Abstract

OpenReach, Inc. commissioned The Tolly Group to evaluate version 2.2 of its OpenReach Gateway Software, an IP routing and IPSec software that runs in conjunction with LINUX on Intel computing platforms. The Tolly Group conducted throughput tests of OpenReach gateway’s IP routing and its (paired) IPSec gateway throughput. Zero-loss packet throughput and application throughput tests were conducted using Red Hat LINUX version 6.1 operating system running on either a 1-GHz Pentium III PC or a 500-MHz Celeron platform.

Summary: Tolly Group Evaluation of OpenReach Gateway Software (March 2001)

OpenReach, Inc. commissioned The Tolly Group to evaluate version 2.2 of its OpenReach Gateway Software, which provides IP routing and IPSec (3DES/MD5) VPN capabilities on Intel-based Linux platforms. Tests were performed using both 1-GHz Pentium III and 500-MHz Celeron machines running Red Hat Linux 6.1. The evaluation measured zero-loss Fast Ethernet throughput and application-level performance for both IP routing and encrypted IPSec tunneling scenarios.

Results showed that the software, when configured as an IP router, delivered near wire-speed throughput on both platforms for large packets (≥1,024 bytes), and maintained high performance even with small packets. On the 1-GHz system, IPSec throughput reached up to 43 Mbit/s, approaching T3 speeds, while on the 500-MHz system, it maintained over 20 Mbit/s with large packets—well above T1 performance. Application throughput tests showed 183 Mbit/s baseline performance, dropping to 39 Mbit/s over encrypted tunnels on the Pentium platform and 20 Mbit/s on the Celeron.

The OpenReach Gateway also supports firewalling, access control, DHCP, and Internet Connection Sharing. These results suggest it is a cost-effective alternative to hardware-based VPN routers, offering scalable, secure, and high-performance IP routing and IPSec encryption for mid-sized enterprises seeking to interconnect branch offices and remote users at T1 or better speeds using standard PC hardware.

Note: As a company, OpenReach seems to have "disappeared" in the early 2000s.