We make hardware routers under the guise of FireBrick.
We do this to make stuff that actually works and is actually right. It is sensible. Its does what it says on the tin and it just works.
FireBrick is A&A and WF. WF are good guys with hardware. Heck, they are really good. These guys had to do some new stuff for the new high end FireBricks which was first time they did (I think I have this right) :-
- Over gigahertz signals on the board
- DDR2 RAM and all its complications
- PCI express
- 8 layer boards
- BGA components
Now we do the software, from operating system and drivers all the way up.
So we work in an industry where major telcos set the industry standard. They have shit breaking all the time. They have things not following the standards. They have crashes every other day. The whole concept of industry standard is going down hill.
So at FireBrick we have to aim way higher than industry standard now. We want stuff that is perfect. That's the new target. Hard to hit, but that's what I am aiming at. Sod industry standard - the bar is too low now.
Oh, OK, so I am drunk posting this. So what. Stuff has to damn well work.
Cheers! Well said!
ReplyDeleteWould still rather have the Rev programming drunk than the 'big boys' who don't give a damn...
ReplyDeleteHe also usually turns important bugfixes round in under 24 hours. My clients may be small but that doesn't mean their firewall isn't mission critical. A certain Taiwanese comms equipment company near the tail end of the alphabet produce good gear at good prices but when there's a problem you're lucky if first line support have phoned you back in 24 hours. "No DNS from DMZ to WAN? We'll have a fix in 4-6 months."
ReplyDelete