As technology progresses, the distinction between router and switch products is becoming less clear. Essentially, routers are Layer 3 products that connect networks. A typical scenario is connecting a small business Ethernet network to the Internet. Switches are Layer 2 (L2) devices that interconnect various devices within a network. Generally, routers depend on computation to send data using complex software, providing versatility at the cost of speed. Switches, by comparison, rely upon mostly fixed hardware designs to move data at the fastest feasible speed. Today's routers usually come with L2 switches, and many of today’s switches have some Layer 3 routing functionality. Routers developed by Cisco, the source of the vast majority of the industry's routers, have advanced significantly in capability and performance and Cisco makes a comprehensive product line that includes routers built to meet the needs of customers ranging from households to nationwide service providers.
The latest ISR routers released by Cisco offer the performance and integrated features to manage data voice and video plus virtual environments while also providing fault tolerance, web-based administration, seamless scalability, and enhanced security and compliance. Cisco's ISR routers enable you to build a firm foundation for an IT network that can evolve seamlessly as you hire more employees, establish extra sites, deploy additional capabilities, extend your system to customers and partners, and build an expanding mobile user base. Progent’s Cisco qualified CCIE network engineers can provide fast and affordable online support to assist you to select, configure, manage, update, and support Cisco's most advanced routers and can assist you to support your older routers or move efficiently to Cisco’s newer networking solutions.
Cisco Routers Designed for Small Companies and Remote Offices
Cisco’s routers for small organizations and remote offices provide low-cost and reliable no-frills solutions that allow limited sets of users to have secure access to the Internet. All these single-configuration desktop devices include at least four 10/100 Ethernet ports with wireless options plus built-in firewall to provide advanced protection. Built for easy setup, management, and troubleshooting, Cisco’s small business routers reduce ownership costs by lowering equipment and maintenance expenses. Progent’s online troubleshooting experts have in-depth experience providing immediate and affordable IT help for small organizations to configure and support these devices, and Progent’s CCIE network consultants can help your company to determine how Cisco’s entry-level routers can increase the strategic value of your IT network.
Cisco RV Series Routers
Cisco's economical RV Series Routers are designed to provide small organizations with VPN capability that allows telecommuters and mobile workers to connect to a network via secure tunneling. Models in the Cisco RV Series Routers can handle up to 100 IPsec VPN tunnels, incorporate 4-, 8-, or 16-port Ethernet switches, have built-in firewalls that provide sophisticated data encryption, and allow web-based setup for remote set up and troubleshooting. All RV Series devices accommodate fast Ethernet and several models can handle Gigabit Ethernet. Wired/Wireless models are offered. Cisco's RV Series VPN routers do not incorporate Cisco’s IOS control software.
The Cisco RV041 model VPN Router features a 4-port 10/100 Ethernet switch and can securely support up to 50 branch offices or off-site workers through IPsec or Point-to-Point tunneling protocol. The G version supports Gigabit Ethernet. Cisco's RV082 Dual WAN VPN Router has an 8-port 10/100 Ethernet switch and can support as many as 100 branch offices or off-site users with full IPsec VPN tunneling. The Cisco RV016 Multi WAN VPN Router model features 16 10/100 Ethernet ports, supports 100 remote connections, and allows as many as seven switched ports to be set up for load balancing or for ISP backup to provide non-stop Internet connectivity.
Later products in Cisco's portfolio of Small Business RV Series Routers include the Cisco RV110W wired/Wireless-N VPN with a 4-port switch and support for four VLANs, the RV130W Wireless-N Multifunction VPN Router with a 4-port Gigabit Ethernet switch and support for 825 Mbps throughput, the RV220W wired/Wireless-N Firewall with a 4-port Gigabit switch and the ability to support 25 VPN connections, and the 320 RV320 WAN VPN Router that features a 4-port Gigabit switch and Dual Gigabit WAN ports for business continuity.
Cisco 800 Line of ISR Routers
Cisco's extensive line of 800 Series ISR routers consists of desktop appliances designed and priced for small businesses, branch offices, retail venues, telecommuters, and customers of broadband service providers. A wealth of models in the 800 family of routers have been developed with various options over the course of many years. Cisco's 881 Series of ISR routers exemplifies the vast selection of options available within the Cisco 800 line of routers. Various models in Cisco's 881 router catalog can support converged media environments by delivering IP voice and video, wireless and data in one integrated appliance. Advanced security can include encryption, VPN tunneling, firewall, and URL filtering. For survivability, available features for Cisco 881 routers include duplicate WAN links or support for wired high-speed WAN links such as DSL plus multiple different cellular 3G and 4G wireless connections all built into one appliance.
The baseline Cisco 881 includes a 4-port fast Ethernet managed switch with up to 15 Mbps throughput, support for 20 users, two-port integrated Power over Ethernet, and IPv6 compatibility. Cisco's 881W router includes 802.11g/n Wi-Fi. The 881 SRST router features four FXS ports and 1 FXO port for PSTN failover with Cisco SRST. With a Cisco CUBE feature license, Cisco's 881 ISR router supports SIP trunking to replace outdated Primary Rate Interface (PRI) lines or FXO voice connectivity to a PSTN carrier. SIP trunks can also support remote call agents in Cisco Call Center deployments.
Cisco ISR G2 Routers
Cisco's ISR Generation 2 routers are designed to provide satellite offices of large businesses with advanced video and voice applications, virtualization, protection, and reliable WAN access. Integrated Services G2 routers feature a design that preserves past investments in service modules for first-generation Integrated Services Routers and reduces down-the-line costs by allowing easy upgrades to additional modules as they are developed. In comparison to previous Integrated Services Routers, Cisco's Integrated Services Generation 2 routers feature 2-7 times more performance, far more, and more affordable support. All ISR Generation 2 routers support Gbit switching and incorporate multi-core CPUs and multigigabit fabric for faster throughput. ISR Generation 2 routers also support smart power management for better energy efficiency.
A key advance with ISR Generation 2 routers is the Cisco IOS Universal image which contains all of the IOS technology sets so that your company can quickly license and deploy new features when desired without having to acquire and copy a different IOS Software image over to yourCisco router. Progent's group of CCIE network engineers offer world-class expertise to assist you to design, implement, and maintain multi-site installations of Cisco Integrated Services Generation 2 routers that improve satellite office productivity and reduce the costs of expansion and maintenance.
Cisco 1900 Series Integrated Services G2 Routers
Cisco 1941 and 1941W ISR G2 routers include hardware encryption, optional IOS firewall, Cisco IOS intrusion prevention, and up to 11 modular LAN switchports. The Cisco 1941W ISR router provides an integrated 802.11n Wi-Fi access point that allows cordless connectivity to high throughput data, voice, and video applications via Multi-Input, Multiple-output support that expands the range of current 802.11a/b/g clients. Interface options for the Cisco 1941 and 1941W Integrated Services G2 routers include T1/E1, ADSL/SDSL, 3G, and GbE.
In comparison to the previous 1841 Integrated Services router which they are able to substitute for, the 1900 Series Integrated Services G2 routers have 256 MB vs. 32 MB of CompactFlash storage as standard, and can be increased to 4GB vs. 128 megabytes. Default DRAM size is 256 megabytes vs. 128 and maximum dynamic RAM size is 2.25 gigabytes compared to 384 megabytes. Unlike the 1841 router, the 1900 Series Integrated Services G2 routers include a USB console instead of the outdated DB-9 connector and includes an add-in slot for the new Internal Services Module instead of a slot for the previous and lower performance AIM module. In contrast to top-of-the-line ISR G2 routers, the 1941 Series Integrated Services G2 routers do not allow redundant power supplies or add-in slots for PVDM modules.
Cisco 2900 ISR G2 Routers
Cisco 2900 ISR G2 Routers are released in four models which are intended as upgrades to the models in Cisco’s successful 2800 router family. Cisco’s 2901, 2911, 2921, and 2951 ISR G2 routers offer integrated hardware encryption, voice and video ready Digital Signal Processor slots, optional firewall, Cisco IOS intrusion prevention, call processing, and from 16 to 50 LAN switches. The integrated encryption hardware supports IPsec and SSL VPN for safe remote access and is dramatically higher performing than the AIM modules supported by 2800 series routers. The high-end 2951 Series ISR G2 router can handle 600 SIP sessions. Connectivity alternatives include T1/E1, T3/E3, ADSL and SDSL, plus copper and fiber GE.
2911, 2921, and 2951 ISR G2 routers support the Cisco Enhanced EtherSwitch Service Modules, providing high-performance features that match the Catalyst 2960 and Catalyst 3650-E Series Switches. In comparison to the older 2821 Integrated Services router that the 2921 ISR G2 router is intended to substitute for, the Cisco 2921 router is offered by default with 256 megabytes vs. 64 megabytes of flash storage and can be loaded with up to 4 gigabytes compared to 256 MB. Default DRAM size is 512 MB vs. 256 and maximum DRAM size is 2.5 GB instead of only 1.
3900 ISR G2 Routers
Cisco has released four models for the high-end 3900 Series Integrated Services G2 router, the 3925, 3945, 3925E, and 3945E. These devices offer the highest performance and slot densities in Cisco’s ISR G2 family and support high-speed digital signal processors for the most demanding multimedia applications, accelerated on-board encryption, a broad range of connectivity alternatives, up to 98 modular LAN switches, and as many as 2,500 SIP sessions. To protect your investment, the 3900 Series ISR G2 routers include Cisco’s Services Performance Engine, a modular motherboard that can be replaced in the field to enhance throughput without requiring your business to buy a new router. As with other Cisco Integrated Services G2 routers, the 3900 Series also preserves previous investments by accepting most of the add-in modules from first-generation Cisco Integrated Services Routers. For advanced fault tolerance, 3900 ISR G2 support dual power supplies.
In comparison to the older 3825 ISR router which the Cisco 2921 ISR G2 router is designed to substitute for, the 3925 router is offered by default with 256 megabytes vs. 64 megabytes of flash memory and can be loaded with up to 4GB compared to 256 megabytes. Standard DRAM size is 1 gigabyte vs. 256 MB and maximum DRAM size is 4 GB vs. 1 GB.
Cisco 4000 Series Integrated Services Routers
Cisco's 4000 Series ISR Routers are modular and scalable routers designed for organizations with a large number of branches and remote users requiring direct communication with in-house data centers as well as public clouds across VPN tunnels and the Internet. The 4000 series provides the throughput needed for distributed enterprise sites to support mobile users, Cloud-based services, and HD multimedia applications by using wide area network optimization, deep packet inspection, and advanced traffic-management technology. Devices in Cisco's ISR 4000 product line run Cisco's powerful IOS XE operating system, come in a 1-rack-unit (RU) or 2RU form factor, can handle as much as 2 Gbps of traffic, and can include up to 3 interface slots, 2 service module slots, 4 integrated Gigabit Ethernet ports, and 8 CPU core integrated server modules. Cisco ISR 4000 models can support integrated Gigabit Ethernet, T1/E1, T3/E3, PRI and xDSL. For unified communications, the 400o ISR offers comprehensive edge support technology for policy-enhanced session border control, branch telephony fault tolerance, and Time Division Multiplexing gateways.
The main difference between the Cisco 4400 ISR and 4300 Series Routers is the inclusion of dual power supply support in the 4400 Series, offering a higher level of availability. Cisco's 4321 Integrated Services Router comes in a 1 RU desktop form factor and includes two network interface modules, provides up to 100 Mbps throughput, and supports 240 Digital Voice/Video Channels. Cisco's 4331 router comes in a 1 RU form factor and includes two network interface modules, delivers up to 300 Mbps performance, and allows up to 360 Digital Voice/Video Channels. Cisco's 4351 model has a 2 RU form factor with three NIMs, delivers as much as 400 Mbps throughput, and allows up to 720 Digital Voice/Video Channels. Cisco's dual power supply 4431 router features a 2 RU form factor and includes three network interface modules, delivers up to 1 Gbps throughput, and can handle 720 Digital Voice/Video Channels. The fault-tolerant 4431 ISR Router has a 2 RU form factor with three NIMs, provides as much as 2 Gbps throughput, and supports 1200 Digital Voice/Video Channels.
Cisco's 1st Generation Integrated Service Routers
Cisco's original ISR routers, with in excess of 6M devices in operation, are the industry's leading technology for small to medium-sized businesses and enterprises with satellite offices to ensure high-performance, safe, and dependable access to vital applications. Progent's CCIE network engineers are proven experts at providing remote consulting, administrative, and troubleshooting services for Cisco 1800, 2800, and 3800 series ISR routers. Progent can assist you to upgrade to the latest release of Cisco IOS control software with minimal disruption to your network, assess the security vulnerability of your existing router setup, and help business to migrate efficiently to the latest line of Cisco ISR Generation 2 routers when it is appropriate for your business.
Cisco 1800 Series ISR Routers
The modular Cisco 1800 Series of integrated services routers embed data and security into a single resilient system for fast, expandable access to mission-critical business applications. The Cisco 1800 Series router design has been specifically developed to satisfy the requirements of small and midsize organizations, branch offices, and service provider-managed services applications for delivery of concurrent services at wire performance. The integrated services systems design of the Cisco 1800 Series routers delivers maximum business agility and investment protection.
Cisco's 1841 router provides important benefits in comparison to previous generations of 1700 Series devices by bringing more than a fivefold performance improvement and integrated hardware-based encryption activated by an optional Cisco IOS Software security image. Cisco's 1841 router significantly improves interface card slot throughput as well as density in comparison to the 1700 Series routers while still providing support for dozens of existing WAN interface cards (WICs) and multiflex trunk cards (VWICs-for data only). The Cisco 1841 device provides further enhancement of VPN speed via an available VPN acceleration add-in; IPS and firewall capabilities; support for a wide range of interface requirements, such as support for integrated switch ports; and enough speed and slot capacity for future network expansion and next-generation applications.
Cisco 2800 Series Integrated Services Routers
Targeted at small to medium-sized organizations and enterprise branch offices, the Cisco 2800 Series routers comprises four basic versions: the Cisco 2801, the Cisco 2811 route, the Cisco 2821, and the Cisco 2851. Cisco's 2800 Series routers provide significant additional value vs. prior generations of Cisco devices at comparable price points by delivering as much as a 5x performance improvement, up to a 10 times increase in security and voice performance, built-in service options, and dramatically enhanced plug-in slot speed and density while maintaining compatibility with the vast majority of the more than 90 popular expansion modules available currently for the Cisco 1700 Series, the 2600 Series, and the Cisco 3700 Series devices.
The Cisco 2800 Series router offers an array of common protection functions including an IOS Software Firewall, an Intrusion Prevention System (IPS), IP security Virtual Private Network, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) VPN, powerful application inspection and control, Secure Shell Protocol Version 2.0, and Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMPv3) in one secure solution. Also, by incorporating security functions within the router, Cisco can offer special intelligent protection functions other security appliances cannot, such as NAC for virus defense; Voice and Video Enabled VPN (V3PN) for QoS support when combining voice, video, and Virtual Private Networks; Dynamic Multipoint VPN; Group Encrypted Transport (GET); and Easy VPN for enabling more scalable and manageable VPN networks.
Businesses can utilize the 2800 router to create a converged IP telephony network for as many as 96 IP phones, and can securely deploy data, voice, and IP telephony on one platform for their small-to-medium sized satellite offices.
The 2800 Series incorporates an integrated wireless access point for wireless LAN connectivity, Wi-Fi Hotspot capability for shared public wireless networks, and network services for cordless wireless LAN telephony and for larger sites.
Cisco 3800 Integrated Services Routers
The Cisco 3800 Series routers are designed for small-to-medium-sized businesses and corporate satellite locations to provide companies the highest degree of network agility, performance, and intelligence. Cisco 3800 Series routers transparently incorporate the latest network engineering, smart services, and protected corporate communications into a single robust system. The Cisco 3800 Series routers ease deployment and management, lower network cost and complexity, and provide investment protection. 3800 Series integrated services routers offer embedded security processing, excellent throughput and high memory capacity, and high-density interfaces that deliver the performance, resilience, and dependability necessary for building business-critical protection, IP telephony, high-volume video, network monitoring, and web-based applications in the most competitive corporate networks. Engineered for performance, the Cisco 3800 Series routers provide multiple concurrent services up to wired T3/E3 data rates.
The integrated services routing architecture of the Cisco 3800 Series router is engineered to combine security and voice processing with the latest wired and wireless services for fast installation of new services, including application layer operations, smart network services, and unified communications. The 3800 integrated services router supports the throughput requirements for several Fast Ethernet interfaces for every slot, time-division multiplexing (TDM) interconnections, and integrated power sourcing to modules supporting 802.3af PoE, while also accommodating the traditional portfolio of interface modules. This permits continuing return on investment by allowing network scaling or accommodating innovations in technology as new applications are deployed. By integrating the functions of multiple separate appliances into a single small unit, the Cisco 3800 router dramatically lowers the expense and complexity of managing remote networks.
Cisco's Midrange Routers and Service Provider Routers
Cisco’s WAN edge and service provider routers offer enterprises with high-performance, protected distribution points to manage satellite office and off-site data packets and to offer service providers economical WAN edge routing. Cisco’s WAN aggregation and service provider router product line features the Cisco 7600 Series, the ASR 1000 ASR product line, the ASR 9000 ASR family, and the Cisco Carrier Routing System.
Progent's nationwide group of CCIE network engineers have extensive experience working with enterprises and Internet service providers to design efficient deployments and smooth expansion of Cisco's midrange and carrier-class routers. Progent's GIAC-certified information assurance consultants can provide objective, independent security vulnerability assessments, stealth penetration testing and advanced Security information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions to help companies that use Cisco's WAN aggregation routers to comply with business guidelines and government regulations for network information security and incident reporting.
Cisco 7600 Integrated Services Routers
The Cisco 7600 Series router benefits from the Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series architecture by using an NEBS-3 compliant box, 256-Gbps crossbar switch fabric, and 30-Mpps switching speed. Fault tolerance is provided through redundancy as well as Cisco IOS Software capabilities. In addition, the Cisco 7600 router provides a rich set of high-touch network services at optical rates via a variety of Optical Services Modules enabled by Cisco patented Parallel Express Forwarding technology.
The 7609 router offers the option to select a 256-Gbps Switch Fabric Module or a 32-Gbps bus, providing switching performance of 30 million packets per second or 15 Mpps each. If the Switch Fabric Module is deployed, the Cisco 7609 can in addition allow distributed switching with performance up to 168 million packets per second by using the Catalyst 6500 16-port Gigabit Ethernet network module, which is controlled by the DFC and the SFM.
The Cisco 7603 router offers only the standard 32-Gbps data bus version and delivers 15 Mpps centralized switching performance. The 7603 Series router does not offer distributed switching capability.
Cisco ASR 1000 Aggregation Services Routers
Cisco’s ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services family of routers is positioned in the middle of Cisco’s midrange routers that concentrate on aggregating services at the wide area network edge. ASR 1000 Aggregation Services routers provide a small footprint, multi-function answer for large businesses requiring branch office aggregation at supergigabit Ethernet performance. ASR 1000 Series routers introduce an innovative design that mixes hardware acceleration with software flexibility in order to offer a rich set of simultaneous services without sacrificing consistent performance.
ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services routers feature Cisco’s proprietary QuantumFlow Processor composed of 40 custom Packet Processing Engines that in combination can support up to 160 concurrent processor threads. This parallel CPU architecture, combined with hardware acceleration for all services, enables the high-end ASR 1006 Aggregation Services router to expand up to 000 hardware queues, 32K subscribers, 4,000 IPsec tunnels at 10,000 sessions/second, and 2 million Netflow records. This CPU power allows Cisco’s ASR 1000 Aggregation Services routers to deliver a variety of sophisticated services concurrently in high volume while avoiding throughput degradation that might compromise adherence to service level agreements. Examples of these services include IOS Firewall, intrusion-detection services, Network Address Translation, Flexible Packet Matching, and in-line deep packet inspection. The Cisco ASR 1000 also allows tiered traffic management for applying numerous levels of QoS to a packet in a single pass, enhancing responsiveness for high-bandwidth IP voice and video applications.
Cisco ASR 9000 Series Aggregation Services Routers
Cisco's ASR 9000 Series Routers are intended as WAN-edge routers for carriers who need to support world-class HD multimedia services to residential, commercial, and mobile users by providing non-stop availability, high speed, and application awareness. All platforms in the Cisco ASR 9000 family of Aggregation Services Routers are powered by Cisco's IOS XR, a self-healing, distributed OS built for non-stop availability. Performance of the ASR 9000 portfolio of Routers can scale to as high as 96 Tbps per chassis. Cisco's ASR 9000 Series of Routers support Gigabit Ethernet, 10 GE, and 100 GE and feature redundant fabric and power supply, power entry modules, and fan trays plus backup control planes.
The ASR 9001 model is a carrier-edge router that comes in a 6 RU package that delivers 120 Gbps of full-duplex fabric capacity. The Cisco ASR 9001 has two bays to support adapters for 1 GE, 10 GE, and 40 GE. The base chassis includes four 10 Gbit Ethernet SFP+ ports and ports for GPS clocking, BITS, and management. The Cisco ASR 9904 Router has a 6 RU form factor and provides dense 10 and 100 GE connectivity in space-constrained sites. The 4-slot router can support up to 4 Tbps of capacity in a single box. The Cisco ASR 9912 Router has a 30 RU chassis with 10 line-card slots able to support up to 550 Gbps of switching capacity. The Cisco ASR 9912 Router has 2 route CPUs as well as 6+1 Fabric Cards for N+1 redundancy.
The Cisco CRS Carrier Routing System for Core Networks
Cisco's Carrier Routing System product line, powered by Cisco's IOS XR distributed software, offers service providers high-level performance and availability. The Carrier Routing System portfolio was first released in 2004, has been continuously enhanced, and now includes the world's most popular multishelf network core router system. To preserve past investments in network infrastructure, the latest Carrier Routing System platforms are backward compatible with earlier CRS versions.
Current product families in the Carrier Routing System family are the CRS-1, CRS-3, and CRS-X Series. Every CRS series features single-chassis 4-slot, 8-slot, and 16-slot units plus multiple-shelf models. The CRS-1 product line is built on Cisco's Silicon Packet Processor and delivers up to 92 Tbps throughput. Products in Cisco's CRS-3 Series are based on Cisco's QuantumFlow Array technology and are able to deliver as much as 322 Tbps. Cisco's CRS-X Routers incorporate Cisco's CMOS photonics CPAK technology and scale to sustain up to 922 Tbps.
Cisco's Carrier Routing System Multichassis platforms can scale from 2 to 72 line-card shelves with the ability to provide 400-Gigabit per second of continuous operations for each slot. CRS Multichassis platforms can accommodate up to 8 fabric shelves. MSCs and physical layer interface modules (PLIMs) can be used throughout the entire Carrier Routing System family.
Legacy Routers Maintained by Progent's Experts
Progent's Cisco certified engineers are familiar with legacy Cisco routers that are no longer offered by Cisco. Progent can show you how to support these older routers and can in addition help you to plan and implement migrations to newer versions. Legacy Cisco routers supported by Progent include:
Cisco's discontinued 870 Series access routers are targeted for small networks with as many as 20 workers or for teleworker locations where high-quality voice/video over IP and reliable connectivity using standby Internet connections are needed. 870 Series routers deliver excellent performance for small offices as well as enhanced security through features that include Firewall, IP Security (IPsec) VPN, Triple Data Encryption Standard or Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) as well as Dynamic Multipoint VPN (DMVPN) and GETVPN, an intrusion prevention system (IPS), antivirus support through Network Admission Control (NAC), and enforcement of safe connection policies.
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