Could OpenWrt (running on higher-powered hardware) compete with Cisco, Juniper, Vyatta etc products?
If not, what's missing?
Topic: "Enterprise OpenWrt"
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"Enterprise" has more to do with providing support than hardware/software functionality. The vast majority of SMB clients don't need advanced features like BGP, EIGRP, DMVPN, etc... so it's quite possible to develop an OpenWrt-based product that can cover the functionality requirements of a lot of their SMB customers.
OpenWrt isn't an out-of-the-box solution; it's highly modular and must be tailored and configured for a specific application. A lot of middleware development has to be done... after all, Vyatta is Linux-based just like OpenWrt, but the product itself was developed to be more business friendly.
The last company I worked for used OpenWrt on our products and we regularly poached small customers from Cisco, Juniper, and SonicWall. Offer aggressive pricing and provide quality support, and you're on the right path.
That said, Cisco and Juniper innovate so quickly that they will always be several steps ahead from a technical perspective. Take a look at the authors of any internet protocol RFC from the last 10 years. Cisco, Cisco, Cisco... They will always have features that OpenWrt can never offer. If a customer needs them, move on and find a customer who doesn't.
(Last edited by aport on 28 Nov 2012, 20:12)
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