Generally, routers depend on processors to forward data using sophisticated algorithms, offering intelligence at the expense of speed. Switches, on the other hand, rely upon largely fixed hardware configurations to move data at the fastest possible speed. Today's routers usually incorporate L2 switches, and many of today's switches include L3 routing capability. Routers offered by Cisco, the source of 90% of the world's routers, have advanced significantly in function and speed and Cisco now offers a comprehensive product line that features routers designed to handle the needs of customers from individual telecommuters to nationwide service providers.
The most recent Integrated Services Routers released by Cisco offer the speed and built-in functionality to manage data voice and video plus virtual environments while at the same time providing fault tolerance, web-based management, easy expandability, and enhanced security and compliance. These routers allow you to establish a solid basis for an information network that can grow smoothly as you hire new employees, establish new offices, activate new capabilities, extend your network to clients and vendors, and support an expanding mobile workforce. Progent's Cisco qualified CCIE network engineers offer fast and economical remote expertise to help your company to plan, deploy, administer, update, and support Cisco's latest routers and can assist you to support your older routers or migrate efficiently to Cisco's current networking products.
Cisco Routers Designed for Home Offices and Small Offices and Branches
Cisco's routers for smaller organizations and branch offices offer low-cost and reliable no-frills solutions that enable small sets of workers to have safe access to the Internet. All these fixed-configuration desktop routers include at minimum four 10/100 Ethernet ports with Wi-Fi options plus integrated firewall for advanced security. Built for simple installation, management, and troubleshooting, Cisco's small business and home routers minimize total cost of ownership by cutting equipment and maintenance expenses. Progent's online troubleshooting experts have extensive backgrounds delivering fast and economical technical assistance for small companies to set up and support these devices, and Progent's CCIE network consultants can assist you to understand whether and how Cisco's small office routers can increase the business value of your information network.
ISR 900 Series Routers
Cisco's ISR 900 Series routers are compact, quiet, fixed-configuration appliances intended for SMBs, branches, and home offices. These entry-level routers include four managed GE switch ports and can support Metro Ethernet, LTE, and DSL WAN connections. Cisco's ISR 900 router product line delivers three times the IPsec performance of the ISR 800 Series routers. All ISR 900 models feature GETVPN, dynamic multipoint virtual private network VPN (DMVPN), FlexVPN, and firewall. VPN throughput is as high as 250 Mbps. All versions allow up to 50 VLANs. Supported automatic failover protocols for high availability and business continuity include Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP), Hot Standby Router Protocol, and Multigroup HSRP. Provisioning and management can be done with Cisco Configuration Professional Express, Cisco DNA Center, and Cisco IOS. ISR 900 Series devices do not work with Cisco's SD-WAN solution.
Cisco's ISR 921 router features dual GE WAN, Category 4 LTE, and an internal power supply. GE WAN VPN throughput is 150 Mbps. Cisco's ISR 926 and ISR 927 models use external power and feature a single WAN interface, LTE Cat 4, VDSL2 and ADSL2/2+. GE WAN VPN throughput for both devices is 150 Mbps. The top-of-the-line ISR 931 features 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 software-defined wide area networking and cloud-based unified threat management in a single compact appliance able to handle 50 to 200 users. Each MX router 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 assign the WAN interface a given app uses or to build performance-based algorithms to select the appropriate interface. MX fixed-configuration desktop security appliances share important capabilities that include:
Cisco 1000 Series ISR Enterprise Branch Routers
Cisco 1000 and 1100 Series Integrated Services Routers (ISRs) using Cisco IOS XE software are a selection of fanless appliances intended to provide high-performance network connectivity, wireless support, and advanced security for small and midsize businesses, enterprise branches, retail stores, kiosks, and machine-to-machine (M2M) venues. Multiple parallel processing cores and compatibly with Cisco IOS XE allow these routers to deliver features consistent with Cisco's entire line of modern Enterprise routers. 1000 Series ISR routers are offered with 4 or 8 LAN ports and provide Gigabit Ethernet packet forwarding. Various models include Power over Ethernet (PoE) and PoE+, zero-touch provisioning, plus a selection of integrated or pluggable options including LAN, WAN, wireless LAN, SHDSL, 4G LTE Advanced wireless, 802.11ac wireless, and SFP. Cisco 1000 and 1100 family ISR routers work with Cisco's SD-WAN services for seamless multiple-cloud access, multilayer security, and cohesive monitoring and management across hybrid network models.
Cisco's 1RU or desktop ISR 1100-4G router includes four built-in GE WAN/LAN ports, built-in 3G/4G LTE with two LTE antenna SMA connectors, and a micro-SIM slot. Encryption throughput is 200 Mbps. The Cisco 1100-6G ISR router adds two 1G SFP ports and delivers encryption performance of 520 Mbps. Cisco's desktop ISR 1101-4P router has four built-in GE ports, supports 802.11ac and 3G/4G LTE, and features encryption speed of 280 Mbps. The ISR 1109-2P/4p desktop routers have two or four built-in GE ports and two pluggable 3G/4G LTE wireless ports. Encryption packet processing throughput is 200 Mbps.
The Cisco rackmount or desktop ISR 111x-4P/8P routers include four or eight built-in switched GE interfaces (two or four provide Power over Ethernet) and support VDSL2/ADSL2+, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, 3G/4G LTE wireless, and 1G SFP. Encryption rate is 280 Mbps. Cisco's 1RU or desktop ISR 1111X-8P router includes eight GE ports (four with POE) and a port for SFP Fiber. Encryption throughput is 340 Mbps. The ISR 112x-8P router has eight integrated switched GE ports with PoE and supports SHDSL, VDSL2/ADSL2+, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, 3G/4G LTE, and 1G SFP. Encryption rate is 340 Mbps. The ISR 1161X-8P router includes eight integrated GE interfaces with PoE and supports 3G/4G LTE and SFP Fiber. Encryption speed is 450 Mbps.
Cisco Catalyst 8000 Series WAN Edge Platforms for SD-WAN and Routing
Cisco Catalyst 8000 family of routers are modular appliances intended to work at the WAN edge to support hybrid network environments that can include multiple public and private clouds and cloud-hosted applications. Catalyst 8000 devices use Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software and offer expandability, advanced cloud security, and 5G connectivity. Throughput is optimized using purpose-built hardware, a multicore architecture, high port density, and in-line encryption. Cisco's subscription software suites provide continual access to current SD-WAN technology and enable unified management with enhanced security, application-optimized policies, segmentation, and cloud readiness.
Cisco Catalyst 8200 Series WAN Edge Routers
Cisco Catalyst 8200 routers are upgrades to Cisco's 4300 Series Integrated Services Routers (ISRs), offering higher IPsec performance and scale, accelerated encryption, plus higher built-in WAN port density. These one-rack unit appliances are built to bring Cisco's Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), Software-Defined WAN and 5G-connection technology to enterprise branches and the enterprise access edge. Cisco's Catalyst C8200L-1N-4T router includes four CPU cores, enables 500 Mbps IPsec throughput, and allows 1,500 SD-WAN tunnels. The Catalyst 8200L platform does not support container-based apps. The Catalyst C8200-1N-4T model features eight CPU cores, delivers 1Gb IPsec performance, permits 2,500 SD-WAN tunnels, and enables edge computing with existing container architectures. Both appliances include a Network Interface Module (NIM) slot, a Pluggable Interface Module slot, two 1 Gigabit Ethernet WAN copper ports, and two 1G Ethernet WAN SFP ports. 4-port and 8-port 1G Ethernet switch NIM modules are supported by both 8200 models.
Catalyst 8300 WAN Edge Routers
Cisco Catalyst 8300 Series WAN Edge routers are designed to supersede Cisco's 4400 family of Integrated Services Routers, providing Cisco's secure SD-WAN architecture to medium-sized and large enterprise branches seeking high WAN IPSec throughput with cohesive SD-WAN services. Advanced features include 5G wireless connectivity, built-in security, WAN MACSec, integrated enhanced Layer 2 switching, and Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) with application optimization. Cisco Catalyst 8300 WAN Edge routers support edge computing for an existing container environment for Cisco UCS-E modules available on Cisco's 4000 line of ISR routers. All models in the Cisco Catalyst 8300 Series line allow 4,000 SD-WAN tunnels and feature dual power supplies for high uptime.
The Cisco Catalyst 8300-1N1S-6T router model is a one-rack unit device that features 8 CPU cores and offers 2G SD-WAN performance and IPsec data rates as high as 1.9Gbps. The router includes one SM plug-in slot, a NIM slot, and six built-in 1-Gigabit Ethernet WAN ports. The Catalyst 8300-2N2S-6T appliance is a 2RU device that includes 8 CPU cores and delivers 2G SD-WAN performance and IPsec performance of up to 1.9Gbps. The appliance includes two Service Module plug-in slots, two Network Interface Module slots, and six integrated 1G Ethernet WAN interfaces. The Catalyst C8300-1N1S-4T2X router model is a 1RU device that includes eight CPU cores and delivers 5G SD-WAN throughput and IPsec throughput as high as 15Gbps. The unit has one one Service Module expansion slot, one NIM slot, two built-in 10-Gigabit Ethernet WAN interfaces, and four fixed 1-Gigabit Ethernet WAN ports. The Cisco Catalyst C8300-2N2S-4T2X router is a 2RU router that includes 12 CPU cores and supports 5G SD-WAN throughput and IPsec performance up to 18Gbps. The device includes two SM plug-in slots, two Network Interface Module slots, two integrated 10-Gigabit Ethernet WAN ports, and four fixed 1-Gigabit Ethernet WAN ports. LAN modules modules offered by Cisco range from a 4-port 1G Ethernet switch Network Interface Module module to a 50-port Catalyst L2 switch Service Module.
Catalyst 8500 Series Aggregation Edge Routers
The Catalyst 8500 Series Aggregation Edge routers are fixed form factor, one-rack unit aggregation appliances for SD-WAN and colocation deployments. Built-in features include route processor, embedded services processor (ESP), and aggregation hardware for multiple connection choices. IPsec performance is twice that of Cisco's earlier generation ASR1001-X aggregation services router. Flexible connectivity alternatives include 1GE, 10GE, 40GE, and 100GE WAN ports. The 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, segmentation, and cloud support.
The Catalyst C8500L-8S4X Aggregation Edge router is intended to provide a similar basic functionality as Cisco's ASR 1000 router. The C8500L-8S4X comes with four 1/10GE WAN ports and delivers up to 20 Gbps aggregate throughput. SD-WAN IPsec performance can reach 19Gbps. The Catalyst C8500-12X router features 12 built-in 1/10GE WAN ports and delivers as high as 120 Gbps Cisco Express Forwarding aggregate data rates. SD-WAN IPsec performance is up to 51 Gbps. The C8500-12X4QC aggregation router includes four built-in 1/10GE WAN ports and eight 1GE ports and can support up to 200 Gbps aggregate performance. SD-WAN IPsec throughput is up to 68 Gbps.
Cisco ISR G2 Routers
Cisco's Integrated Services G2 routers are intended to offer satellite offices of enterprises with advanced collaboration, virtualization, protection, and reliable connectivity. Integrated Services G2 routers feature an architecture that protects past investments in service modules for older ISR routers and lowers down-the-line expenses by permitting field installation of new modules when they become available. Compared to previous Integrated Services Routers, Cisco's ISR Generation 2 routers feature 2-7 times higher performance, far more, and easier maintenance. All ISR Generation 2 routers offer Gbit switching and incorporate multi-core CPUs and multigigabit fabric for faster performance. ISR G2 routers also support smart power control for better energy efficiency.
A key innovation with ISR Generation 2 routers is the Cisco IOS Universal image which includes all of the Cisco IOS feature sets so that your company can quickly authorize and deploy new services when desired without needing to acquire and transfer a new IOS Software image to yourrouter. Progent's team of CCIE network consultants can provide proven expertise to assist your business to design, implement, and maintain multi-location installations of Cisco ISR G2 routers that enhance branch office efficiency and cut the costs of upgrades 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 is still widely deployed. Cisco's comprehensive portfolio of 800 Series ISR routers is made up of desktop appliances intended for small organizations, branch locations, retail shops, teleworkers, and clients of ISPs. Many models in the 800 Series family of routers have been developed with various options over the course of many years. Cisco's 881 line of ISR routers suggests the vast selection of options offered within Cisco's 800 Series line of routers. Various models in Cisco's 881 Series router catalog can enable converged media environments by providing voice and video, Wi-Fi and cellular wireless and data in one integrated router and switch. Built-in data protection can include encryption, VPN tunneling, firewall, and URL filtering. For survivability, available features for Cisco 881 routers include redundant wide area network links or support for wired broadband WAN links like DSL plus multiple different cellular 3G and 4G wireless connections all built into one desktop appliance.
The baseline Cisco 881 router includes a 4-port 10/100-Mbps managed switch with up to 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 4 FXS ports and 1 FXO port for public-switched-telephone-network (PSTN) fallback with Cisco Survivable Remote Site Telephony. With a Cisco Unified Border Element (CUBE) license, Cisco's 881 ISR router supports SIP trunk connectivity to replace outdated PRI lines or FXO voice connectivity to a PSTN service provider. CUBE-based SIP trunks can also connect remote call agents in Cisco Call Center deployments.
4000 Series ISR Routers
The Cisco 4000 Series ISR Routers are modular and expandable platforms intended for organizations with a large number of branches and offsite users who need direct access to in-house data centers and public clouds across VPN tunnels and the Internet. Cisco's 4000 series provides the throughput needed for distributed enterprise sites to support mobile users, Cloud-based services, and HD multimedia applications by using WAN optimization, deep packet inspection, and advanced traffic-management technology. Models in Cisco's ISR 4000 product line are powered by Cisco's IOS XE operating system, come in a 1RU or 2RU form factor, are able to support as much as 2 Gbps of throughput, and can have up to 3 network interface slots, 2 service module slots, 4 integrated Gigabit Ethernet switches, and 8 CPU core server modules. Cisco ISR 4000 models support integrated Gigabit Ethernet, T1/E1, T3/E3, PR1, xDSL and other interfaces. To manage unified communications, the 400o ISR offers extensive edge support technology for SBC, branch telephony survivability, and Time Division Multiplexing gateways.
The primary difference between the Cisco 4400 and 4300 Series is dual power supply support in the 4400 ISR Series, offering a greater degree of fault tolerance. Cisco's 4321 Integrated Services Router comes in a 1 RU desktop package and includes two network interface modules, offers as much as 100 Mbps throughput, and supports 240 Digital Voice/Video Channels. The 4331 ISR Router has a 1 RU form factor with two network interface modules, delivers up to 300 Mbps throughput, and allows up to 360 Digital Voice/Video Channels. The 4351 Integrated Services Router comes in a 2 RU form factor with three NIMs, delivers up to 400 Mbps performance, and supports 720 Digital Voice and Video Channels. The dual power supply 4431 model comes in a 2 RU form factor and includes three NIMs, provides as much as 1 Gbps throughput, and allows up to 720 Digital Voice and Video Channels. The fault-tolerant 4431 ISR Router comes in a 2 RU form factor and includes three network interface modules, delivers as much as 2 Gbps throughput, and allows up to 1200 Digital Voice and Video Channels.
Cisco's WAN Edge Routers and Service Provider Routers
Cisco's midrange and service provider routers can provide enterprises with fast, secure head ends to aggregate branch office and remote user data packets and to offer carriers cost-optimized WAN edge routing. Cisco's WAN aggregation and carrier router portfolio includes the ASR 1000 routers and the 9000 Series Aggregation Services routers.
Progent's national team of Cisco CCIE certified network experts have extensive experience working with enterprises and service providers to design efficient deployments and seamless upgrades of Cisco's WAN edge routers. Progent's GIAC-certified information assurance experts can provide unbiased, third-party network security inventory evaluations, penetration services and advanced Security information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions to help enterprises that use Cisco's WAN aggregation routers to comply with industry guidelines and government regulations for network information protection and incident reporting.
Cisco ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services Routers
Cisco's ASR 1000 WAN Edge family of routers is positioned in the middle of Cisco's midrange routers that focus on aggregating services at the WAN edge. Cisco's ASR 1000 WAN Edge routers offer a small footprint, multi-function answer for large businesses looking for branch office aggregation at supergigabit Ethernet performance. ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services routers introduce a revolutionary design that combines hardware acceleration with software flexibility in order to offer a rich set of concurrent services while preserving consistent responsiveness.
ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services routers feature Cisco's new QuantumFlow Processor made up of 40 purpose-built Packet Processing Engines that in combination can handle as many as 160 concurrent processor threads. This parallel CPU architecture, in conjunction with on-board acceleration for all services, allows the high-end ASR 1006 router to expand up to 128 queues, 32,000 subscribers, 4K IPsec tunnels at 10K sessions per second, and 2M Netflow log records. This CPU power permits ASR 1000 WAN Edge routers to deliver a wide variety of sophisticated services simultaneously in massive volume without suffering throughput decay that might violate compliance with SLAs. These services include Cisco IOS Firewall, IPS, Network Address Translation, Flexible Packet Matching, and in-line deep packet inspection. The ASR 1000 also permits sophisticated traffic control for performing numerous levels of Quality of Service to a packet in one operation, improving responsiveness for high-bandwidth multimedia applications.
Cisco ASR 9000 Series Aggregation Services Routers
Cisco's ASR 9000 Series Routers are intended as edge routers for carriers who need to deliver the highest quality HD multimedia services to home, business, and mobile users by providing always-on availability, high speed, and application awareness. All models in Cisco's ASR 9000 portfolio of Aggregation Services Routers run Cisco's IOS XR, a distributed OS designed for non-stop uptime. Performance of Cisco's ASR 9000 line of Routers can scale to as high as 96 Tbps per system. the ASR 9000 Series of Aggregation Services Routers can handle high-density Gigabit Ethernet, 10 GE, and 100 GE and have fully redundant fabric and power supply, power entry modules, plus redundant switch fabric.
The ASR 9001 model is a carrier-edge router that comes in a 6 RU form factor with 120 Gbps of nonblocking fabric performance. The Cisco ASR 9001 has two bays to accept port adapters for 1 Gigabit, 10 Gigabit, and 40 Gigabit Ethernet. The chassis includes four 10 GE enhanced Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP+) ports and 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 connections in space-constrained environments. The 4-slot router can support up to 4 Tbps of capacity in one box. The Cisco ASR 9912 Router has a 30 RU form factor with 12 slots slots that can support 550 Gbps of switching capacity. The Cisco ASR 9912 incorporates 2 route CPUs and 6+1 Fabric Cards to provide N+1 redundancy.
How Progent's Consultants Can Assist Your Business with Cisco Routers
Progent's CCIE Certified engineers can help you to plan, setup, and support an integrated business network that can simplify operations, lower expenses, and speed the path to positive ROI. By teaming Cisco integrated services routers with Catalyst switches expertise and Cisco Aironet wireless expertise, Progent can significantly enhance the strategic value of your network infrastructure. Progent can provide in-person and remote help and offers data center support throughout and select cities nationwide.
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