For the past year I have been doing Ethernet based systems for my company.
The processor that we use is a Rabbit they can be found here...
http://www.rabbit.com/
Bang for buck you cant find something better for an Ethernet based system.
The compiler used with the processors is Dynamic C... easy to use!
They also have a great online support to offer their customers.
I bring this up because they are having a design competition.
Thought some here may have fun with it!
http://www.digi.com/designcontest/
Should be fun!
Tony