Cisco’s big announcement? A new router

Cisco reminds us that the heart and soul of your business is still the humble router. In this case, perhaps not so humble router.

On Tuesday, the company announced the SRC-3, its Internet router for next generation service providers the world’s largest Internet. Cisco may have publicized the announcement just a little. After a two-week countdown to an announcement stating that “changing the Internet forever,” the company issued what appears to be an upgrade of its existing “core” called the CRS-1 router.

Cisco reminds us that the heart and soul of your business is still the humble router. In this case, perhaps not so humble router.

On Tuesday, the company announced the SRC-3, its Internet router for next generation service providers the world’s largest Internet. Cisco may have publicized the announcement just a little. After a two-week countdown to an announcement stating that “changing the Internet forever,” the company issued what appears to be an upgrade of its existing “core” called the CRS-1 router.

While the hype machine may have failed to deliver something truly revolutionary, Cisco’s announcement is still significant. The new router offers 12 times the traffic capacity of previous generation routers offer. It is three times faster than the previous CRS-1, which was introduced in 2004. And that can handle 322 terabits per second of traffic, or simultaneous video calls to each person in China, the company said.

The new router, which starts at $ 90,000, will be sold to major Internet service providers worldwide. These ISPs are not run-of-the-mill sale of 10 Mbps of broadband services to consumers. These companies, like AT & T, Verizon Communications, Level3, and Sprint, are the providers of Internet services and transportation are added most of the Internet traffic of the nation through what are known as “the backbone Internet. ”

When new Cisco routers are installed, the average bandwidth consumption probably will not notice anything new. But over time, will see the benefits of developed infrastructure. The Cisco CRS-3 will allow these service providers of Internet backbone network to increase capacity so that new applications, especially video-based applications such as HDTV, video and television in 3D, can be offered to mass market.

Cisco, John Chambers, CEO said the new router will serve as the foundation of the next generation Internet will see a large growth due to the source.

“Video is the killer app,” he said. “Video Internet brings to life and most of the devices that come in the network will evolve rapidly in video.”

Chambers said, looking at the devices and applications that were at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January and the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February are a good indicator of things to come in the future. And he said that all these food products on the Internet, the network is loaded with more traffic.

“Whether or video game, tablets or carry ESPN sports television, 3D video is,” he said. Salas added that video traffic, along with other data-intensive applications for things such as health care, require more bandwidth than anyone could have imagined not long ago.

In fact, the new router will play an important role in allowing all sorts of new applications and services to be launched. And as the networks of broadband access faster, more capacity will be needed in the Internet backbone to accommodate the traffic. Many broadband providers are already offering 50 Mbps and 100 Mbps broadband services to consumers. Google also recently announced plans to build networks of ultra high-speed broadband to try new services and applications using 1Gigabit per second speeds. And if history has taught the industry anything, is that when more bandwidth becomes available, applications quickly connects to use. Once consumers begin to use high-capacity applications that require these speeds, infrastructure equipment deep in the Internet backbone will have to be in place to support the flow of traffic.

While the scale and speed of the new CRS-3 is awesome and definitely needs the Internet to a new level of capability, what really “forever change the Internet?” Cisco billed as the ad.

Cisco’s announcement is more of an incremental update of the company’s existing products, the CRS-1. Cisco IP Routing is the bread and butter. No wonder the company has developed a new big router to meet the growing demand for Internet traffic.

Zeus Kerravala, senior vice president of market research firm Yankee Group, agreed. But he said the announcement is still very important for the growth of the Internet and future innovation of new applications.

“There is no way that a routing announcement could live up to the hype that Cisco created,” he said. “But if you look down the road, when consumers want to watch multiple channels of high definition video and 3D programming, and mobile applications such as appeared in 4G wireless networks, companies like Cisco and rival Juniper Networks need to push the routing in terms of engineering. ”

As for consumer strategy at Cisco, who was rumored about this announcement, we are still waiting for a murderer set-top box or some other truly revolutionary product that will change the Internet as we know.

This article was first published as a blog post on CNET News.

Cisco ramps edge routers up to 100Gbps

Cisco has released a new single-slot 16-port 10 Gb Ethernet card for ASR9000 edge router, typically used by service providers such as Deutsche Telekom and Verizon Wireless.

According to Cisco, a 10 Gbps per port for the new card line offers more than 100 Gbps 10GE in total, now users can install up to 320 10 Gb Ethernet ports per system. Cisco claimed the new card is an industry first, which is “faster than any other shipping” available to the module, and “is designed to provide large-scale, non-stop video experience and a reduced carbon footprint.”

The company claimed the new card: the ASR9000 “leads the industry in density and scalability,” because other manufacturers “are limited up to 50Gbps per slot today.”

Cisco has released a new single-slot 16-port 10 Gb Ethernet card for ASR9000 edge router, typically used by service providers such as Deutsche Telekom and Verizon Wireless.

According to Cisco, a 10 Gbps per port for the new card line offers more than 100 Gbps 10GE in total, now users can install up to 320 10 Gb Ethernet ports per system. Cisco claimed the new card is an industry first, which is “faster than any other shipping” available to the module, and “is designed to provide large-scale, non-stop video experience and a reduced carbon footprint.”

The company claimed the new card: the ASR9000 “leads the industry in density and scalability,” because other manufacturers “are limited up to 50Gbps per slot today.”

Cisco ASR 9000 said its line cards “are synce-ready, which means that by nature the work with cell site routers to deliver mobile transfers smoothly.” The company said this eliminates the need for additional cards synchronization.

A key factor behind the demand for capabilities of the card is the growth of video traffic, especially for the Apple iPhone, mobile operators, vendors and analysts see as unlock mobile video demand, although the majority of traffic , according to one analyst firm, comes from laptops and USB devices.

As a result, service providers need to expand its mobile and fixed networks to meet demand video, IPTV and voice traffic, Cisco said.

The company said that “by 2013, the sum of all forms of video such as television, video on demand, Internet video and peer-to-peer will exceed 90 percent of global consumer traffic network … fixed and mobile combined data is expected to grow 66 times over the same period. “

CISCO 805 SERIES SERIAL ROUTER

The Cisco 805 Series Serial Router embedded with the power of Cisco IOS Software technology offers enhanced network security and reliability especially designed for small offices. Small businesses can easily make safe investments in 805 series Serial Router as they provide enhanced security and reliability. Combined with low cost of ownership this particular series of serial router enables customers to benefit from increased productivity, simplified communication and reduced costs. The Cisco 805 Serial Router also provides customers with different value-added services such as Managed Network Services, Virtual Private Networks, Point-of-Sale applications and last but not the least secure Internet access.

Benefits – Taking advantage of its expertise and leadership in Internet solutions, Cisco 805 Series Serial Router offers excellent small-office routing solutions that provide secure and reliable access to the Internet or corporate networks. Multiple users can get Internet access through this series of router.

Continue reading “CISCO 805 SERIES SERIAL ROUTER”

Find the best Cisco router for your needs

With Cisco’s router lineup changing so often, it can be difficult to stay up to date. What are the current models of routers, and which router would you use for which situations?

What’s missing from the lineup?

For those of us who have been working with Cisco routers for some time, a number of the most well-known routers are missing from the current lineup. Cisco discontinued the 2600 and 3600 Series routers a while ago. For the remote branch office and SMB market, these routers were always the workhorse of the Cisco router lineup.

Continue reading “Find the best Cisco router for your needs”

benefits of Cisco 2800 Series routers

The Cisco 2800 Series is the replacement for the 2600 Series. In my opinion, the biggest advantage to the Cisco 2800 Series is its versatility; you can use a 2800 Series router in a small, midsize, or large organization. For most network administrators, I think the determining factor is the number and types of interfaces and not necessarily the throughput of the router.

The 2800 Series is the first router in the Cisco product line that supports network modules. This means that if there is a network module that you require for your topology or application, the 2800 Series is the least expensive Cisco router (that’s currently available) that you can install it into.

The Cisco 2800 Series is the replacement for the 2600 Series. In my opinion, the biggest advantage to the Cisco 2800 Series is its versatility; you can use a 2800 Series router in a small, midsize, or large organization. For most network administrators, I think the determining factor is the number and types of interfaces and not necessarily the throughput of the router.

There are four models in the Cisco 2800 Series:

2801: 2 DSP, 2FE, 2HWIC, 2VWIC/VIC, 0NME (Network Module Enhanced), 1Rack unit (RU)
2811: 2 DSP, 2FE, 2HWIC, 4 HWIC, 1NME, 1RU
2821: 3 DSP, 2GE, 2HWIC, 4 HWIC, 1NME or 1NME-X, 2RU
2851: 3 DSP, 2GE, 2HWIC, 4 HWIC, 1NME or NMD/NME-X/NME-XD, 2RU
(Cisco Systems provides a 2800 model comparison on its site.)

The 2800 Series is the first router in the Cisco product line that supports network modules. This means that if there is a network module that you require for your topology or application, the 2800 Series is the least expensive Cisco router (that’s currently available) that you can install it into.

The 2800 Series supports a slew of Cisco interfaces and models. In a Cisco 2800 Series router, you can install a range of network modules, which include the following:

36 port Ethernet switch with PoE
32 port async
8 port voice/fax module
Content engine with hard drive
Cisco Intrusion Prevention System (IPS)
Cisco Unity Express (voicemail)
Cisco Network Analysis Module (NAM)
3G cellular WAN interface card
Wireless LAN controller
IP VSAT module
802.11a/b/g WLAN module
8 port HWIC module (to add 8 more HWIC cards)
For example, in a 2821 router, I could install 2 x 32 port Cisco Ethernet switch modules with PoE and use this router as a 64 port switch.

The 2800 Series supports the Cisco IOS, which provides options security (like the integrated stateful firewall), the Cisco Security Device Manager (SDM), 1500 VPN tunnels, Gig Ethernet, and redundant power (except for the 2801 router).

Why we bought the Cisco 2800 Series

At my company, we still have a lot of Cisco 2600 and 3600 Series routers. While not all my sites needed the power of these routers, we needed to use a network module card, and these router models were the first in the Cisco product line that supported those network modules. Specifically, we use NM-16A & NM-32A asynchronous serial modules to support serial devices at each location. The Cisco 2600 Series routers don’t have the CPU and RAM to support the latest IOS and to handle the current network traffic load. (Note: The last date to receive service and support for a 2600 Series is April 28, 2008.)

In my case, the Cisco 2800 Series is the ideal replacement for almost all our routers. We have been purchasing 2811 Series routers, installing a HWIC T1 card for MPLS WAN connectivity, and replacing existing routers at remote sites. We added a NM-16A or NM-32A modules to support the needs of our async devices. I have seen cases where putting in a 2800 Series immediately improved the performance for that remote location.

While I might be able to use a smaller router like an 1800, I need the NM slot from the 2800 Series, and I like the flexibility and power that the 2800 Series offers. Like the 2600 and 3600 Series routers, the 2800 Series has been extremely reliable; so far, not one 2800 Series has failed.

A downside to the Cisco 2800 Series is that it is loud. When I turned it on to configure it in my office, I couldn’t hear my coworkers or my phone.

Conclusion

If you are in the market for a new router (perhaps you’re looking to replace your aging 2600 and 3600 Series routers), I recommend taking a look at the Cisco 2800 Series. Based on my personal use, the Cisco 2800 Series is another rock solid router from Cisco that, like the 2600 and 3600 Series, will serve network admins for years to come.

The real case for the Cisco 2800 Series is that it offers a completely improved package: better performance, solid reliability, versatility of use, and a plethora of WAN interfaces and network modules that you can use to expand it. Also, since the 2600 Series will no longer be supported, the time to replace those routers with the 2800 is now.