“Gateway and Rebel Routers from ImageStream Internet Solutions:
heavy-hitting performance, lightweight price. Or, if not
lightweight, at least inexpensive, compared to their mainstream
competition. ImageStream’s backbone routers spring from a
simple premise: take GNU/Linux, with all of its proven networking
abilities, and package it in an industrial-strength wrapper.
Simple premise, perhaps, but far from a simple accomplishment.
Fortunately, ImageStream has had plenty of practice. Founded in
1993, they have been building Linux-based servers and routers long
enough to know what is important.”
“Packing support for a wide range of physical interfaces, up to
T3 and beyond, and enough expansion room to cram over twenty T1s,
multiple Ethernet and a couple of big WAN connections in a fully
loaded system, ImageStream has taken their simple premise and made
it into a useful reality. Dynamic routing with RIP1, RIP2, OSPF and
BGP4, bandwidth management, firewall support and seamless
interconnectivity with Cisco and other major name routers make the
accomplishment even more impressive. A price point well below
Cisco’s makes their reality compelling.”
“In order to build their routers, ImageStream first created a
Linux distribution: one that maximizes network functionality while
minimizing hard-disk space requirements so it fits nicely on a
solid-state FLASH hard disk, and has easy-to-use administration
tools. You don’t need to be a Linux guru to set up or maintain the
system. Then, they developed and released, under the GNU GPL, an
open-source Linux kernel extension called SAND, or Standard
Architecture for Network Drivers, which allows binary distribution
of WAN hardware and protocol drivers. … The most significant
feature of SAND is its ability to mix and match binary protocol,
WAN card and even external CSU/DSU drivers from different
manufacturers.”