Preparing New Router's Configuration on a TFTP Server For AutoInstall to successfully offload the software configuration task from the remote installer, newrouter's configuration file needs to be prepared by the central administrator as newrouter-confg on a TFTP server before newrouter is powered on. This file can contain the router's full configuration or just what it takes for the administrator to telnet into the router for configuration. By making routing plug and play, AutoInstall enables Cisco access routers to be deployed cost effectively. Cisco's AutoInstall feature is superior to their approaches because it makes plug and play possible for access routing while preserving centralized administrative control. 3Com touts that boundary routing eases network administration in remote branches where expertise is scarce.
Cisco agrees that ease of management is an important aspect of access internetworking.
However, 3Com's bridging approach is at best a subset of what it takes to make internetworking easy to manage. In fact, Cisco's AutoInstall enables access internetworking devices to be deployed cost effectively while maintaining centralized administrative control. Decoupling configuration requirements from the purchasing process gives customers more flexibility. Also, AutoInstall eliminates the costly possibility of an installation site receiving a router pre-configured for another. IBM does not have any comparable remote installation feature.