[HECnet] req for assistance: is snmp blocked for some / all ? does it work?

[Dave McGuire]

On 11/30/21 4:15 PM, Paul Koning wrote:
>>> Or to put it differently, if there is any reason why Cisco routers can't be replaced by PyDECnet nodes, I'd like to know what's missing.
>>
>> Time? Knowledge? Money for new hardware?
>>
>> I hope we are not going to start making rules about what is and is not allowed on the network.
> 
> That wasn't my intent.  PyDECnet runs well on devices as small and inexpensive as BeagleBone Green.  But the point of my comment was to ask if, functionally, there are things missing that prevent moving away from Cisco routers, as opposed to the reasons you gave which remain valid.

   The network infrastructure here is Cisco.  There's a biggish Cisco 
router and a dozen Cisco switches on the network, spanning several 
floors across three buildings.  None of that is going away.

   I view DECnet routing, as all other types of network routing, to be a 
part of the infrastructure.  I could, with a bit of effort, be convinced 
to move the DECnet part of that infrastructure from a built-like-a-tank 
Cisco infrastructure appliance onto a server.

   It's true that some other parts of the low-level infrastructure here, 
such as DNS, DHCP, etc, run on servers as well, so it wouldn't be 
completely unprecedented.  It's just not how I'm accustomed to designing 
and running commercial networks, which is something that I've been doing 
essentially the same way for a few decades.

   If someone can present to me cogent arguments for moving away from 
GRE tunnels on a Cisco onto a Python program running on a server that 
doesn't involve "I hate Cisco" (which, while not explicitly stated, 
comes through loud and clear in a number of these threads), and perhaps 
offer some guidance and assistance in the configuration, it's something 
that I would consider doing.

   There are eleven DECnet tunnels terminating here; I also have to 
consider the impact it would have on those people.

   The big point for us is that DECnet/HECnet connectivity here isn't 
just some recreational thing that exists on a Raspberry Pi on the dining 
room table for play every now and then.  It's up 24/7 like the rest of 
the network, so that when any system at the museum that is 
DECnet-capable boots up, it's online.  When visitors show up at the 
museum, they expect things to work, as that's what we advertise.  We 
frequently demo HECnet to visitors.  We also have plans coming together 
for a more extensive 24/7 presence on HECnet, other than the big Cisco 
router and the Itanium2 VMS machine that are always up.  So anything 
that replaces the Cisco in this capacity must be a "set it and forget 
it" thing, essentially 100% maintenance-free, etc, just like the Cisco.

   I do have a minor issue with performance-sensitive infrastructure 
code being written in the lumbering pig that is Python, but that's a 
personal prejudice and I can ignore it.  I understand why that choice 
was made.

   So, talk to me about these things.

               -Dave

-- 
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA