Cisco Certified Expert Network Consulting

Today's routers ordinarily come with Layer 2 switching capability, and many of today's switches have L3 routing functionality. Routers offered by Cisco, the supplier of 90% of the industry's routers, have improved significantly in function and performance and Cisco now makes an extensive product line that includes routers designed to handle the requirements of users ranging from individual telecommuters to nationwide ISPs.

The most recent Integrated Services Routers released by Cisco have the speed and integrated features to support data voice and video plus virtualization while also offering fault tolerance, web-based administration, seamless extensibility, and enhanced protection. These routers allow your company to establish a firm basis for an IT network that can evolve seamlessly as you hire more workers, establish new offices, deploy new capabilities, extend your network to clients and vendors, and build an expanding mobile user base. Progent's Cisco certified CCIE network consultants can provide fast and affordable online support to help you to plan, configure, manage, update, and troubleshoot Cisco's most advanced routers and can assist you to maintain your older routers or move efficiently to Cisco's current networking products.

Cisco Routers for Home and Small Offices and Branches
Cisco's routers for small organizations and remote offices provide low-cost and reliable entry-level alternatives that allow small groups of workers to share secure access to wide area networks. These fixed-configuration desktop devices include at least four Ethernet ports with wireless options and integrated firewall to provide advanced protection. Built for easy installation, management, and support, Cisco's small business and home routers minimize TCO by lowering equipment and operational expenses. Progent's online support experts have in-depth backgrounds providing fast and economical technical help for small organizations to set up and maintain these routers, and Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE network consultants can help you to determine how Cisco's entry-level routers can add to the strategic value of your information system.

Cisco ISR 900 Series Integrated Services Routers
The Cisco ISR 900 Series desktop routers are small-footprint, quiet, set-configuration devices intended for small to medium-sized businesses, branch offices, and home offices. These value-priced routers include four managed GE switch ports and can support Metro Ethernet, LTE, and DSL WAN connections. Cisco's ISR 900 router product line provides three times the IPsec throughput of Cisco's ISR 800 Series family of routers. All ISR 900 models offer Group Encrypted TransportVPN (GETVPN), DMVPN, FlexVPN, and firewall. VPN throughput is as high as 250 Mbps. All versions allow up to 50 VLANs. Supported dynamic failover protocols for high availability and business continuity include VRRP, Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP), and Multigroup HSRP. Provisioning and management can be done with Cisco Configuration Professional Express, Cisco DNA Center, and Cisco IOS. ISR 900 Series routers do not work with Cisco SD-WAN.

The Cisco ISR 921 router features dual GE WAN, LTE Cat 4, and a built-in power supply. GE WAN VPN performance is 150 Mbps. Cisco's ISR 926 and ISR 927 models include external power supplies and feature a single WAN port, Category 4 LTE, plus VDSL2 and ADSL2/2+ high-speed broadband. GE WAN VPN performance for both devices is 150 Mbps. The high-performance ISR 931 router supports dual GE WAN ports and has an internal power supply. GE WAN VPN throughput is 250 Mbps.

Cisco Meraki MX Series SD-WAN Security Appliances
The Cisco Meraki MX family of desktop routers provide software-defined wide area networking and cloud-hosted unified threat management in one small-footprint appliance able to handle 50 to 200 users. Each MX router must be licensed to the Meraki cloud. For sites with several WAN network connections (e.g., MPLS, broadband, cellular), SD-WAN technology allows admins to specify the WAN interface a given application uses or to build performance-based rules to determine the preferred interface. MX fixed-configuration desktop security appliances share important capabilities including:

• Application and identity-based firewalling
• Content and web search filtering
• PCI-compliant Intrusion Detection and Prevention
• Cisco Advanced Malware Protection with sandboxing
• Load balancing to aggregate multiple WAN links into one fast interface with policy-based Quality of Services, traffic shaping, and failover
• Works with all IPsec VPN devices and services
• USB port for fast 3G/4G failover
• Wi-Fi versions of each model have 802.11ac Wave 2 2x2 MU-MIMO

Cisco 1000 Series ISR Enterprise Branch Routers
Cisco 1000 family Integrated Services Routers (ISRs) running Cisco IOS XE software are a selection of fanless routers intended to deliver high-performance network service, wireless support, and multilayer cybersecurity for small and midsize businesses, enterprise branches, retail outlets, kiosks, and machine-to-machine venues. Parallel processing cores and compatibly with Cisco IOS XE allow these routers to offer features consistent with Cisco's complete line of modern Enterprise routers. 1000 family 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 such as LAN, WAN, WLAN, G.fast DSL, 4G LTE wireless, 802.11 wireless, and SFP Fiber. Cisco 1000 and 1100 Series ISR routers work with Cisco's SD-WAN subscription services for transparent multi-cloud connectivity, advanced cybersecurity, and centralized monitoring and management of hybrid networks.

Cisco's 1RU or desktop 1100-4G ISR router includes four integrated GE ports, integrated 3G/4G LTE with two LTE antenna SMA connectors, and one micro-SIM slot. Encryption packet processing performance is 200 Mbps. The Cisco ISR 1100-6G router also includes two 1G SFP Fiber connections and delivers encryption throughput of 520 Mbps. Cisco's desktop ISR 1101-4P router has four integrated switched GE connections, offers 802.11ac Wi-Fi as well as 3G/4G LTE wireless, and delivers encryption rates of 280 Mbps. The Cisco 1109-2P/4P ISR desktop routers have two or four integrated GE ports and dual pluggable 3G/4G LTE ports. Encryption packet processing speed is 200 Mbps.

The Cisco 1RU or desktop ISR 111x-4P/8P routers come with four or eight built-in switched GE ports (two or four with Power over Ethernet) and support VDSL2/ADSL2+, 802.11ac, 3G/4G LTE wireless, and SFP. Encryption throughput is 280 Mbps. Cisco's 1RU or desktop 1111X-8P ISR router has eight switched GE connections (four with Power over Ethernet) and supports 1G SFP. Encryption performance is 340 Mbps. The 112x-8P ISR router features eight integrated switched GE connections with PoE and supports SHDSL, VDSL2/ADSL2+, 802.11ac, 3G/4G LTE, and SFP Fiber. Encryption speed is 340 Mbps. The Cisco ISR 1161X-8P router features eight switched GE interfaces with Power over Ethernet and provides 3G/4G LTE and 1G SFP. Encryption packet processing performance is 450 Mbps.

Catalyst 8000 Series Branch and WAN Edge Platforms for SD-WAN and Routing
Cisco Catalyst 8000 family of routers are modular devices designed to operate at the enterprise branche and the WAN edge to support hybrid network environments that can include multiple public and private clouds and cloud-hosted applications. Catalyst 8000 routers are powered by Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software and offer scalability, intelligent cloud security, and 5G access. Performance is enhanced via custom silicon, a multicore architecture, high port density, and in-line encryption. Cisco's subscription software services provide continual access to the latest SD-WAN technology and enable unified management with advanced security, application-based policies, network segmentation, and cloud integration.

Cisco Catalyst 8200 Enterprise Edge Routers
Cisco Catalyst 8200 Series routers are upgrades to Cisco's 4300 Series Integrated Services Routers (ISRs), offering higher IPsec throughput and scale, accelerated encryption, plus higher integrated WAN interface density. These 1RU appliances are built to bring Cisco's Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), Software-Defined WAN (SD-WAN) and 5G-interface technology to enterprise branches and the enterprise WAN edge. Cisco's Catalyst C8200L-1N-4T router includes four CPU cores, enables 500 Mbps IPsec traffic, and permits 1,500 SD-WAN tunnels. Cisco's Catalyst 8200L platform does not support container-based apps. Cisco's Catalyst C8200-1N-4T router features eight CPU cores, provides 1Gb IPsec throughput, permits 2,500 SD-WAN tunnels, and enables edge computing with existing container models. Both devices come with a Network Interface Module slot, a Pluggable Interface Module (PIM) slot, two 1G Ethernet WAN ports, and two 1 Gigabit Ethernet WAN SFP interfaces. 4-port and 8-port 1G Ethernet switch NIM modules are supported by both 8200 models.

Cisco Catalyst 8300 Series Enterprise Branch Edge Routers
Cisco Catalyst 8300 WAN Edge routers are intended to supersede Cisco's 4400 family of Integrated Services Routers, providing Cisco's secure SD-WAN technology to medium-sized and large company branches looking for high WAN IPSec throughput combined with integrated SD-WAN services. Advanced features include 5G wireless support, integrated security, WAN MACSec, integrated enhanced Layer 2 switching, and DPI with application optimization. Cisco Catalyst 8300 Series WAN Edge routers support edge computing for an existing container architecture for Cisco UCS-E modules offered on Cisco's 4000 Series ISR appliances. All models in the Catalyst 8300 Series portfolio support 4,000 SD-WAN tunnels and feature backup power supplies for high uptime.

The Catalyst 8300-1N1S-6T router model is a 1RU appliance that features eight CPU cores and offers 2G SD-WAN throughput and IPsec data rates as high as 1.9Gbps. The unit comes with one Service Module expansion slot, a NIM slot, and six integrated 1-Gigabit Ethernet WAN ports. The Catalyst 8300-2N2S-6T device is a 2RU appliance that features 8 CPU cores and offers 2G SD-WAN throughput and IPsec performance of up to 1.9Gbps. The unit includes two Service Module plug-in slots, two Network Interface Module slots, and six integrated 1-Gigabit Ethernet WAN ports. The Cisco Catalyst C8300-1N1S-4T2X router is a one-rack unit appliance that has 8 CPU cores and delivers 5G SD-WAN throughput and IPsec performance up to 15Gbps. The router features one one SM expansion slot, a NIM slot, two built-in 10-Gigabit Ethernet WAN ports, and four built-in 1-Gigabit Ethernet WAN interfaces. The Cisco Catalyst C8300-2N2S-4T2X appliance is a 2RU appliance that features 12 CPU cores and delivers 5G SD-WAN performance and IPsec data rates as high as 18Gbps. The appliance has two Service Module expansion slots, two Network Interface Module slots, two built-in 10-Gigabit Ethernet WAN interfaces, and four integrated 1-Gigabit Ethernet WAN interfaces. LAN expansion modules available from Cisco range from a 4-port 1G Ethernet switch Network Interface Module module to a 50-port Catalyst L2 switch Service Module.

Cisco Catalyst 8500 Series Aggregation Edge Routers
The Catalyst 8500 Aggregation Edge routers are fixed, 1RU aggregation appliances for SD-WAN and colocation environments. Built-in features include route processor, embedded services processor (ESP), and aggregation hardware for multiple connection choices. IPsec throughput is double compared to Cisco's prior generation ASR1001-X aggregation services router. Flexible connectivity options include 1GE to 100 GE WAN interfaces. The routers come with dual power units for improved resilience. Software subscription packages allow ongoing access to Cisco DNA Center Software for SD-WAN and routing and offer unified management of cybersecurity, application-based policies, segmentation, and cloud support.

The Catalyst C8500L-8S4X router is intended to offer a similar key features as Cisco's ASR 1000 router. The C8500L-8S4X comes with four 1/10GE WAN ports and offers up to 20 Gbps Cisco Express Forwarding aggregate performance. SD-WAN IPsec performance is up to 19Gbps. The Catalyst C8500-12X router includes 12 built-in 1/10GE WAN ports and supports up to 120 Gbps Cisco Express Forwarding aggregate data rates. 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 interfaces and can support up to 200 Gbps aggregate throughput. SD-WAN IPsec throughput is up to 68 Gbps. The Catalyst C8500-20X6C router includes 20 built-in SFP+ ports and 6 x 40/100GE interfaces. Cisco's C8500-20X6C supports up to 500 Gbps Cisco Express Forwarding aggregate performance.

Cisco Integrated Services Generation 2 Routers
Cisco's Integrated Services Generation 2 routers are designed to offer branch offices of large businesses with advanced collaboration, virtualization, security, and reliable connectivity. ISR G2 routers introduce a design that preserves prior investments in service modules for older Integrated Services Routers and reduces future expenses by allowing field installation of additional modules when they are developed. Compared to previous Integrated Services Routers, Cisco's ISR G2 routers offer 2-7 times more throughput, substantially greater expandability, and easier support. All Integrated Services G2 routers support GE switching and incorporate multi-core processors and ultra-fast fabric for higher throughput. ISR Generation 2 routers also offer smart power management for better energy efficiency.

A notable innovation with ISR Generation 2 routers is the Cisco IOS Software Universal image which includes all of the Cisco IOS technology sets so that you can quickly authorize and activate new functions as required without needing to acquire and transfer a different IOS image over to yourrouter. Progent's team of Cisco-certified CCIE network engineers can provide world-class skills to assist your business to design, configure, and support multi-location deployments of Cisco ISR G2 routers that enhance satellite office productivity and cut the price of upgrades and maintenance.

Cisco's ISR 800 Family of Routers
The 800 Series of ISR routers has been superseded by the faster Cisco ISR 900 family but remains widely used. Cisco's extensive portfolio of 800 Series ISR routers consists of desktop devices intended for small businesses, branch locations, retail shops, telecommuters, and clients of ISPs. A wealth of models in Cisco's 800 Series product line have been released with many options over the course of many years. The 881 Series of ISR routers exemplifies the wide array of options offered within Cisco's 800 Series product family. Various models in Cisco's 881 router portfolio can support unified media environments by providing IP voice and video, Wi-Fi and cellular wireless and data in one integrated appliance. Built-in data protection can include encryption, VPN, firewall, and URL filtering. For business continuity, available features for 881 ISR routers include duplicate wide area network links or support for wired high-speed WAN links such as DSL plus multiple different 3G and 4G wireless connections all built into one desktop appliance.

The baseline Cisco 881 router has a 4-port fast Ethernet managed switch that delivers 15 Mbps performance, support for up to 20 users, 2-port integrated PoE, and IPv6 support. Cisco's 881W router supports 802.11g/n Wi-Fi. The 881 SRST router features four FXS ports and 1 FXO port for public-switched-telephone-network (PSTN) fallback with Cisco SRST. With a Cisco Unified Border Element (CUBE) feature license, the Cisco 881 ISR router supports SIP trunking to replace legacy Primary Rate Interface (PRI) lines or FXO voice connectivity to a PSTN service provider. CUBE-based SIP trunks can also connect offsite call agents in Cisco Call Center environments.

4000 Series Integrated Services Routers
Cisco's 4000 Series Integrated Services Routers are compact modular and expandable platforms designed for businesses with multiple branch offices and remote workers requiring direct access to private data centers as well as public clouds across VPN tunnels and the Internet. The 4000 series delivers the bandwidth required for distributed enterprise sites to accommodate mobile workers, cloud services, and HD multimedia applications by using network optimization, deep packet inspection, and traffic-management techniques. Devices in Cisco's ISR 4000 Series run Cisco's IOS XE operating system, come in a 1RU or 2RU package, are able to support Up to 2 Gbps of traffic, and can include up to 3 network interface slots, 2 service module slots, 4 integrated Gigabit Ethernet ports, and 8 CPU core server modules. Cisco ISR 4000 models support integrated Gigabit Ethernet, T1/E1, T3/E3, PRI and xDSL. To manage unified communications, the 400o ISR provides extensive edge support technology for policy-enhanced SBC, telephony fault tolerance, and Time Division Multiplexing gateways.

The primary difference between the Cisco 4400 and 4300 Series Routers is redundant power supply capability in the 4400 ISR Series, providing a higher degree of fault tolerance. Cisco's 4321 Integrated Services Router comes in a 1 RU desktop package and includes two network interface modules (NIMs), provides up to 100 Mbps performance, and allows up to 240 Digital Voice/Video Channels. The 4331 model has a 1 RU package and includes two NIMs, provides up to 300 Mbps throughput, and can handle 360 Digital Voice/Video Channels. The 4351 router comes in a 2 RU form factor and includes three network interface modules, offers as much as 400 Mbps throughput, and supports 720 Digital Voice/Video Channels. Cisco's power-redundant 4431 model has a 2 RU package and includes three network interface modules, delivers up to 1 Gbps throughput, and supports 720 Digital Voice and Video Channels. Cisco's fault-tolerant 4431 router has a 2 RU form factor and includes three NIMs, delivers up to 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 service provider routers can provide enterprises with high-performance, protected head ends to manage branch office and off-site traffic and to provide carriers cost-effective wide area network edge solutions. Cisco's WAN aggregation and service provider router portfolio features the ASR 1000 product line and the 9000 Series Aggregation Services family.

Progent's nationwide team of CCIE network consultants have extensive backgrounds working with global businesses and service providers to plan optimal installations and seamless expansion of Cisco's WAN edge routers. Progent's GIAC-certified information assurance consultants offer unbiased, third-party network security inventory evaluations, stealth penetration testing and advanced Security information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions to help companies with Cisco's WAN aggregation routers to meet industry guidelines and statutory regulations for network data protection and incident reporting. Progent also can provide help with Horizon3.ai's NodeZero platform for PEN testing. NodeZero relies on AI technology to streamline the threat assessment cycle of discovering cybersecurity gaps in network perimeters and inside the internal network, recommending repairs, mitigating weaknesses, and verifying fixes.

Cisco ASR 1000 WAN Edge Routers
Cisco's ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services line of routers is positioned in the center of Cisco's midrange devices that concentrate on aggregating services at the WAN edge. ASR 1000 routers provide a small footprint, single-product solution for large businesses who need satellite office aggregation at supergigabit Ethernet speeds. ASR 1000 Aggregation Services routers introduce a revolutionary design that mixes on-board acceleration with software flexibility 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 that together can handle up to 160 concurrent threads. This massive parallelism, combined with on-board acceleration for all services, allows the top-of-the-line ASR 1006 WAN Edge router to expand up to 128 queues, 32,000 clients, 4,000 IP security tunnels at 10K sessions/second, and 2 million Netflow records. This processing capability permits ASR 1000 Aggregation Services routers to support a wide variety of advanced services simultaneously in high volume without suffering throughput degradation that could threaten compliance with SLAs. Examples of these services include IOS Firewall, IPS, NAT, Flexible Packet Matching, and deep packet inspection. The ASR 1000 also permits tiered traffic control for applying multiple levels of Quality of Service to a data packet in a single pass, enhancing responsiveness for resource-intensive multimedia 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 world-class HD multimedia services to home, commercial, and mobile users by offering zero downtime availability, high performance, and application-aware intelligence. All platforms in Cisco's ASR 9000 Series of Routers run the IOS XR, a distributed OS built for continuous uptime. Throughput of Cisco's ASR 9000 family of Routers can scale to as high as 96 Tbps per chassis. 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 control planes and switch fabric.

The Cisco ASR 9001 model is a carrier-edge router in a 6 RU package with 120 Gbps of nonblocking fabric capacity. The ASR 9001 has two bays which can accept adapters for 1 Gigabit, 10 Gigabit, and 40 Gigabit Ethernet. The chassis has four 10 Gbit Ethernet 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 has a 6 RU form factor and provides line-rate 10 and 100 GE connectivity in space-limited sites. The 4-slot router can scale up to 4 Tbps of switching capacity in one box. The ASR 9912 platform has a 30 RU form factor with 10 line-card slots able to support 550 Gbps of switching capacity. The Cisco ASR 9912 includes 2 route processors and 6+1 Fabric Cards to provide N+1 redundancy.

How Progent Can Assist You to Support Cisco Routers
Progent's CCIE and CCNP certified consultants can assist your business to plan, configure, and maintain a converged network infrastructure that can streamline processes, lower costs, and speed time to positive ROI. By combining Cisco integrated services routers with Cisco Catalyst switches support and Catalyst and Meraki Wi-Fi wireless integration, Progent can dramatically enhance the business value of your connectivity environment. Progent can provide on-premises and off-site troubleshooting and offers data center support throughout the U.S.

To learn more details concerning Progent's consulting help for Cisco networking products, pick a subject:

• Overview of Progent's Cisco Expertise
• Fast and Affordable Remote Access to a CCIE Network Engineer
• Cisco Firepower Firewalls: Configuration and Troubleshooting Expertise
• Cisco ASA 5500-X Firewalls with Firepower Services: Configuration and Troubleshooting Support
• Cisco ASA 5500 Firewalls Upgrade. Migration Support
• PIX 500 Series Firewall Management Services
• Cisco Wireless Consulting Support
• Aironet Wireless APs Engineering Help
• Cisco Small Business 100, 300 and 500 WiFi Access Points Deployment Help
• Catalyst Wi-Fi 6/6E Wireless APs Planning, Configuration and Debugging Support
• Cisco WiFi Controllers Integration Consulting
• Cisco Meraki Wireless Access Points Consulting Services
• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM or Unified CM) and CallManager Configuration and Troubleshooting
• Cisco VoIP Phones and IP Video Phones Consulting Services and Cisco Wireless IP Phone Configuration
• Cisco Jabber Consulting and Support Services
• Catalyst Switches Configuration and Maintenance Services
• Cisco Nexus Switches Configuration and Maintenance Services
• Cisco Meraki MS Switches Deployment Services
• Cisco Security and VPN Engineering Services
• SIP and CUBE Infrastructure Solutions: SIP Trunking and Cisco CUBE Integration Consulting
• Cisco Duo MFA Two-factor Authentication Services for Remote Workers
• Design Solutions for Cisco-based Data Centers
• Data Center Design Consulting for Service Providers
• Unified Cloud-based and Hybrid Management Techniques for Cisco-powered Infrastructure