The current generation of routers ordinarily include L2 switching capability, and many modern switches include Layer 3 routing capability. Routers offered by Cisco, the source of the vast majority of the world's routers, have improved dramatically in function and speed and Cisco makes an extensive product line that features routers engineered to meet the needs of users from individual telecommuters to nationwide ISPs.
The most recent ISR routers released by Cisco offer the performance and integrated functionality to manage IP voice and video plus virtual environments while also providing high availability, web-based management, seamless expandability, and advanced protection. These routers allow your company to build a solid basis for an information environment that can evolve seamlessly as you add new workers, establish extra offices, deploy additional services, extend your system to customers and vendors, and support an expanding mobile user base. Progent's Cisco qualified CCIE network consultants offer fast and economical online expertise to assist you to select, deploy, administer, update, and support Cisco's most advanced router technology and can assist you to maintain your older routers or migrate non-disruptively to Cisco's newer router products.
Cisco Routers Designed for Home Offices and Small Offices and Branch Offices
Cisco's routers for small organizations and remote offices offer affordable and dependable no-frills solutions that allow limited sets of workers to have safe access to wide area networks. All these fixed-configuration desktop routers feature at least four 10/100 switched Ethernet with wireless options and built-in firewall for enhanced protection. Built for easy installation, management, and support, Cisco's entry-level routers reduce ownership costs by cutting acquisition and maintenance expenses. Progent's remote support specialists have in-depth backgrounds delivering fast and affordable technical assistance for small organizations to configure and maintain these routers, and Progent's CCIE network consultants can help your company to understand ways Cisco's entry-level routers can add to the business value of your information network.
Cisco ISR 900 Series Integrated Services Routers
Cisco's ISR 900 Series desktop routers are small-footprint, fanless, set-configuration appliances intended for SMBs, branch offices, and home offices. These value-priced routers have four managed GE switch ports and can support Metro Ethernet, LTE, and DSL WAN connections. The ISR 900 router product line provides triple the IPsec performance of Cisco's ISR 800 Series family of routers. All ISR 900 models feature Group Encrypted TransportVPN (GETVPN), DMVPN, Cisco FlexVPN, and firewall. VPN throughput is up to 250 Mbps. All versions allow up to 50 virtual LANs. Supported automatic failover technology for high availability include VRRP, Hot Standby Router Protocol, and MHSRP. Setup and management can be performed with Cisco Configuration Professional Express, Cisco DNA Center, and Cisco IOS Software. Cisco ISR 900 Series routers do not work with Cisco's SD-WAN solution.
The Cisco ISR 921 router comes with dual GE WAN ports, LTE Cat 4, and a built-in power supply. GE WAN VPN throughput is 150 Mbps. The ISR 926 and ISR 927 routers include external power and feature a single WAN port, Category 4 LTE, plus VDSL2 and ADSL2/2+ high-speed broadband. GE WAN VPN throughput for both routers is 150 Mbps. The top-of-the-line ISR 931 router supports dual GE WAN and includes an internal power supply. VPN throughput is 250 Mbps.
Cisco Meraki MX Series SD-WAN Security Appliances
The Cisco Meraki MX portfolio of desktop routers combine SD-WAN and cloud-based unified threat management in a single compact device able to handle 50 to 200 users. Every MX series appliance needs to be licensed for the Meraki cloud. For sites with several WAN network options (e.g., MPLS, broadband, cellular), SD-WAN technology allows administrators to specify the WAN interface a given application uses or to create performance-based rules to select the preferred interface. Cisco Meraki MX fixed-configuration desktop security appliances share important features that include:
Cisco 1000 and 1100 Family ISR Enterprise Branch Routers
Cisco 1000 and 1100 Series Integrated Services Routers (ISRs) running Cisco IOS XE internetworking operating system are a line of fanless routers intended to provide network service, wireless access, and multilayer security for small and midsize businesses, branch offices, retail outlets, customer premises equipment (CPE), and M2M venues. Multiple parallel CPU cores and the ability to run Cisco IOS XE enable these routers to offer features consistent with Cisco's complete family of modern Enterprise routers. 1000 family ISR models are offered with 4 or 8 LAN switch ports and provide GE packet forwarding. Various models include PoE and PoE+, auto provisioning, plus a range of integrated or pluggable connections including LAN, WAN, WLAN, SHDSL, 4G LTE wireless, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and SFP Fiber. Cisco 1000 Series ISR models can be used with Cisco's SD-WAN subscription services for seamless multiple-cloud access, multilayer security, and centralized monitoring and management of hybrid network models.
Cisco's 1RU or desktop 1100-4G ISR router comes with four built-in GE ports, integrated 3G/4G LTE with two LTE antenna SMA connectors, and one micro-SIM plug-in slot. Encryption throughput is 200 Mbps. The Cisco ISR 1100-6G router adds two 1G SFP Fiber connections and delivers encryption speed of 520 Mbps. Cisco's desktop 1101-4P ISR router has four integrated GE connections, supports 802.11ac and 3G/4G LTE wireless, and features encryption throughput of 280 Mbps. The ISR 1109-2P/4p desktop routers have two or four integrated GE ports and dual pluggable 3G/4G LTE ports. Encryption packet processing throughput is 200 Mbps.
Cisco's 1RU or desktop 111x-4P/8P ISR routers come with four or eight built-in switched GE ports (two or four provide Power over Ethernet) and support VDSL2/ADSL2+, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, 3G/4G LTE, and SFP Fiber. Encryption rate is 280 Mbps. Cisco's 1RU or desktop 1111X-8P ISR router includes eight integrated switched GE interfaces (four with Power over Ethernet) and a port for SFP Fiber. Encryption rate is 340 Mbps. The 112x-8P ISR router has eight GE interfaces with Power over Ethernet and supports SHDSL, VDSL2/ADSL2+, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, 3G/4G LTE, and SFP Fiber. Encryption throughput is 340 Mbps. The 1161X-8P ISR router has eight integrated GE ports with Power over Ethernet and supports 3G/4G LTE wireless and 1G SFP. Encryption rate is 450 Mbps.
Cisco Catalyst 8000 Series Branch and WAN Edge Platforms for SD-WAN and Routing
Cisco's Catalyst 8000 line of routers are modular devices intended to work at the enterprise branche and the WAN edge to support hybrid networks that can include a mix of public and private clouds and cloud-hosted applications. Catalyst 8000 devices are powered by Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software and offer expandability, intelligent cloud security, and 5G connectivity. Performance is enhanced using purpose-built silicon, a multicore design, high port capacity, and in-line encryption. Cisco's subscription software suites offer ongoing access to current SD-WAN technology and allow unified management with enhanced cybersecurity, application-optimized policies, segmentation, and cloud readiness.
Cisco Catalyst 8200 Enterprise Branch Edge Routers
Catalyst 8200 Series routers are upgrades to Cisco's 4300 Series ISRs, delivering higher IPsec throughput and expandability, accelerated encryption, plus higher integrated WAN interface density. These 1RU routers are built to bring Cisco's SASE, SD-WAN and 5G-connection technology to enterprise branch offices and the enterprise WAN edge. The Catalyst C8200L-1N-4T router features four CPU cores, enables 500 Mbps IPsec performance, and permits 1,500 SD-WAN tunnels. The Catalyst 8200L router does not support container-based apps. Cisco's Catalyst C8200-1N-4T model includes eight CPU cores, delivers 1Gb IPsec throughput, supports 2,500 SD-WAN tunnels, and allows edge computing with existing container models. Both appliances include a Network Interface Module (NIM) slot, a Pluggable Interface Module slot, two 1 Gigabit Ethernet WAN ports, and two 1G Ethernet WAN SFP ports. 4-port and 8-port 1G Ethernet switch NIM modules are supported by both 8200 routers.
Cisco Catalyst 8300 Series Enterprise Edge Routers
Catalyst 8300 WAN Edge routers are intended to supersede Cisco's 4400 Series Integrated Services Routers, delivering Cisco's secure SD-WAN technology to medium-sized and large enterprise branch offices seeking high WAN IPSec performance with cohesive SD-WAN services. Enhanced capabilities include 5G wireless support, integrated security, WAN MACSec, integrated enhanced Layer 2 switching, and Deep Packet Inspection with application optimization. Cisco Catalyst 8300 WAN Edge routers enable edge computing for an existing container environment for Cisco UCS-E modules offered on Cisco's 4000 line of ISR routers. All models in the Catalyst 8300 Series family support 4,000 SD-WAN tunnels and include backup power supplies for improved availability.
The Cisco Catalyst 8300-1N1S-6T router model is a 1RU appliance that features eight CPU cores and delivers 2G SD-WAN performance and IPsec performance of up to 1.9Gbps. The router comes with one SM plug-in slot, one Network Interface Module slot, and six built-in 1-Gigabit Ethernet WAN interfaces. The Catalyst 8300-2N2S-6T device is a 2RU device that includes 8 CPU cores and supports 2G SD-WAN performance and IPsec data rates as high as 1.9Gbps. The router has two SM expansion slots, two NIM slots, and six built-in 1G Ethernet WAN interfaces. The Cisco Catalyst C8300-1N1S-4T2X router model is a one-rack unit appliance that has 8 CPU cores and delivers 5G SD-WAN data rates and IPsec throughput up to 15Gbps. The appliance includes one one SM plug-in slot, one Network Interface Module slot, two integrated 10-Gigabit Ethernet WAN interfaces, and four built-in 1-Gigabit Ethernet WAN interfaces. The Catalyst C8300-2N2S-4T2X router is a 2RU model that includes 12 CPU cores and supports 5G SD-WAN performance and IPsec throughput as high as 18Gbps. The device has two SM expansion slots, two NIM slots, two built-in 10-Gigabit Ethernet WAN interfaces, and four integrated 1-Gigabit Ethernet WAN interfaces. LAN plug-in modules available from Cisco range from a 4-port 1-Gigabit Ethernet switch NIM module to a 50-port Catalyst L2 switch SM module.
Catalyst 8500 Aggregation Edge Routers
The Catalyst 8500 Series Aggregation Edge routers are fixed, 1RU aggregation devices for SD-WAN and colocation deployments. Built-in features include route processor, ESP, and aggregation hardware for various interfaces and connectivity choices. IPsec performance is twice that of Cisco's prior generation ASR1001-X aggregation services router. Flexible interface alternatives include 1GE to 100 GE WAN interfaces. 8500 routers come with dual AC or DC power units for improved availability. Software subscription suites provide ongoing use of Cisco DNA Center Software for SD-WAN and routing and enable unified management of cybersecurity, application-based policies, network segmentation, and cloud support.
The Cisco Catalyst C8500L-8S4X Aggregation Edge router is intended to provide a similar key features as Cisco's ASR 1000 appliance. The C8500L-8S4X includes four 1/10GE WAN interfaces and supports as high as 20 Gbps aggregate throughput. SD-WAN IPsec throughput is up to 19Gbps. The Cisco Catalyst C8500-12X router includes 12 built-in 1/10GE WAN interfaces and supports up to 120 Gbps Cisco Express Forwarding aggregate performance. SD-WAN IPsec throughput is up to 51 Gbps. The C8500-12X4QC unit comes with four built-in 1/10GE WAN interfaces and eight 1-Gigabit ports and delivers up to 200 Gbps aggregate performance. SD-WAN IPsec performance can reach 68 Gbps. The C8500-20X6C router comes with 20 built-in SFP+ ports and 6 x 40/100GE interfaces. The C8500-20X6C delivers up to 500 Gbps Cisco Express Forwarding aggregate throughput.
Cisco Integrated Services G2 Routers
Cisco's Integrated Services Generation 2 routers are intended to offer satellite offices of enterprises with enhanced video and voice applications, virtual networking, protection, and reliable connectivity. Integrated Services Generation 2 routers feature an architecture that preserves prior investments in service modules for older ISR routers and reduces future costs by permitting field installation of additional modules when they are developed. In comparison to older Integrated Services Routers, Cisco's Integrated Services G2 routers feature 2-7 times more performance, far greater expandability, and easier support. All Cisco ISR G2 routers support gigabit switching and include multi-core processors and ultra-fast fabric for higher performance. Integrated Services Generation 2 routers also support intelligent power management for improved energy conservation.
A major advance with ISR G2 routers is the IOS Universal image which includes all of the IOS feature sets so that you can quickly license and activate new functions when required without having to download and copy a different IOS image over to yourrouter. Progent's team of CCIE-certified network engineers offer world-class expertise to help your business to design, implement, and maintain multi-site deployments of Cisco Integrated Services Generation 2 routers that improve satellite office efficiency and reduce the price of expansion and maintenance.
Cisco's ISR 800 Series Routers
Cisco's 800 Series of ISR routers has been superseded by the faster Cisco ISR 900 line but remains widely deployed. Cisco's comprehensive line of 800 Series ISR routers consists of desktop, fanless appliances intended for small businesses, branch offices, retail shops, teleworkers, and customers of broadband service providers. A wealth of models in the 800 product line have been developed with many options over many years. Cisco's 881 Series of ISR routers exemplifies the vast selection of options available within Cisco's 800 line of routers. Various models in Cisco's 881 Series router portfolio can support converged media environments by providing voice and video, Wi-Fi and cellular wireless and data in a single integrated appliance. Built-in data protection can include encryption, VPN tunneling, firewall, and URL filtering. For survivability, available features for Cisco 881 routers include duplicate WAN links or support for landline high-speed WAN connections such as DSL as well as multiple different cellular 3G and 4G wireless connections all on a single appliance.
The basic Cisco 881 has a 4-port fast Ethernet managed switch that delivers 15 Mbps throughput, the ability to handle 20 users, two-port integrated PoE, and IPv6 support. The Cisco 881W router supports 802.11g/n Wi-Fi. The 881 SRST router includes four FXS ports and 1 FXO port for public-switched-telephone-network (PSTN) fallback with Cisco Survivable Remote Site Telephony (SRST). With a Cisco Unified Border Element (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 service provider. SIP trunks can also support offsite agents in Cisco Call Center environments.
4000 Series ISR Routers
The Cisco 4000 Series ISR Routers are modular and scalable platforms intended for businesses with multiple branch offices and offsite workers who need direct access to in-house data centers as well as public clouds across VPN tunnels and the Internet. Cisco's 4000 series delivers the bandwidth needed for hybrid WAN environments to support mobile workers, cloud services, and HD video applications by using WAN optimization, deep packet inspection, and advanced traffic-management technology. Models in Cisco's 4000 family run Cisco's IOS XE operating system, come in a 1-rack-unit (RU) or 2RU package, can handle as much as 2 Gbps of throughput, and can have up to 3 interface slots, 2 service module slots, 4 built-in Gigabit Ethernet switches, and 8 CPU core integrated server modules. Cisco ISR 4000 models can support integrated Gigabit Ethernet, T1/E1, T3/E3, PR1, xDSL and other interfaces. To manage unified communications, the 400o ISR provides comprehensive edge support technology for policy-enhanced SBC, branch telephony fault tolerance, and TDM 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, providing a higher level of availability. Cisco's 4321 Integrated Services Router comes in a 1 RU desktop package with two network interface modules, offers as much as 100 Mbps performance, and can handle 240 Digital Voice and Video Channels. The 4331 router has a 1 RU package with two network interface modules, provides up to 300 Mbps performance, and can handle 360 Digital Voice and Video Channels. Cisco's 4351 model has a 2 RU package and includes three network interface modules, delivers up to 400 Mbps performance, and supports 720 Digital Voice/Video Channels. Cisco's dual power supply 4431 model comes in a 2 RU form factor and includes three NIMs, delivers up to 1 Gbps throughput, and allows up to 720 Digital Voice and Video Channels. Cisco's redundant-power 4431 router has a 2 RU form factor with three NIMs, offers as much as 2 Gbps performance, and supports 1200 Digital Voice/Video Channels.
Cisco's Midrange WAN Aggregation Routers and Service Provider Routers
Cisco's WAN aggregation and carrier routers offer enterprises with fast, secure distribution points to manage satellite office and remote user data packets and to provide carriers cost-optimized WAN edge solutions. Cisco's WAN aggregation and service provider router product line includes the Cisco ASR 1000 product line and the 9000 Series Aggregation Services routers.
Progent's nationwide group of CCIE certified network experts have extensive experience helping enterprise businesses and Internet service providers to design optimal deployments and smooth expansion of Cisco's midrange and carrier-class routers. Progent's GIAC-certified information assurance experts offer unbiased, third-party security inventory evaluations, stealth penetration testing and advanced Security information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions to help companies with Cisco's Aggregation Services Routers to meet industry standards and government mandates for network information protection and reporting. Progent also can provide help with Horizon3.ai's NodeZero platform for penetration testing. NodeZero relies on AI technology to simplify the vulnerability assessment cycle of discovering cybersecurity gaps in network perimeters and inside the internal network, recommending remediation, fixing problems, and confirming successful repairs.
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 focus on acting as headends at the wide area network edge. ASR 1000 WAN Edge routers provide a small footprint, multi-function solution for large businesses who need satellite office service aggregation at supergigabit Ethernet speeds. ASR 1000 routers introduce an innovative design that combines on-board acceleration with software versatility in order to offer a multitude of simultaneous services without sacrificing dependable performance.
Cisco's ASR 1000 WAN Edge routers feature Cisco's new QuantumFlow Processor composed of 40 custom Packet Processing Engines that together can handle up to 160 simultaneous threads. This massive parallelism, in conjunction with on-board acceleration for all services, allows the high-end ASR 1006 WAN Edge router to scale up to 000 queues, 32,000 clients, 4,000 IP security tunnels at 10,000 sessions per second, and 2M Netflow records. This processing power permits ASR 1000 Aggregation Services routers to deliver a wide variety of sophisticated services concurrently in high volume without suffering throughput degradation that might threaten compliance with service level agreements. Examples of these advanced services include IOS Firewall, intrusion-detection services, Network Address Translation, Flexible Packet Matching, and in-line deep packet inspection. The ASR 1000 also permits tiered traffic management for applying numerous levels of QoS to a packet in one pass, improving responsiveness for next-generation multimedia applications.
Cisco ASR 9000 Series Aggregation Services Routers
Cisco's ASR 9000 Series Routers are designed as edge routers for service providers who need to support world-class data, voice and video services to home, business, and mobile users by providing always-on operation, high speed, and application-aware intelligence. All models in the Cisco ASR 9000 family of Aggregation Services Routers run the IOS XR, a distributed OS designed for non-stop uptime. Throughput of the ASR 9000 portfolio of Routers can be expanded up to 96 Tbps per chassis. the Cisco ASR 9000 Series of Routers can handle high-density Gigabit Ethernet (GE), 10 GE, and 100 GE and feature fully redundant fabric and power modules, power entry modules, plus backup control planes.
The Cisco ASR 9001 platform is a carrier-edge router that comes in a 6 RU form factor with 120 Gbps of full-duplex fabric capacity. The ASR 9001 has two bays to support adapters for 1, 10, and 40 Gigabit Ethernet. The chassis incorporates four 10 GE SFP+ ports and ports for Stratum 1 clocking, BITS, and management. The ASR 9904 Router comes in a 6 RU chassis and provides dense 10 GE and 100 GE connections in space-limited sites. The 4-slot router can support up to 4 Tbps of capacity in one chassis. The Cisco ASR 9912 Router comes in a 30 RU form factor and includes 12 slots slots able to handle 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.
Ways Progent's Consultants Can Help You to Support Cisco Routers
Progent's Cisco certified consultants can assist your business to design, configure, and support an integrated network infrastructure that can streamline processes, lower costs, and speed time to positive ROI. By teaming Cisco integrated services routers with Catalyst switches expertise and Cisco Catalyst and Meraki Wi-Fi wireless integration, Progent can significantly enhance the strategic value of your network infrastructure. Progent can provide on-premises and remote troubleshooting and can provide data center support throughout the U.S.
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