's because it's mandatory that it should be front and center on any list of specs.

Eh... I could go either way on that. Spec sheets and marketing copy for these things don't include the phrase "Runs on electricity!" because that property is effectively mandatory. If ECC is effectively mandatory for enterprise-grade networking gear, I can totally see not mentioning it.

On the other hand, I'm pretty sure it's -infuriatingly- not at all mandatory for SOHO/"prosumer" gear, so it's important to mention for things you're selling in those markets.

[j45]

For sure, it's a path and passage towards devices like that.

Everyone has a starting point, starting with soemone has lying around is one thing.. the quicker they can get going the more they can get to leveraging the real power in most devices.