Generally, routers depend on processors to move data using sophisticated algorithms, providing intelligence at the expense of speed. Switches, in contrast, depend on largely predefined hardware designs to steer data at the highest feasible speed. Today's routers typically incorporate Layer 2 switches, and many modern switches include Layer 3 routing functionality. Routers offered by Cisco, the supplier of the vast majority of the industry's routers, have improved significantly in capability and speed and Cisco offers a comprehensive portfolio that includes routers engineered to meet the requirements of users from households to the world's largest service providers.
The latest ISR routers from Cisco offer the speed and built-in functionality to manage data voice and video plus virtual environments while at the same time offering high availability, web-based administration, seamless expandability, and enhanced protection. Cisco's ISR routers allow your company to build a solid foundation for an IT network that can evolve smoothly as you hire new employees, establish extra sites, deploy additional functions, give access to your network to customers and vendors, and build an expanding mobile user base. Progent's Cisco certified CCIE network engineers can provide immediate and economical online expertise to assist your company to plan, deploy, administer, upgrade, and troubleshoot Cisco's most advanced routers and can help you to maintain your older routers or move non-disruptively to Cisco's newer router products.
Cisco Routers Designed for Home and Small Offices and Branches
Cisco's routers for smaller businesses and branch offices provide affordable and dependable entry-level solutions that allow limited sets of workers to share safe access to wide area networks. All these single-configuration desktop devices include at minimum four 10/100 Ethernet ports with wireless options and integrated firewall to provide advanced security. Built for simple setup, management, and troubleshooting, Cisco's entry-level routers minimize ownership costs by cutting equipment and maintenance expenses. Progent's remote support specialists have in-depth experience delivering immediate and economical technical help for small businesses to configure and support these devices, and Progent's CCIE-certified network consultants can assist you to determine whether and how these routers can add to the strategic value of your information system.
ISR 900 Series Integrated Services Routers
The Cisco ISR 900 Series routers are compact, quiet, fixed-configuration appliances designed for small to medium-sized businesses, branches, and home offices. These entry-level routers include four managed GE LAN ports and can support Metro Ethernet, LTE, and DSL WAN connections. The ISR 900 router product line provides three times the IPsec throughput of the ISR 800 Series routers. All ISR 900 Series routers offer Group Encrypted Transport VPN, dynamic multipoint virtual private network VPN (DMVPN), FlexVPN, and firewall. VPN throughput is up to 250 Mbps. All models support up to 50 virtual LANs. Supported automatic failover technology for high availability and business continuity include VRRP, Hot Standby Router Protocol, and MHSRP. Provisioning and management can be done 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. GE WAN VPN performance is 150 Mbps. Cisco's ISR 926 and ISR 927 routers have external power supplies and support a single WAN interface, Category 4 LTE, VDSL2 and ADSL2/2+ high-speed broadband. GE WAN VPN throughput for both devices is 150 Mbps. The high-performance ISR 931 features dual GE WAN and has an internal power supply. VPN performance 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 (SD-WAN) and cloud-based unified threat management in a single compact device able to handle 50 to 200 users. Every MX series appliance must be licensed for the Meraki cloud. For venues having several external network options (e.g., MPLS, broadband, cellular), SD-WAN technology permits admins to specify the WAN interface a given application should use or to build performance-based algorithms to select the preferred connection. Cisco Meraki MX fixed-configuration desktop security appliances share key features that include:
Cisco 1000 Series ISR Branch Routers
Cisco 1000 and 1100 family Integrated Services Routers running Cisco IOS XE internetworking operating system are a selection of fanless appliances intended to provide high-performance network service, wireless support, and multilayer cybersecurity for SMBs, enterprise branch offices, retail outlets, kiosks, and machine-to-machine (M2M) venues. Multiple parallel processing cores and compatibly with Cisco IOS XE enable these routers to deliver capabilities consistent with Cisco's entire line of modern Enterprise routers. 1000 and 1100 family ISR routers are available with 4 or 8 LAN ports and offer Gigabit Ethernet (GE) packet forwarding. Various models include PoE and PoE+, zero-touch provisioning, plus a range of built-in or pluggable connections such as LAN, WAN, WLAN, G.fast DSL, 4G LTE Advanced wireless, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and SFP. Cisco 1000 and 1100 Series ISR routers can be used with Cisco's SD-WAN subscription services for transparent multi-cloud connectivity, multilayer security, and cohesive management across hybrid network models of any complexity.
Cisco's 1RU or desktop 1100-4G ISR router comes with four integrated GE ports, built-in 3G/4G LTE with two LTE antenna SMA connectors, and one micro-SIM slot. Encryption speed is 200 Mbps. The Cisco 1100-6G ISR router also includes two 1G SFP Fiber connections and delivers encryption speed of 520 Mbps. Cisco's desktop ISR 1101-4P router comes with four integrated switched GE connections, offers 802.11ac as well as 3G/4G LTE, and features encryption speed of 280 Mbps. Cisco's ISR 1109-2P/4p desktop routers include two or four built-in switched GE connections and dual pluggable 3G/4G LTE ports. Encryption throughput is 200 Mbps.
The 1RU or desktop 111x-4P/8P ISR routers come with four or eight integrated switched GE connections (two or four with Power over Ethernet) and support VDSL2/ADSL2+, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, 3G/4G LTE wireless, and SFP. Encryption throughput is 280 Mbps. Cisco's 1RU or desktop ISR 1111X-8P router comes with eight built-in GE connections (four with Power over Ethernet) and supports SFP Fiber. Encryption packet processing throughput is 340 Mbps. The ISR 112x-8P router has eight switched GE interfaces with Power over Ethernet and supports SHDSL, VDSL2/ADSL2+, 802.11ac, 3G/4G LTE, and SFP Fiber. Encryption packet processing performance is 340 Mbps. Cisco's ISR 1161X-8P router has eight integrated GE connections with PoE and supports 3G/4G LTE wireless and 1G SFP. Encryption performance is 450 Mbps.
Cisco Catalyst 8000 Series WAN Edge Platforms for SD-WAN and Routing
Cisco Catalyst 8000 Series routers are modular devices intended to work at the WAN edge in support of hybrid network environments that can include multiple public and private clouds and SaaS applications. Catalyst 8000 devices use Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software and offer expandability, intelligent cloud security, and 5G connectivity. Performance is optimized via custom hardware, a multicore architecture, high port capacity, and line-rate encryption. Cisco's subscription software services offer continual access to the latest SD-WAN technology and allow unified management with enhanced security, application-based policies, segmentation, and cloud readiness.
Catalyst 8200 WAN Edge Routers
Cisco Catalyst 8200 Series routers are successors to Cisco's 4300 Series Integrated Services Routers, offering higher IPsec performance and scale, hardware-accelerated encryption, plus greater built-in WAN interface density. These 1RU appliances are built to bring Cisco's Secure Access Service Edge, Software-Defined WAN and 5G-connection technology to enterprise branch offices and the enterprise access edge. The Catalyst C8200L-1N-4T router features four CPU cores, supports 500 Mbps IPsec performance, and allows 1,500 SD-WAN tunnels. The Catalyst 8200L router does not support container-based applications. Cisco's Catalyst C8200-1N-4T router features eight CPU cores, delivers 1Gb IPsec throughput, supports 2,500 SD-WAN tunnels, and enables edge computing with in-place container models. Both appliances come with a Network Interface Module (NIM) slot, a Pluggable Interface Module slot, two 1 Gigabit Ethernet WAN copper interfaces, and two 1G Ethernet WAN Small-Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP) ports. 4-port and 8-port 1 Gigabit Ethernet switch NIM modules are supported by both 8200 models.
Cisco Catalyst 8300 Series WAN Edge Routers
Cisco Catalyst 8300 Series WAN Edge routers are designed to supersede Cisco's 4400 Series ISR Routers, providing Cisco's secure SD-WAN solution to medium-sized and large enterprise branch offices seeking high WAN IPSec throughput combined with cohesive SD-WAN services. Advanced features include 5G wireless connectivity, integrated security, WAN MACSec, integrated enhanced Layer 2 switching, and DPI with application-aware optimization. Catalyst 8300 routers enable edge computing for an existing container architecture for Cisco UCS-E modules available on Cisco's 4000 line of ISR appliances. All versions in the Cisco Catalyst 8300 line support 4,000 SD-WAN tunnels and include backup power supplies for improved availability.
The Catalyst 8300-1N1S-6T router model is a one-rack unit device that includes eight CPU cores and delivers 2G SD-WAN performance and IPsec performance as high as 1.9Gbps. The router comes with one Service Module plug-in slot, one Network Interface Module slot, and six built-in 1-Gigabit Ethernet WAN ports. The Catalyst 8300-2N2S-6T router is a 2RU device that features 8 CPU cores and delivers 2G SD-WAN performance and IPsec performance as high as 1.9Gbps. The unit includes two Service Module expansion slots, two Network Interface Module slots, and six integrated 1-Gigabit Ethernet WAN ports. The Catalyst C8300-1N1S-4T2X router model is a 1RU device that includes eight CPU cores and offers 5G SD-WAN performance and IPsec throughput up to 15Gbps. The device has one one Service Module plug-in slot, a NIM slot, two built-in 10-Gigabit Ethernet WAN ports, and four built-in 1-Gigabit Ethernet WAN ports. The Catalyst C8300-2N2S-4T2X device is a two-rack unit model that includes 12 CPU cores and supports 5G SD-WAN data rates and IPsec data rates up to 18Gbps. The router includes two SM plug-in slots, two NIM slots, two built-in 10-Gigabit Ethernet WAN interfaces, and four fixed 1G 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, one-rack unit aggregation models for SD-WAN and colocation environments. Built-in features include route processor, embedded services processor (ESP), plus aggregation hardware for multiple connection options. IPsec performance is double compared to Cisco's earlier generation ASR1001-X router. Flexible interface alternatives include 1GE, 10GE, 40GE, and 100GE WAN ports. 8500 routers include dual AC or DC power units for enhanced availability. Software subscription suites allow continuing use of Cisco DNA Center Software for SD-WAN and routing and enable centralized management of security, application-aware policies, segmentation, and cloud support.
The Cisco Catalyst C8500L-8S4X Aggregation Edge router is designed to offer the same basic functionality as Cisco's ASR 1000 appliance. The C8500L-8S4X has four 1/10GE WAN ports and offers up to 20 Gbps aggregate data rates. SD-WAN IPsec performance can reach 19Gbps. The Catalyst C8500-12X appliance has 12 built-in 1/10GE WAN interfaces and supports up to 120 Gbps aggregate throughput. SD-WAN IPsec throughput can reach 51 Gbps. The C8500-12X4QC model includes four integrated 1/10GE WAN interfaces and eight 1G interfaces and delivers up to 200 Gbps aggregate throughput. SD-WAN IPsec throughput can reach 68 Gbps.
Cisco ISR Generation 2 Routers
Cisco's ISR G2 routers are intended to provide branch offices of enterprises with advanced collaboration, virtualization, security, and reliable connectivity. ISR G2 routers feature an architecture that preserves past investments in service modules for first-generation Integrated Services Routers and lowers future costs by permitting field upgrades to additional modules as they are developed. In comparison to older ISR routers, Cisco's Integrated Services Generation 2 routers offer 2-7 times more throughput, substantially more, and easier support. All Integrated Services Generation 2 routers offer gigabit switching and include multi-core processors and multigigabit fabric for higher throughput. ISR Generation 2 routers also offer intelligent power control for improved energy conservation.
A major advance with Integrated Services G2 routers is the Cisco IOS Universal image which contains all of the Cisco IOS technology sets so that your company can quickly authorize and deploy new features as required without needing to download and transfer a different IOS image to yourCisco router. Progent's group of CCIE-certified network engineers can provide world-class skills to help you to design, configure, and support multi-site installations of Cisco ISR G2 routers that improve satellite office productivity and cut the price of expansion and support.
Cisco's ISR 800 Series Routers
The 800 Series of ISR routers has been superseded by the faster Cisco ISR 900 family but remains widely deployed. Cisco's comprehensive portfolio of 800 Series ISR routers consists of desktop devices intended for small businesses, branch offices, retail venues, telecommuters, and clients of broadband service providers. A wealth of devices in Cisco's 800 family of routers have been developed with various options for many years. Cisco's 881 line of ISR routers suggests the vast selection of options offered within the Cisco 800 Series line of routers. Various models in Cisco's 881 router portfolio can enable unified media networks by providing IP voice and video, Wi-Fi and cellular 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 ISR routers include duplicate wide area network links or support for landline broadband WAN links like DSL as well as multiple cellular 3G and 4G wireless WAN connections all on a single appliance.
The baseline Cisco 881 router features a 4-port fast Ethernet managed switch that delivers 15 Mbps throughput, support for up to 20 users, two-port integrated PoE, and IPv6 support. Cisco's 881W router includes 802.11g/n Wi-Fi. The 881 SRST router includes 4 FXS ports and 1 FXO port for public-switched-telephone-network (PSTN) fallback with Cisco Survivable Remote Site Telephony (SRST). With a Cisco CUBE feature license, the Cisco 881 ISR router allows SIP trunking to replace outdated Primary Rate Interface (PRI) lines or FXO voice connectivity to a PSTN carrier. SIP trunks also connect remote call agents in Cisco Call Center deployments.
Cisco 4000 Series ISR Routers
Cisco's 4000 Line of ISR Routers are compact modular and scalable routers designed for organizations with multiple branch offices and remote users requiring direct communication with in-house data centers as well as public clouds across VPN tunnels and the Internet. Cisco's 4000 series delivers the bandwidth required for hybrid WAN environments to accommodate mobile workers, cloud services, and multimedia applications by utilizing network optimization, deep packet inspection, and advanced traffic-management techniques. Models in the ISR 4000 product line are powered by Cisco's powerful IOS XE software, come in a 1-rack-unit (RU) or 2RU package, can handle 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. Cisco ISR 4000 models support integrated Gigabit Ethernet, T1/E1, T3/E3, PR1, xDSL and other interfaces. To manage unified communications, Cisco's 400o ISR offers comprehensive edge support technology for SBC, branch telephony survivability, and TDM gateways.
The primary difference between the Cisco 4400 and 4300 Series Routers is dual power supply support in the 4400 ISR Series, offering a greater level of fault tolerance. The 4321 ISR Router comes in a 1 RU desktop form factor with two network interface modules (NIMs), provides up to 100 Mbps performance, and can handle 240 Digital Voice/Video Channels. The 4331 ISR Router comes in a 1 RU package and includes two NIMs, delivers as much as 300 Mbps throughput, and supports 360 Digital Voice/Video Channels. The 4351 ISR Router comes in a 2 RU package with three network interface modules, delivers up to 400 Mbps throughput, and supports 720 Digital Voice/Video Channels. Cisco's dual power supply 4431 ISR Router comes in a 2 RU package and includes three network interface modules, offers as much as 1 Gbps throughput, and supports 720 Digital Voice and Video Channels. The redundant-power 4431 router comes in a 2 RU form factor with three network interface modules, delivers up to 2 Gbps throughput, and supports 1200 Digital Voice and Video Channels.
Cisco's Midrange WAN Aggregation Routers and Service Provider Routers
Cisco's WAN edge and service provider routers can provide enterprises with high-performance, secure head ends to aggregate branch office and off-site data packets and to provide carriers cost-effective wide area network edge routing. Cisco's WAN aggregation and carrier router portfolio includes the ASR 1000 product line and the 9000 Series Aggregation Services family.
Progent's national team of CCIE network experts have in-depth backgrounds helping enterprises and Internet service providers to design efficient installations and smooth expansion of Cisco's WAN edge routers. Progent's GIAC-certified information assurance consultants offer unbiased, independent security inventory assessments, stealth penetration testing and comprehensive SIEM solutions to help companies that use Cisco's Aggregation Services Routers to meet business guidelines and statutory regulations for IT information protection and incident reporting.
Cisco ASR 1000 Series WAN Edge Routers
Cisco's ASR 1000 Series WAN Edge family of routers is positioned in the center of Cisco's midrange products that concentrate on acting as headends at the wide area network edge. Cisco's ASR 1000 Series routers offer a small footprint, single-product solution for enterprises looking for satellite office service aggregation at supergigabit Ethernet speeds. ASR 1000 routers introduce an innovative architecture that combines on-board acceleration with software flexibility in order to deliver a rich set of simultaneous services while preserving consistent responsiveness.
Cisco's ASR 1000 routers feature Cisco's proprietary QuantumFlow Processor incorporating 40 purpose-built Packet Processing Engines (PPEs) that in combination can support as many as 160 simultaneous processor threads. This massive parallelism, combined with on-board acceleration for all services, allows the high-end ASR 1006 WAN Edge router to scale up to 128K queues, 32K subscribers, 4,000 IP security VPN tunnels at 10K sessions/second, and 2 million Netflow log records. This processing power permits ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services routers to deliver a variety of sophisticated services simultaneously in massive volume without suffering performance degradation that might threaten compliance with SLAs. Examples of these services include IOS Firewall, intrusion-detection services, Network Address Translation, FPM, and deep packet inspection. The ASR 1000 also permits sophisticated traffic control for applying multiple levels of Quality of Service to a data packet in a single pass, enhancing the user experience for resource-intensive voice, video, and conferencing applications.
Cisco ASR 9000 Series Aggregation Services Routers
Cisco ASR 9000 Series Aggregation Services Routers are designed as WAN-edge routers for service providers who need to support the highest quality data, voice and video services to home, business, and mobile customers by offering always-on operation, high speed, and application-aware intelligence. All models in the Cisco ASR 9000 Series of Aggregation Services Routers are powered by the IOS XR operating system, a distributed operating system designed for continuous availability. Performance of the Cisco ASR 9000 portfolio of Routers can be expanded up to 96 Tbps per system. Cisco's ASR 9000 Series of Aggregation Services Routers support high-density Gigabit Ethernet, 10 GE, and 100 GE and feature redundant fabric and power modules, power entry modules, plus redundant control planes and switch fabric.
The ASR 9001 platform is a provider-edge router that comes in a 6 RU form factor that delivers 120 Gbps of nonblocking, full-duplex fabric capacity. The Cisco ASR 9001 has two bays to accept adapters for 1 GE, 10 GE, and 40 GE. The chassis has four 10 GE enhanced Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP+) ports as well as ports for GPS clocking, building integrated timing supply, and management. The Cisco ASR 9904 Router comes in a 6 RU chassis and offers dense 10 and 100 GE connections in space-constrained sites. The 4-slot ASR 9094 can scale up to 4 Tbps of capacity in a single box. The Cisco ASR 9912 platform comes in a 30 RU form factor with 10 line-card slots able to handle up to 550 Gbps of switching capacity. The ASR 9912 Router has 2 route CPUs as well as 6+1 Fabric Cards for N+1 redundancy.
Ways Progent Can Assist Your Company to Support Cisco Router Products
Progent's CCIE and CCNP certified engineers can assist your business to design, configure, and manage an integrated network infrastructure that can automate operations, reduce expenses, and accelerate time to positive ROI. By teaming Cisco routers with Catalyst switches expertise and Cisco Catalyst and Meraki Wi-Fi wireless expertise, Progent can significantly increase the strategic value of your connectivity environment. Progent offers on-premises and off-site troubleshooting and can provide data center support throughout the U.S.
To find out more information concerning Progent's consulting support for Cisco networking products, pick a subject: