The current generation of routers usually come with L2 switching capability, and many modern switches have some Layer 3 routing functionality. Routers offered by Cisco, the producer of the vast majority of the industry's routers, have improved dramatically in capability and speed and Cisco now makes a comprehensive product line that features routers designed to meet the requirements of users ranging from individual telecommuters to nationwide service providers.
The latest Integrated Services Routers from Cisco offer the performance and built-in features to support IP voice and video as well as virtual environments while at the same time providing high availability, remote administration, seamless scalability, and advanced protection. Cisco's ISR routers enable your business to build a solid basis for an IT network that can grow smoothly as you add more workers, establish new offices, configure additional capabilities, give access to your system to customers and vendors, and build an expanding mobile workforce. Progent's Cisco qualified CCIE network consultants can provide fast and economical online support to help your company to plan, configure, administer, update, and troubleshoot Cisco's most advanced router technology and can help you to maintain your legacy routers or move non-disruptively to Cisco's newer networking solutions.
Cisco Routers for Home Offices and Small Offices and Branch Offices
Cisco's routers for smaller organizations and remote offices provide affordable and reliable no-frills alternatives that allow limited groups of workers to have secure access to wide area networks. These single-configuration desktop devices include at least four Ethernet ports with wireless options plus integrated firewall for advanced protection. Designed for simple installation, administration, and support, Cisco's small business and home routers reduce ownership costs by cutting acquisition and maintenance expenses. Progent's online troubleshooting specialists have extensive experience providing fast and affordable IT help for small companies to configure and maintain these routers, and Progent's CCIE-certified network consultants can help you to understand ways Cisco's small office routers can add to the business value of your IT system.
ISR 900 Series Integrated Services Routers
Cisco's ISR 900 Series routers are small-footprint, quiet, fixed-configuration devices designed for small to medium-sized businesses, branch offices, and home offices. These entry-level routers have four GE LAN ports and offer Metro Ethernet, LTE, and DSL WAN connectivity. The ISR 900 router family provides triple the IPsec performance of Cisco's ISR 800 Series family of routers. All ISR 900 models feature GETVPN, DMVPN, Cisco FlexVPN, and firewall. VPN performance is up to 250 Mbps. All router models allow up to 50 virtual LANs. Supported automatic failover technology for high availability include Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP), HSRP, and MHSRP. Setup and management can be performed with Cisco Configuration Professional Express, Cisco DNA Center, and Cisco IOS. Cisco ISR 900 Series devices do not work with Cisco SD-WAN.
The Cisco ISR 921 router comes with dual GE WAN, Category 4 LTE, and a built-in power supply. VPN performance is 150 Mbps. The ISR 926 and ISR 927 models have external power supplies and support one GE WAN port, LTE Cat 4, VDSL2 and ADSL2/2+ high-speed broadband. VPN throughput for both routers is 150 Mbps. The high-performance ISR 931 features dual GE WAN ports and has an internal power supply. GE WAN VPN throughput is 250 Mbps.
Cisco Meraki MX Series SD-WAN Security Appliances
The Cisco Meraki MX line of desktop routers provide software-defined wide area networking and cloud-based unified threat management (UTM) in a single small-footprint device able to handle 50 to 200 users. Every MX series appliance must be licensed for the Meraki cloud. For sites having multiple WAN network options (e.g., MPLS, fiber optic, cellular), SD-WAN technology permits administrators to assign the WAN connection an app should use or to build performance-based algorithms to determine the appropriate interface. MX fixed-configuration desktop security appliances share important capabilities including:
Cisco 1000 and 1100 Series ISR Branch Routers
Cisco 1000 and 1100 Series Integrated Services Routers (ISRs) powered by Cisco IOS XE software are a line of fanless appliances intended to deliver network service, wireless access, and multilayer cybersecurity for SMBs, enterprise branches, retail stores, customer premises equipment (CPE), and machine-to-machine (M2M) environments. Parallel processing cores and the ability to run Cisco IOS XE enable these routers to offer features consistent with Cisco's entire line of modern Enterprise routers. 1000 Series ISR models are available with 4 or 8 LAN switch ports and offer Gigabit Ethernet (GE) packet forwarding. Available features include PoE and PoE+, zero-touch provisioning, plus a selection of built-in or pluggable connections including LAN, WAN, wireless LAN, VDSL2/ADSL2+, 3G/4G Advanced wireless, 802.11ac wireless, and SFP. Cisco 1000 and 1100 family ISR routers work with Cisco's SD-WAN subscription services for transparent multi-cloud access, multilayer cybersecurity, and unified monitoring and management across hybrid networks.
Cisco's rackmount or desktop ISR 1100-4G router comes with four built-in GE ports, built-in 3G/4G LTE wireless with two LTE antenna connectors, and one micro-SIM slot. Encryption throughput is 200 Mbps. The Cisco 1100-6G ISR router also includes two 1G SFP Fiber connections and delivers encryption performance of 520 Mbps. Cisco's desktop 1101-4P ISR router has four built-in switched GE connections, supports 802.11ac as well as 3G/4G LTE, and features encryption rates of 280 Mbps. Cisco's 1109-2P/4P ISR desktop routers include two or four built-in switched GE connections and dual pluggable 3G/4G LTE ports. Encryption throughput is 200 Mbps.
The Cisco rackmount or desktop ISR 111x-4P/8P routers come with four or eight integrated switched GE ports (two or four provide PoE) and feature VDSL2/ADSL2+, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, 3G/4G LTE wireless, and 1G SFP. Encryption packet processing speed is 280 Mbps. Cisco's 1RU or desktop 1111X-8P ISR router has eight switched GE connections (four with Power over Ethernet) and a port for SFP. Encryption throughput is 340 Mbps. The ISR 112x-8P router features eight integrated switched GE interfaces with Power over Ethernet and supports SHDSL, VDSL2/ADSL2+, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, 3G/4G LTE wireless, and SFP. Encryption rate is 340 Mbps. The 1161X-8P ISR router features eight GE ports with Power over Ethernet and provides 3G/4G LTE and SFP Fiber. Encryption speed is 450 Mbps.
Cisco Catalyst 8000 Series Branch and WAN Edge Platforms for SD-WAN and Routing
Cisco Catalyst 8000 family of routers are modular appliances designed to work at the enterprise branche and the WAN edge to support hybrid network environments that can include multiple public and private clouds and SaaS applications. All Catalyst 8000 routers are powered by Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software and offer scalability, intelligent cloud security, and 5G connectivity. Throughput is enhanced using purpose-built hardware, a multicore architecture, high port capacity, and line-rate encryption. Cisco's subscription software suites offer continual access to current SD-WAN technology and allow unified management with enhanced security, application-optimized policies, network segmentation, and cloud readiness.
Cisco Catalyst 8200 Enterprise Edge Routers
Catalyst 8200 Series routers are upgrades to Cisco's 4300 Series Integrated Services Routers, offering higher IPsec throughput and expandability, accelerated crypto, plus higher integrated WAN port density. These one-rack unit appliances are built to provide Cisco's Secure Access Service Edge, SD-WAN and 5G-connection technology to enterprise branch offices and the enterprise access edge. The Catalyst C8200L-1N-4T model includes four CPU cores, supports 500 Mbps IPsec throughput, and allows 1,500 SD-WAN tunnels. Cisco's Catalyst 8200L platform does not support container-based applications. The Catalyst C8200-1N-4T model includes eight CPU cores, provides 1Gb IPsec throughput, permits 2,500 SD-WAN tunnels, and allows edge computing with existing container models. Both appliances come with a NIM slot, a Pluggable Interface Module (PIM) slot, two 1 Gigabit Ethernet WAN ports, and two 1G Ethernet WAN Small-Form-Factor Pluggable interfaces. 4-port and 8-port 1 Gigabit Ethernet switch NIM modules are supported by both 8200 models.
Catalyst 8300 Enterprise Branch Edge Routers
Catalyst 8300 Series WAN Edge routers are designed to supersede Cisco's 4400 family of Integrated Services Routers, providing Cisco's secure SD-WAN solution to medium-sized and large enterprise branch offices looking for high WAN IPSec throughput with integrated SD-WAN services. Advanced capabilities include 5G wireless connectivity, integrated cybersecurity, WAN MACSec, enhanced Layer 2 switching, and Deep Packet Inspection with application optimization. Cisco Catalyst 8300 WAN Edge routers support edge computing for an existing container environment for Cisco UCS-E modules offered on Cisco's 4000 family of ISR appliances. All versions in the Cisco Catalyst 8300 line support 4,000 SD-WAN tunnels and include backup power supplies for high availability.
The Catalyst 8300-1N1S-6T router model is a 1RU appliance that includes eight CPU cores and offers 2G SD-WAN performance and IPsec data rates of up to 1.9Gbps. The router includes a single Service Module plug-in slot, a Network Interface Module slot, and six built-in 1G Ethernet WAN ports. The Catalyst 8300-2N2S-6T appliance is a 2RU router that features 8 CPU cores and delivers 2G SD-WAN throughput and IPsec performance of up to 1.9Gbps. The unit has two Service Module expansion slots, two NIM slots, and six built-in 1-Gigabit Ethernet WAN interfaces. The Catalyst C8300-1N1S-4T2X router model is a one-rack unit device that has eight CPU cores and delivers 5G SD-WAN performance and IPsec throughput as high as 15Gbps. The appliance includes one a single Service Module expansion slot, one Network Interface Module slot, two built-in 10-Gigabit Ethernet WAN ports, and four fixed 1G Ethernet WAN ports. The Catalyst C8300-2N2S-4T2X appliance is a 2RU router that includes 12 CPU cores and offers 5G SD-WAN data rates and IPsec performance as high as 18Gbps. The router has two SM plug-in slots, two Network Interface Module slots, two built-in 10-Gigabit Ethernet WAN interfaces, and four fixed 1-Gigabit Ethernet WAN interfaces. LAN modules modules available from Cisco range from a 4-port 1G Ethernet switch NIM module to a 50-port Catalyst L2 switch Service Module.
Catalyst 8500 Series Aggregation Edge Routers
The Cisco Catalyst 8500 Series Aggregation Edge routers are fixed form factor, 1RU aggregation appliances for SD-WAN and colocation deployments. Integrated features include route processor, ESP, plus aggregation hardware for various interfaces and connectivity choices. IPsec performance is double compared to Cisco's earlier generation ASR1001-X aggregation services router. Flexible connectivity alternatives include 1GE, 10GE, 40GE, and 100GE WAN interfaces. These routers include dual power units for improved availability. Software subscription suites allow ongoing use of Cisco DNA Center Software for SD-WAN and routing and offer unified management of security, application-based policies, segmentation, and cloud support.
The Cisco Catalyst C8500L-8S4X router is designed to offer the same key features as Cisco's ASR 1000 router. The C8500L-8S4X has four 1/10GE WAN ports and supports as high as 20 Gbps Cisco Express Forwarding aggregate data rates. SD-WAN IPsec performance can reach 19Gbps. The Catalyst C8500-12X appliance features 12 integrated 1/10GE WAN interfaces and supports as high as 120 Gbps Cisco Express Forwarding aggregate data rates. SD-WAN IPsec throughput is up to 51 Gbps. The C8500-12X4QC aggregation router comes with four integrated 1/10GE WAN interfaces and eight 1-Gigabit interfaces and can support up to 200 Gbps aggregate performance. SD-WAN IPsec throughput is up to 68 Gbps.
Cisco Integrated Services G2 Routers
Cisco's ISR G2 routers are intended to provide satellite offices of enterprises with advanced collaboration, virtualization, protection, and dependable WAN access. Integrated Services G2 routers feature an architecture that protects past investments in service modules for older Integrated Services Routers and lowers down-the-line expenses by permitting field upgrades to additional modules when they become available. Compared to older Integrated Services Routers, Cisco's Integrated Services G2 routers feature 2-7 times higher performance, substantially greater expandability, and more affordable support. All Cisco Integrated Services G2 routers support gigabit switching and incorporate multi-core processors and multigigabit fabric for faster performance. Integrated Services G2 routers also support intelligent power control for improved energy efficiency.
A key innovation with Integrated Services G2 routers is the IOS Software Universal image which contains all of the Cisco IOS technology sets so that you can quickly license and activate extra functions when desired without having to acquire and transfer a different IOS image over to yourCisco router. Progent's team of Cisco-certified CCIE network consultants can provide world-class skills to help your business to design, implement, and support multi-location deployments of Cisco Integrated Services Generation 2 routers that enhance branch office productivity and reduce the costs of expansion and support.
Cisco's ISR 800 Line of Routers
The 800 Series of ISR routers has been functionally replaced by the faster Cisco ISR 900 line but is still widely deployed. Cisco's extensive line of 800 Series ISR routers consists of desktop, fanless devices designed and priced for small businesses, branch offices, retail shops, telecommuters, and clients of ISPs. A wealth of models in the 800 Series family of routers have been released with many options for many years. Cisco's 881 line of ISR routers suggests the wide selection of options available within Cisco's 800 Series product family. Various models in Cisco's 881 Series router catalog can enable unified media environments by providing IP voice and video, Wi-Fi and cellular wireless and data in a single integrated appliance. Advanced data protection can include encryption, VPN tunneling, firewall, and URL filtering. For survivability, available features for 881 routers include redundant wide area network connections or support for landline broadband WAN links such as DSL plus multiple cellular 3G and 4G wireless connections all on a single desktop appliance.
The basic Cisco 881 includes a 4-port fast Ethernet managed switch with up to 15 Mbps performance, support for 20 users, two-port integrated PoE, and IPv6 compatibility. The Cisco 881W ISR router includes 802.11g/n Wi-Fi. Cisco's 881 SRST router features 4 FXS ports and 1 FXO port for PSTN fallback with Cisco SRST. With a Cisco Unified Border Element (CUBE) license, the Cisco 881 ISR router allows SIP trunk connectivity to replace legacy Primary Rate Interface (PRI) lines or FXO voice connectivity to a PSTN carrier. SIP trunks can also connect offsite agents in Cisco Call Center environments.
4000 Series Integrated Services Routers
Cisco's 4000 Series Integrated Services Routers are compact modular and scalable platforms designed for businesses with multiple branch offices and offsite workers who need direct communication with in-house data centers as well as public clouds via VPNs and the Internet. Cisco's 4000 series delivers the bandwidth needed for hybrid WAN environments to accommodate mobile users, Cloud-based services, and HD video applications by using wide area network optimization, deep packet inspection, and advanced traffic-management techniques. Devices in the ISR 4000 Series run Cisco's powerful IOS XE software, come in a 1-rack-unit (RU) or 2RU package, are able to support as much as 2 Gbps of throughput, and can have up to 3 network interface module slots, 2 service module slots, 4 integrated Gigabit Ethernet switches, and 8 CPU core server modules. ISR 4000 models can support integrated Gigabit Ethernet, T1/E1, T3/E3, PRI and xDSL. For unified communications, Cisco's 400o ISR offers comprehensive edge support for policy-enhanced SBC, telephony survivability, and TDM gateways.
The main difference between Cisco's 4400 and 4300 Series Routers is the inclusion of dual power supply capability in the 4400 ISR Series, offering a greater level of fault tolerance. The 4321 ISR Router comes in a 1 RU desktop form factor and includes two network interface modules, provides as much as 100 Mbps performance, and can handle 240 Digital Voice/Video Channels. Cisco's 4331 ISR Router has a 1 RU form factor and includes two NIMs, delivers as much as 300 Mbps performance, and can handle 360 Digital Voice/Video Channels. The 4351 ISR Router comes in a 2 RU form factor and includes three NIMs, provides up to 400 Mbps throughput, and allows up to 720 Digital Voice/Video Channels. Cisco's dual power supply 4431 model features a 2 RU form factor with three NIMs, provides as much as 1 Gbps performance, and can handle 720 Digital Voice/Video Channels. The fault-tolerant 4431 model features a 2 RU package and includes three NIMs, delivers up to 2 Gbps performance, and can handle 1200 Digital Voice and Video Channels.
Cisco's WAN Edge Routers and Carrier-class Routers
Cisco's WAN edge and service provider routers can provide enterprises with fast, secure headends to manage branch office and off-site traffic and to offer service providers cost-optimized wide area network edge routing. Cisco's WAN aggregation and carrier router product line features the ASR 1000 routers and the 9000 Series Aggregation Services routers.
Progent's national team of CCIE certified network experts have in-depth experience working with enterprises and ISPs to design optimal deployments and seamless upgrades of Cisco's midrange and carrier-class routers. Progent's GIAC-certified information assurance consultants offer objective, independent security inventory evaluations, stealth penetration testing and comprehensive SIEM solutions to help enterprises with Cisco's Aggregation Services Routers to comply with industry guidelines and government regulations for network data security and incident reporting.
Cisco ASR 1000 Series WAN Edge Routers
Cisco's ASR 1000 Series WAN Edge line of routers is designed to fill the center of Cisco's midrange devices that focus on acting as headends at the wide area network edge. ASR 1000 WAN Edge routers provide a small form factor, multi-function answer for enterprises who need branch office service aggregation at multigigabit Ethernet performance. Cisco's ASR 1000 routers introduce an innovative design that combines hardware acceleration with software versatility in order to deliver a rich set of concurrent services while preserving consistent responsiveness.
Cisco's ASR 1000 routers feature Cisco's new QuantumFlow Processor made up of 40 custom Packet Processing Engines (PPEs) that in combination can handle as many as 160 concurrent processor threads. This parallel CPU architecture, in conjunction with on-board acceleration for every service, allows the high-end ASR 1006 Aggregation Services router to scale up to 000 hardware queues, 32,000 subscribers, 4K IP security tunnels at 10,000 sessions/second, and 2 million Netflow log records. This processing capability allows ASR 1000 routers to deliver a variety of sophisticated services concurrently in high volume while avoiding throughput decay that could violate adherence to service level agreements. Examples of these services include Cisco Firewall, IPS, NAT, FPM, and in-line deep packet inspection. The Cisco ASR 1000 also permits sophisticated traffic control for applying multiple levels of QoS to a data packet in a single pass, enhancing the user experience for resource-intensive IP voice and video applications.
Cisco ASR 9000 Series Aggregation Services Routers
Cisco ASR 9000 Series Aggregation Services Routers are designed as edge routers for carriers who are required to support world-class HD multimedia services to home, business, and mobile users by offering zero downtime availability, high speed, and application awareness. All platforms in the ASR 9000 family of Routers run Cisco's IOS XR operating system, a distributed OS built for non-stop availability. Performance of Cisco's ASR 9000 portfolio of Aggregation Services Routers can scale up to 96 Tbps per system. the ASR 9000 line of Aggregation Services Routers support Gigabit Ethernet (GE), 10 Gigabit Ethernet, and 100 GE and have fully redundant fabric and power modules, power entry modules, plus backup control planes and switch fabric.
The ASR 9001 model is a carrier-edge router in a 6 RU form factor with 120 Gbps of nonblocking, full-duplex fabric performance. The ASR 9001 has two bays to support port adapters for 1 Gigabit, 10 Gigabit, and 40 Gigabit Ethernet. The base chassis incorporates four 10 Gbit Ethernet enhanced Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP+) ports as well as ports for GPS Stratum 1 clocking, building integrated timing supply (BITS), and management. The Cisco ASR 9904 Router has a 6 RU form factor and offers line-rate 10 and 100 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity in space-limited environments. The 4-slot router can support up to 4 Tbps of capacity in a single chassis. The Cisco ASR 9912 platform has a 30 RU form factor with 10 line-card slots able to handle 550 Gbps of throughput. The ASR 9912 incorporates 2 route processors as well as 6+1 Fabric Cards to provide N+1 redundancy.
How Progent's Consultants Can Help Your Company to Support Cisco Router Products
Progent's CCIE and CCNP certified engineers can assist your business to design, configure, and support an integrated business network that can automate operations, reduce expenses, and accelerate the path to positive return on investment. By combining Cisco integrated services routers with Catalyst switches expertise and Cisco Catalyst and Meraki Wi-Fi wireless integration, Progent can dramatically enhance the strategic value of your integrated network. Progent offers in-person and remote troubleshooting and can provide data center support throughout the U.S.
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