The current generation of routers usually come with Layer 2 switching capability, and many of today's switches include some Layer 3 routing functionality. Routers developed by Cisco, the producer of 90% of the industry's routers, have advanced dramatically in capability and speed and Cisco now offers a comprehensive product line that includes routers designed to meet the needs of customers ranging from individual telecommuters to nationwide ISPs.
The most recent Integrated Services Routers released by Cisco offer the speed and built-in features to manage data voice and video as well as virtualization while also offering fault tolerance, remote management, seamless scalability, and advanced security and compliance. These routers allow your company to establish a solid foundation for an information environment that can grow seamlessly as you hire more employees, open extra sites, deploy new capabilities, extend your system to clients and vendors, and support an expanding mobile user base. Progent's Cisco qualified CCIE network engineers offer fast and economical remote support to help you to plan, configure, manage, upgrade, and troubleshoot Cisco's most advanced router technology and can help you to support your legacy routers or move efficiently to Cisco's current router products.
Cisco Routers for Home and Small Offices and Branch Offices
Cisco's routers for small companies and remote offices provide low-cost and reliable entry-level alternatives that allow limited sets of workers to share safe connectivity to wide area networks. These fixed-configuration desktop routers feature at minimum four Ethernet ports with wireless options plus integrated firewall to provide enhanced security. Built for simple installation, management, and troubleshooting, Cisco's small business and home routers reduce ownership costs by cutting equipment and maintenance expenses. Progent's remote support experts have extensive experience delivering fast and economical technical help for small businesses to configure and maintain these routers, and Progent's CCIE-certified network consultants can assist you to understand how Cisco's small office routers can add to the strategic value of your information network.
ISR 900 Series Routers
The Cisco ISR 900 Series routers are small-footprint, fanless, set-configuration devices intended for small to medium-sized businesses, branch offices, and home offices. These value-priced routers include four managed GE LAN ports and offer Metro Ethernet, LTE, and DSL WAN connectivity. The ISR 900 router family delivers triple the IPsec performance of Cisco's ISR 800 Series routers. All ISR 900 Series routers offer Group Encrypted TransportVPN (GETVPN), DMVPN, FlexVPN, and firewall. VPN performance is as high as 250 Mbps. All versions support up to 50 virtual LANs. Supported dynamic failover technology for high availability and business continuity include Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol, Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP), and Multigroup HSRP (MHSRP). Provisioning and management can be done with Cisco CP Express, Cisco DNA Center, and Cisco IOS. Cisco ISR 900 Series routers do not support Cisco's SD-WAN solution.
Cisco's ISR 921 router features dual GE WAN, LTE Cat 4, and a built-in power supply. GE WAN VPN performance is 150 Mbps. Cisco's ISR 926 and ISR 927 models use external power and feature one GE WAN interface, LTE Cat 4, plus VDSL2 and ADSL2/2+. VPN performance for both devices is 150 Mbps. The top-of-the-line ISR 931 supports dual GE WAN and includes an internal power supply. GE WAN VPN throughput is 250 Mbps.
Cisco Meraki MX Series SD-WAN Security Appliances
The Cisco Meraki MX family of desktop routers provide SD-WAN and cloud-hosted unified threat management (UTM) in one compact device able to support 50 to 200 users. Every MX series appliance must be licensed to the Meraki cloud. For venues with several external network connections (e.g., MPLS, broadband, cellular), SD-WAN technology permits administrators to assign the WAN interface an application uses or to create performance-based rules to determine the appropriate connection. MX fixed-configuration desktop security appliances share important features including:
Cisco 1000 Series ISR Enterprise Branch Routers
Cisco 1000 Series Integrated Services Routers using Cisco IOS XE software are a selection of fanless appliances intended to deliver network service, wireless support, and multilayer cybersecurity for small and midsize businesses, enterprise branches, retail stores, kiosks, and machine-to-machine venues. Multiple parallel CPU cores and the ability to run Cisco IOS XE allow these routers to offer capabilities consistent with Cisco's entire line of modern Enterprise routers. 1000 and 1100 Series ISR routers are offered with 4 or 8 LAN ports and offer Gigabit Ethernet packet forwarding. Available features include Power over Ethernet (PoE) and PoE+, auto provisioning, plus a range of integrated or pluggable options for LAN, WAN, WLAN, SHDSL, 4G LTE wireless, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and SFP. Cisco 1000 and 1100 Series ISR models can be used with Cisco's SD-WAN services for seamless multi-cloud connectivity, multilayer security, and unified monitoring and management across hybrid network models of any complexity.
Cisco's rackmount or desktop 1100-4G ISR router includes four integrated GE ports, integrated 3G/4G LTE wireless with two LTE antenna sockets, and a micro-SIM slot. Encryption throughput is 200 Mbps. The 1100-6G ISR router also includes two 1G SFP Fiber connections and delivers encryption performance of 520 Mbps. Cisco's desktop-only ISR 1101-4P router has four integrated switched GE connections, offers 802.11ac and 3G/4G LTE, and delivers encryption throughput of 280 Mbps. Cisco's 1109-2P/4P ISR desktop routers have two or four built-in switched GE connections and dual pluggable 3G/4G LTE wireless ports. Encryption packet processing performance is 200 Mbps.
The 1RU or desktop ISR 111x-4P/8P routers include four or eight integrated GE connections (two or four provide Power over Ethernet) and feature VDSL2/ADSL2+, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, 3G/4G LTE, and SFP. Encryption packet processing performance is 280 Mbps. Cisco's rackmount or desktop 1111X-8P ISR router comes with eight built-in switched GE interfaces (four with Power over Ethernet) and a port for 1G SFP. Encryption packet processing speed is 340 Mbps. The ISR 112x-8P router features eight GE connections with PoE and supports SHDSL, VDSL2/ADSL2+, 802.11ac, 3G/4G LTE, and SFP Fiber. Encryption rate is 340 Mbps. Cisco's ISR 1161X-8P router has eight built-in switched GE ports with Power over Ethernet and provides 3G/4G LTE wireless and SFP. Encryption packet processing rate is 450 Mbps.
Catalyst 8000 Series Branch and WAN Edge Platforms for SD-WAN and Routing
Cisco's Catalyst 8000 line of routers are modular appliances designed to work at the enterprise branche and the WAN edge in support of hybrid networks that can incorporate multiple public and private clouds and SaaS applications. All Catalyst 8000 routers are powered by Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software and provide expandability, advanced cybersecurity, and 5G connectivity. Throughput is optimized using purpose-built silicon, a multicore design, high port density, and line-rate encryption. Cisco's subscription software services provide continual access to current SD-WAN technology and enable unified management with enhanced security, application-based policies, network segmentation, and cloud integration.
Cisco Catalyst 8200 Series Enterprise Branch Edge Routers
Cisco Catalyst 8200 routers are upgrades to Cisco's 4300 Series Integrated Services Routers (ISRs), offering higher IPsec throughput and expandability, accelerated crypto, plus greater integrated WAN port density. These one-rack unit appliances are built to bring Cisco's SASE, Software-Defined WAN and 5G-connection technology to enterprise branches and the enterprise WAN edge. Cisco's Catalyst C8200L-1N-4T model includes four CPU cores, enables 500 Mbps IPsec throughput, and allows 1,500 SD-WAN tunnels. Cisco's Catalyst 8200L platform does not support container-based apps. Cisco's Catalyst C8200-1N-4T model features eight CPU cores, delivers 1Gb IPsec throughput, permits 2,500 SD-WAN tunnels, and allows edge computing with existing container architectures. Both devices include one NIM slot, a Pluggable Interface Module (PIM) slot, two 1 Gigabit Ethernet WAN interfaces, and two 1G Ethernet WAN Small-Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP) interfaces. 4-port and 8-port 1G Ethernet switch NIM modules are available for both 8200 routers.
Catalyst 8300 Enterprise Branch Edge Routers
Catalyst 8300 WAN Edge routers are intended to replace Cisco's 4400 family of Integrated Services Routers, delivering Cisco's secure SD-WAN architecture to medium-sized and large enterprise branch offices seeking high WAN IPSec throughput with unified SD-WAN services. Advanced capabilities include 5G wireless connectivity, integrated security, WAN MACSec, enhanced Layer 2 switching, and Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) with application optimization. Cisco Catalyst 8300 routers enable edge computing for an in-place container architecture for Cisco UCS-E modules offered on Cisco's 4000 family of ISR appliances. All models in the Cisco Catalyst 8300 portfolio allow 4,000 SD-WAN tunnels and include backup power supplies for improved uptime.
The Cisco Catalyst 8300-1N1S-6T router is a 1RU device that features eight CPU cores and offers 2G SD-WAN performance and IPsec data rates as high as 1.9Gbps. The router comes with a single Service Module expansion slot, a Network Interface Module slot, and six integrated 1-Gigabit Ethernet WAN interfaces. The Catalyst 8300-2N2S-6T appliance is a 2RU router that includes 8 CPU cores and delivers 2G SD-WAN throughput and IPsec performance of up to 1.9Gbps. The model includes two SM plug-in slots, two Network Interface Module slots, and six integrated 1-Gigabit Ethernet WAN ports. The Catalyst C8300-1N1S-4T2X router model is a 1RU appliance that includes eight CPU cores and supports 5G SD-WAN throughput and IPsec throughput up to 15Gbps. The appliance features one one Service Module plug-in slot, a NIM slot, two integrated 10-Gigabit Ethernet WAN ports, and four integrated 1-Gigabit Ethernet WAN interfaces. The Cisco Catalyst C8300-2N2S-4T2X device is a 2RU appliance that includes 12 CPU cores and supports 5G SD-WAN performance and IPsec data rates up to 18Gbps. The unit includes two Service Module plug-in slots, two Network Interface Module slots, two built-in 10-Gigabit Ethernet WAN interfaces, and four integrated 1-Gigabit Ethernet WAN interfaces. LAN expansion modules offered by Cisco range from a four-port 1G Ethernet switch Network Interface Module module to a 50-port Catalyst L2 switch SM module.
Catalyst 8500 Aggregation Edge Routers
The Cisco Catalyst 8500 Aggregation Edge routers are fixed, one-rack unit aggregation models for SD-WAN and colocation environments. Built-in features include route processor, ESP, plus aggregation hardware for multiple interfaces and connectivity choices. IPsec performance is double compared to Cisco's prior generation ASR1001-X aggregation services router. Available interface options include 1GE, 10GE, 40GE, and 100GE WAN interfaces. 8500 Series routers include dual AC or DC power supplies for improved resilience. Software subscription suites provide continuing use of Cisco DNA Center Software for SD-WAN and routing and enable centralized management of security, application-based policies, segmentation, and cloud connectivity optimization.
The Catalyst C8500L-8S4X Aggregation Edge router is intended to offer the same basic functionality as Cisco's ASR 1000 appliance. The C8500L-8S4X comes with four 1/10GE WAN ports and offers up to 20 Gbps Cisco Express Forwarding aggregate performance. SD-WAN IPsec performance is up to 19Gbps. The Catalyst C8500-12X router features 12 integrated 1/10GE WAN interfaces and delivers as high as 120 Gbps aggregate performance. SD-WAN IPsec throughput can reach 51 Gbps. The C8500-12X4QC unit includes four built-in 1/10GE WAN ports and eight 1GE interfaces and can support up to 200 Gbps aggregate throughput. SD-WAN IPsec performance is up to 68 Gbps.
Cisco ISR Generation 2 Routers
Cisco's ISR Generation 2 routers are designed to provide satellite offices of large businesses with enhanced collaboration, virtual networking, protection, and dependable WAN access. Integrated Services G2 routers introduce a design that preserves prior investments in service modules for older ISR routers and lowers future costs by allowing easy installation of additional modules when they become available. In comparison to previous Integrated Services Routers, Cisco's ISR G2 routers feature 2-7 times higher performance, substantially greater expandability, and more affordable support. All Integrated Services G2 routers support gigabit switching and include multi-core CPUs and multigigabit fabric for higher performance. Integrated Services Generation 2 routers also offer intelligent power control for improved energy conservation.
A major innovation with Integrated Services Generation 2 routers is the IOS Software Universal image which includes all of the Cisco IOS feature sets so that your company can quickly authorize and deploy new services when required without needing to download and transfer a new IOS Software image to yourCisco router. Progent's group of CCIE network engineers offer proven skills to help your business to plan, configure, and support multi-site installations of Cisco ISR G2 routers that improve branch office efficiency and reduce the price of upgrades and support.
Cisco's ISR 800 Line of Routers
Cisco's 800 Series of ISR routers has been superseded by the higher performance Cisco ISR 900 series but remains widely used. Cisco's comprehensive line of 800 Series ISR routers is made up of desktop devices intended for small organizations, branch locations, retail venues, telecommuters, and clients of ISPs. A wealth of models in Cisco's 800 Series product line have been developed with various options for many years. The 881 line of ISR routers exemplifies the vast selection of options available within Cisco's 800 Series product family. Various models in Cisco's 881 Series router catalog can enable converged media networks by providing IP voice and video, wireless and data in a single integrated appliance. Advanced security can include encryption, VPN tunneling, firewall, and URL filtering. For survivability, available options for Cisco 881 ISR routers include redundant wide area network connections or support for landline high-speed WAN links like DSL plus multiple 3G and 4G wireless connections all on one desktop appliance.
The baseline Cisco 881 router features a 4-port fast Ethernet managed switch that delivers 15 Mbps throughput, support for 20 users, two-port integrated Power over Ethernet, and IPv6 compatibility. Cisco's 881W router supports 802.11g/n Wi-Fi. Cisco's 881 SRST router includes 4 FXS ports and 1 FXO port for public-switched-telephone-network (PSTN) failover with Cisco Survivable Remote Site Telephony. With a Cisco CUBE feature license, Cisco's 881 ISR router allows SIP trunk connectivity as a replacement for outdated Primary Rate Interface (PRI) lines or FXO voice connectivity to a PSTN carrier. SIP trunks can also support offsite agents in Cisco Call Center deployments.
Cisco 4000 Series ISR Routers
Cisco's 4000 Series Integrated Services Routers (ISRs) are modular and scalable platforms designed for organizations with multiple branch offices and remote users who need direct access to private data centers and public clouds across VPN tunnels and the Internet. Cisco's 4000 series provides the throughput needed for distributed enterprise sites to accommodate mobile workers, Cloud-based services, and HD multimedia applications by using wide area network optimization, deep packet inspection, and traffic-management technology. Models in the ISR 4000 product line are powered by Cisco's IOS XE operating system, come in a 1-rack-unit (RU) or 2RU form factor, can support as much as 2 Gbps of traffic, and can have up to 3 interface slots, 2 service module slots, 4 integrated 10/100/1000 Ethernet switches, and 8 CPU core integrated server modules. ISR 4000 models support integrated Gigabit Ethernet, T1/E1, T3/E3, PR1, xDSL and other interfaces. To manage unified communications, the 400o ISR provides extensive edge support technology for policy-enhanced session border control, branch telephony fault tolerance, and Time Division Multiplexing gateways.
The primary difference between the Cisco 4400 ISR and 4300 Series is dual power supply capability in the 4400 Series, offering a higher level of fault tolerance. Cisco's 4321 ISR Router comes in a 1 RU desktop package and includes two network interface modules (NIMs), delivers as much as 100 Mbps performance, and can handle 240 Digital Voice and Video Channels. The 4331 ISR Router has a 1 RU form factor with two NIMs, delivers up to 300 Mbps performance, and supports 360 Digital Voice/Video Channels. The 4351 ISR Router comes in a 2 RU package and includes three network interface modules, delivers up to 400 Mbps throughput, and can handle 720 Digital Voice and Video Channels. The power-redundant 4431 ISR Router features a 2 RU package and includes three network interface modules, provides up to 1 Gbps performance, and supports 720 Digital Voice and Video Channels. The fault-tolerant 4431 ISR Router features a 2 RU package with three NIMs, provides up to 2 Gbps throughput, and allows up to 1200 Digital Voice/Video Channels.
Cisco's Midrange WAN Aggregation Routers and Carrier-class Routers
Cisco's WAN aggregation and carrier routers can provide enterprises with high-performance, protected head ends to aggregate branch office and remote user traffic and to offer carriers cost-optimized wide area network edge solutions. Cisco's WAN aggregation and carrier router product line features the Cisco ASR 1000 routers and the 9000 ASR routers.
Progent's nationwide team of Cisco CCIE network consultants have in-depth backgrounds helping enterprises and service providers to plan optimal installations and seamless expansion of Cisco's midrange and carrier-class routers. Progent's GIAC-certified information assurance consultants offer unbiased, independent security vulnerability assessments, penetration testing and comprehensive SIEM solutions to help companies that use Cisco's WAN aggregation routers to comply with business guidelines and statutory requirements for network information security and reporting.
Cisco ASR 1000 Series WAN Edge Routers
Cisco's ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services line of routers is positioned in the center of Cisco's midrange routers that focus on acting as headends at the wide area network edge. Cisco's ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services routers provide a small form factor, multi-function solution for enterprises requiring satellite office aggregation at multigigabit Ethernet performance. Cisco's ASR 1000 WAN Edge routers introduce an innovative architecture that mixes on-board acceleration with software flexibility to offer a multitude of concurrent services while preserving dependable performance.
Cisco's ASR 1000 routers feature Cisco's proprietary QuantumFlow Processor made up of 40 custom Packet Processing Engines (PPEs) that in combination can handle up to 160 concurrent processor threads. This massive parallelism, in conjunction with hardware acceleration for all services, enables the high-end ASR 1006 Aggregation Services router to expand up to 000 queues, 32,000 subscribers, 4,000 IP security VPN tunnels at 10,000 sessions/second, and 2M Netflow records. This processing power allows Cisco's ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services routers to support a variety of advanced services simultaneously in high volume without suffering throughput decay that might violate compliance with SLAs. These services include Cisco Firewall, intrusion-detection services, Network Address Translation, Flexible Packet Matching, and in-line deep packet inspection. The Cisco ASR 1000 also permits sophisticated traffic management for performing numerous levels of Quality of Service to a data packet in one pass, improving responsiveness for next-generation voice, video, and conferencing applications.
Cisco ASR 9000 Series Routers
Cisco's ASR 9000 Series Routers are designed as WAN-edge routers for service providers who are required to deliver world-class data, voice and video services to home, commercial, and mobile users by offering continual availability, high performance, and application awareness. All platforms in Cisco's ASR 9000 family of Aggregation Services Routers run the IOS XR, a self-healing, distributed operating system designed for non-stop uptime. Throughput of Cisco's ASR 9000 portfolio of Routers can be expanded up to 96 Tbps per chassis. Cisco's ASR 9000 Series of Routers can handle high-density Gigabit Ethernet, 10 GE, and 100 GE and feature fully redundant fabric and power modules, power entry modules, and fan trays plus redundant control planes.
The ASR 9001 model is a carrier-edge router in a 6 RU form factor that delivers 120 Gbps of full-duplex fabric capacity. The Cisco ASR 9001 has two modular bays which can support port adapters for 1 GE, 10 GE, and 40 GE. The chassis incorporates four 10 GE enhanced Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP+) ports as well as ports for GPS Stratum 1 clocking, building integrated timing supply, and management. The Cisco ASR 9904 Router comes in a 6 RU chassis and provides dense 10 and 100 GE connectivity in space-constrained environments. The 4-slot router can support up to 4 Tbps of switching capacity in a single chassis. The ASR 9912 platform has a 30 RU form factor and includes 10 line-card slots that can support up to 550 Gbps of switching capacity. The Cisco ASR 9912 has 2 route processors and 6+1 Fabric Cards for N+1 redundancy.
How Progent's Consultants Can Help Your Business with Cisco Router Products
Progent's Cisco certified engineers can assist your company to design, configure, and maintain an integrated network infrastructure that can streamline operations, reduce costs, and speed time to positive ROI. By combining Cisco routers with Cisco Catalyst switches support and Catalyst and Meraki Wi-Fi wireless integration, Progent can significantly enhance the business value of your integrated network. Progent can provide in-person and remote help and can provide data center support throughout the U.S.
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