Sparcs as Routers?

[Kenneth J. Schroder]

I am looking at a particular application where we need a router to connect
one or more Ethernets to one or more 64Kb serial links.  I'm particularly
interested in:

o  How good is the performance compared with systems built by
   gateway/router companies?

o  What interfaces are available for 64Kb lines and faster?  How good is
   their performance and reliability?

o  How good is routing performance for complex backbone topologies?  E.g.
   how well to they handle a large number of networks, redundant routes and
   routing loops?

o  Do they have or lack particular useful features such as packet
   filtering or encryption for security?

o  Do they support protocol translation or encapsulation?  E.g. mixing IP
   traffic with X.25 or tunnelling IP traffic through an X.25 backbone?