A MetaRouter avoids the need to integrate new maintenance and monitoring
software. A MetaRouter is assembled out of off-the-shelf routers; these routers talk
SNMP and RMON. They can be monitored and managed by HP OpenView. From a
network management perspective, a MetaRouter is just a specialized intranet.
A fault tolerant MetaRouter can be
upgraded "hot"
without a loss in service. The topological
redundancy provides the required connectivity. IP's dynamic routing
diverts the traffic around the upgrade induced faults. A fault tolerant
Banyan or Butterfly network does not have sufficient fault coverage to be
upgraded without an interruption in service.
The growth of a MetaRouter is smoother
than the growth of a Banyan or Butterfly network.
A MetaRouter based on 12 port routers grows by columns until a new
row must be added at each integer power of 6. A Banyan or Butterfly
grows by doubling in width and adding a row at each integer power of 2.
This doubling in hardware at each upgrade can cause budgetary problems.
