Cisco Certified Network Consulting and Support

Today's routers typically come with Layer 2 switches, and many modern switches include L3 routing functionality. Routers offered by Cisco, the producer of 90% of the world's routers, have improved dramatically in capability and performance and Cisco makes an extensive product line that includes routers designed to meet the needs of users from households to the world's largest service providers.

The latest ISR routers released by Cisco offer the speed and built-in functionality to support IP voice and video as well as virtual environments while at the same time providing high availability, web-based administration, seamless expandability, and enhanced protection. These routers enable your company to establish a solid basis for an information environment that can grow seamlessly as you add more employees, establish new sites, configure new functions, extend your network to customers and partners, and build an an increasingly mobile workforce. Progent's Cisco CCIE network consultants can provide fast and economical online support to help your company to plan, configure, administer, update, and support Cisco's most advanced routers and can assist you to support your older routers or move efficiently to Cisco's current router products.

Cisco Routers for Home and Small Offices and Branch Offices
Cisco's routers for small companies and remote offices offer affordable and dependable no-frills alternatives that enable limited groups of users to have secure connectivity to wide area networks. These single-configuration desktop devices include at least four switched Ethernet with Wi-Fi options and integrated firewall to provide enhanced protection. Designed for easy setup, management, and troubleshooting, Cisco's entry-level routers minimize ownership costs by cutting equipment and maintenance investments. Progent's online troubleshooting experts have in-depth backgrounds providing fast and economical technical assistance for small businesses to set up and maintain these routers, and Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE network engineers can help your company to understand how Cisco's entry-level routers can add to the business value of your IT network.

Cisco ISR 900 Series Integrated Services Routers
Cisco's ISR 900 Series desktop routers are small-footprint, quiet, set-configuration appliances intended for small to medium-sized businesses, branches, and home offices. These entry-level routers have four GE LAN ports and offer Metro Ethernet, LTE, and DSL WAN connections. Cisco's ISR 900 router family provides three times the IPsec performance of Cisco's ISR 800 Series routers. All ISR 900 models offer Group Encrypted Transport VPN, DMVPN, Cisco FlexVPN, and firewall. VPN performance is as high as 250 Mbps. All versions allow up to 50 VLANs. Supported dynamic failover protocols for business continuity include Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol, HSRP, and MHSRP. Setup and management can be performed with Cisco CP Express, Cisco DNA Center, and Cisco IOS Software. Cisco ISR 900 Series devices do not work with Cisco's SD-WAN solution.

The Cisco ISR 921 router comes with dual GE WAN, Category 4 LTE, and a built-in power supply. VPN throughput is 150 Mbps. Cisco's ISR 926 and ISR 927 models have external power and support a single WAN port, LTE Cat 4, plus VDSL2 and ADSL2/2+. VPN throughput for both routers is 150 Mbps. The top-of-the-line ISR 931 router supports dual GE WAN 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 line of desktop routers provide SD-WAN and cloud-based unified threat management (UTM) in a single compact device able to handle 50 to 200 users. Every MX router must be licensed to the Meraki cloud. For venues having several external network options (e.g., MPLS, broadband, cellular), SD-WAN technology permits administrators to assign the WAN connection an app uses or to build performance-based algorithms to determine the appropriate interface. MX fixed-configuration desktop routers share key capabilities that include:

• App and ID-based firewalling
• Content and web search filtering
• PCI-compliant Intrusion Detection and Prevention
• Advanced Malware Protection (AMP) with sandboxing
• Load balancing to aggregate multiple WAN links into one high-speed connection 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 have 802.11ac Wave 2 2x2 MU-MIMO

Cisco 1000 and 1100 Family ISR Branch Routers
Cisco 1000 and 1100 Series Integrated Services Routers (ISRs) running Cisco IOS XE internetworking operating system are a selection of fanless appliances intended to provide high-performance network service, wireless support, and multilayer security for small and midsize businesses, enterprise branches, retail stores, kiosks, and machine-to-machine (M2M) environments. Parallel processing cores and the ability to run Cisco IOS XE software enable these routers to offer capabilities consistent with Cisco's entire family of Enterprise routers. 1000 Series ISR models are available with 4 or 8 LAN ports and offer 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, wireless LAN, VDSL2/ADSL2+, LTE Advanced wireless, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and SFP Fiber. Cisco 1000 family ISR models work with Cisco's SD-WAN services for seamless multiple-cloud connectivity, multilayer security, and cohesive management across hybrid networks.

Cisco's rackmount or desktop 1100-4G ISR router includes four integrated GE WAN/LAN 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 ports and features encryption speed of 520 Mbps. Cisco's desktop 1101-4P ISR router comes with four built-in GE ports, supports 802.11ac and 3G/4G LTE wireless, and delivers encryption performance of 280 Mbps. The 1109-2P/4P ISR desktop routers have two or four integrated GE interfaces and dual pluggable 3G/4G LTE wireless ports. Encryption packet processing speed is 200 Mbps.

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

Catalyst 8000 Series Branch and WAN Edge Platforms for SD-WAN and Routing
Cisco Catalyst 8000 line of routers are modular devices designed to operate at the enterprise branche and 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 access. Performance is enhanced using purpose-built 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 allow unified management with advanced security, application-optimized policies, network segmentation, and cloud readiness.

Cisco Catalyst 8200 Series Enterprise Branch Edge Routers
Catalyst 8200 Series routers are upgrades to Cisco's 4300 Series Integrated Services Routers, delivering higher IPsec performance and expandability, accelerated crypto, plus greater built-in WAN interface density. These one-rack unit routers are designed to provide Cisco's SASE, Software-Defined WAN and 5G-connection technology to enterprise branch offices and the enterprise access edge. The Catalyst C8200L-1N-4T model features four CPU cores, supports 500 Mbps IPsec traffic, and allows 1,500 SD-WAN tunnels. Cisco's Catalyst 8200L platform does not support container-based apps. The Catalyst C8200-1N-4T model includes eight CPU cores, delivers 1Gb IPsec throughput, supports 2,500 SD-WAN tunnels, and enables edge computing with existing container models. Both devices include one Network Interface Module (NIM) slot, one Pluggable Interface Module (PIM) slot, two 1G Ethernet WAN copper ports, and two 1 Gigabit Ethernet WAN Small-Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP) interfaces. Four-port and eight-port 1 Gigabit Ethernet switch NIM modules are supported by both 8200 models.

Catalyst 8300 Series Enterprise Branch Edge Routers
Catalyst 8300 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 company branch offices looking for high WAN IPSec performance combined with integrated SD-WAN services. Enhanced capabilities include 5G wireless support, integrated security, WAN MACSec, integrated enhanced Layer 2 switching, and DPI with application optimization. Cisco Catalyst 8300 Series routers enable edge computing for an existing container environment for Cisco UCS-E modules offered on Cisco's 4000 Series ISR appliances. All versions in the Cisco Catalyst 8300 Series line allow 4,000 SD-WAN tunnels and feature backup power supplies for improved uptime.

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

Cisco Catalyst 8500 Aggregation Edge Routers
The Catalyst 8500 Aggregation Edge routers are fixed, one-rack unit aggregation appliances for SD-WAN and colocation environments. Integrated features include route processor, ESP, and aggregation hardware for various interfaces and connectivity options. IPsec performance is double compared to Cisco's prior generation ASR1001-X router. Flexible interface options include 1GE, 10GE, 40GE, and 100GE WAN ports. The routers include dual AC or DC power supplies for enhanced resilience. Software subscription packages allow continuing use of Cisco DNA Center Software for SD-WAN and routing and offer unified management of security, application-based policies, segmentation, and cloud connectivity optimization.

The Catalyst C8500L-8S4X router is designed to offer the same basic functionality as Cisco's ASR 1000 appliance. The C8500L-8S4X includes four 1/10GE WAN interfaces and delivers as high as 20 Gbps aggregate data rates. SD-WAN IPsec throughput is up to 19Gbps. The Catalyst C8500-12X router features 12 integrated 1/10GE WAN interfaces and supports up to 120 Gbps aggregate data rates. SD-WAN IPsec throughput can reach 51 Gbps. The C8500-12X4QC aggregation router comes with four integrated 1/10GE WAN interfaces and eight 1G interfaces and delivers up to 200 Gbps aggregate performance. SD-WAN IPsec performance can reach 68 Gbps. The Catalyst C8500-20X6C router has 20 integrated SFP+ interfaces and six x 40/100GE ports. Cisco's C8500-20X6C delivers as much as 500 Gbps Cisco Express Forwarding aggregate throughput.

Cisco Integrated Services G2 Routers
Cisco's Integrated Services G2 routers are intended to offer satellite offices of enterprises with enhanced collaboration, virtualization, protection, and dependable connectivity. ISR G2 routers introduce an architecture that preserves prior investments in modules for older Integrated Services Routers and lowers future costs by permitting easy upgrades to additional modules as they become available. Compared to previous ISR routers, Cisco's ISR Generation 2 routers offer 2-7 times higher performance, far more, and easier maintenance. All Cisco Integrated Services Generation 2 routers offer GE switching and include multi-core CPUs and ultra-fast fabric for faster performance. Integrated Services G2 routers also offer smart power control for better energy efficiency.

A notable advance with ISR G2 routers is the Cisco IOS Software Universal image which includes all of the IOS feature sets so that you can rapidly license and activate new services when required without having to acquire and transfer a different IOS image to yourCisco router. Progent's team of Cisco-certified CCIE network engineers offer proven expertise to help you to plan, implement, and maintain multi-site installations of Cisco Integrated Services Generation 2 routers that enhance branch office efficiency and cut the costs of upgrades and maintenance.

Cisco's ISR 800 Family of Routers
The 800 Series of ISR routers has been functionally replaced by the higher performance Cisco ISR 900 line but is still widely deployed. Cisco's extensive line of 800 Series ISR routers consists of desktop appliances designed and priced for small organizations, branch locations, retail shops, teleworkers, and clients of ISPs. Many models in the 800 product line have been released with various options for many years. The 881 line of ISR routers exemplifies the vast array of options offered within Cisco's 800 Series line of routers. Models in Cisco's 881 router portfolio can enable unified media networks by providing voice and video, Wi-Fi and cellular wireless and data in a single integrated appliance. Built-in security can include encryption, VPN, firewall, and URL filtering. For survivability, available options for 881 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 on one desktop appliance.

The baseline Cisco 881 features 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. Cisco's 881W router includes 802.11g/n Wi-Fi. The 881 SRST router features four FXS ports and 1 FXO port for public-switched-telephone-network (PSTN) failover with Cisco Survivable Remote Site Telephony. With a Cisco Unified Border Element (CUBE) license, the Cisco 881 ISR router allows SIP trunking as a replacement for legacy PRI lines or foreign exchange-office (FXO) voice connectivity to a PSTN carrier. SIP trunks also connect offsite agents in Cisco Call Center environments.

Cisco 4000 Series Integrated Services Routers
The Cisco 4000 Line of Integrated Services Routers are compact modular and scalable platforms intended for organizations with multiple branches and remote users requiring direct access to in-house data centers and public clouds via VPNs and the Internet. Cisco's 4000 series delivers the throughput required for hybrid WAN environments to accommodate mobile workers, cloud services, and HD video applications by utilizing network optimization, deep packet inspection, and traffic-management technology. Devices in Cisco's ISR 4000 family run Cisco's IOS XE operating system, come in a 1RU or 2RU package, are able to handle as much as 2 Gbps of traffic, and can have up to 3 network interface slots, 2 service module slots, 4 built-in 10/100/1000 Ethernet switches, and 8 CPU core server modules. ISR 4000 models can support integrated Gigabit Ethernet, T1/E1, T3/E3, PR1, xDSL and other interfaces. To manage unified communications, Cisco's 400o ISR provides extensive edge support for policy-enhanced session border control, telephony fault tolerance, and Time Division Multiplexing gateways.

The primary difference between the Cisco 4400 and 4300 Series Routers is the inclusion of redundant power supply capability in the 4400 Series, offering a higher level of availability. The 4321 ISR Router comes in a 1 RU desktop package with two network interface modules (NIMs), delivers as much as 100 Mbps performance, and can handle 240 Digital Voice and Video Channels. The 4331 model has a 1 RU package with two network interface modules, delivers as much as 300 Mbps performance, and can handle 360 Digital Voice and Video Channels. Cisco's 4351 model comes in a 2 RU form factor and includes three network interface modules, offers as much as 400 Mbps performance, and can handle 720 Digital Voice and Video Channels. The power-redundant 4431 model features a 2 RU package and includes three network interface modules, offers up to 1 Gbps performance, and can handle 720 Digital Voice/Video Channels. Cisco's redundant-power 4431 ISR Router comes in a 2 RU form factor and includes three NIMs, provides as much as 2 Gbps throughput, and allows up to 1200 Digital Voice/Video Channels.

Cisco's Midrange WAN Aggregation Routers and Service Provider Routers
Cisco's WAN edge and service provider routers offer larger businesses with high-performance, secure distribution points to manage branch office and off-site traffic and to provide ISPs cost-effective wide area network edge solutions. Cisco's WAN aggregation and carrier router product line includes the Cisco ASR 1000 routers and the 9000 ASR family.

Progent's national team of CCIE network experts have extensive experience working with enterprises and ISPs to plan optimal installations and smooth upgrades of Cisco's WAN edge routers. Progent's GIAC-certified information assurance experts offer unbiased, third-party security vulnerability assessments, penetration testing services and comprehensive Security information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions to help enterprises that use Cisco's Aggregation Services Routers to meet industry standards and government regulations for network data protection and incident reporting. Progent also can provide help with Horizon3.ai's NodeZero platform for threat assessment. NodeZero depends on AI technology to simplify the vulnerability evaluation cycle of discovering security gaps in network perimeters and within the internal network, recommending remediation, fixing problems, and confirming successful repairs.

Cisco ASR 1000 Series WAN Edge Routers
Cisco's ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services line of routers is designed to fill the center of Cisco's midrange routers that focus on acting as headends at the wide area network edge. ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services routers offer a small footprint, single-product answer for large businesses looking for branch office aggregation at supergigabit Ethernet performance. ASR 1000 routers introduce a revolutionary architecture that mixes hardware acceleration with programmable versatility in order to offer a multitude of concurrent services without sacrificing consistent responsiveness.

ASR 1000 Series routers include Cisco's new QuantumFlow Processor composed of 40 custom Packet Processing Engines that together can handle as many as 160 simultaneous processor threads. This multi-processing structure, combined with hardware acceleration for all services, enables the top-of-the-line ASR 1006 router to expand up to 000 hardware queues, 32,000 subscribers, 4K IPsec VPN tunnels at 10,000 sessions/second, and 2 million Netflow log records. This processing power allows ASR 1000 Series WAN Edge routers to support a wide variety of sophisticated services simultaneously in massive volume without suffering performance degradation that might threaten adherence to service level agreements. Examples of these advanced services include Cisco Firewall, intrusion-detection services, Network Address Translation, FPM, and deep packet inspection. The ASR 1000 also allows sophisticated traffic management for applying numerous levels of QoS to a packet in one pass, enhancing responsiveness for high-bandwidth IP voice and video applications.

Cisco ASR 9000 Series Aggregation Services Routers
Cisco's ASR 9000 Series Aggregation Services Routers are intended as WAN-edge routers for carriers who are required to support the highest quality data, voice and video services to residential, business, and mobile customers by offering zero downtime operation, high performance, and application awareness. All platforms in the Cisco ASR 9000 line of Aggregation Services Routers run the IOS XR, a self-healing, distributed OS built for non-stop uptime. Performance of the Cisco ASR 9000 family of Aggregation Services Routers can be expanded up to 96 Tbps per system. Cisco's ASR 9000 family of Routers can handle Gigabit Ethernet (GE), 10 GE, and 100 GE and have fully redundant fabric and power supply, power entry modules, and fan trays plus redundant control planes.

The ASR 9001 platform is a provider-edge router in a 6 RU package with 120 Gbps of nonblocking fabric performance. The Cisco ASR 9001 has two modular bays which can support adapters for 1 Gigabit, 10 Gigabit, and 40 Gigabit Ethernet. The base chassis includes four 10 GE enhanced Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP+) ports and ports for Stratum 1 clocking, BITS, and management. The ASR 9904 Router comes in a 6 RU chassis and provides line-rate 10 and 100 GE connections in space-limited sites. The 4-slot ASR 9094 can support up to 4 Tbps of switching capacity in a single chassis. The Cisco ASR 9912 Router has a 30 RU chassis and includes 12 slots slots able to support up to 550 Gbps of throughput. The ASR 9912 Router incorporates 2 route CPUs and 6+1 Fabric Cards to provide N+1 redundancy.

How Progent Can Help Your Business to Support Cisco Routers
Progent's Cisco certified engineers can assist your business to plan, configure, and maintain an integrated business network that can streamline processes, reduce costs, and speed time to positive ROI. By combining Cisco integrated services routers with Catalyst switches expertise and Cisco Catalyst and Meraki Wi-Fi wireless integration, Progent can dramatically increase the business value of your integrated network. Progent offers in-person and off-site help and offers data center support throughout the U.S.

To see more information concerning Progent's professional support for Cisco solutions, choose a subject:

• Overview of Progent's Cisco Network Support
• Timely Online Help from a Cisco CCIE Engineer
• Cisco Firepower NGFW Series Firewalls: Configuration and Troubleshooting Support
• Cisco ASA 5500-X Series Firewall with Cisco Firepower: Integration and Troubleshooting Expertise
• Cisco ASA 5500 Firewall Consulting Services
• PIX Series Firewall Maintenance Assistance
• Cisco Wireless Engineering Help
• Cisco Aironet Wireless APs Consulting Services
• Cisco Small Business 100, 300 and 500 Wireless Access Points System Design Support
• Catalyst Wi-Fi 6/6E Access Points Solution Design, Deployment and Troubleshooting Expertise
• Cisco Wireless Controllers Consultants
• Meraki Access Points Consulting Services
• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM or Unified CM) and CallManager Integration and Troubleshooting
• Cisco VoIP Phones and IP Video Phones Consulting and Cisco Wireless VoIP Phone Configuration
• Cisco Jabber Integration Services
• Cisco Catalyst Switches Consulting and Support Services
• Cisco Nexus Switches Configuration and Maintenance Expertise
• Meraki MS Switches Support and Troubleshooting Expertise
• Cisco VPN and Network Security Setup and Troubleshooting Help
• SIP and CUBE Infrastructure Solutions: SIP Trunks and Cisco CUBE Integration Expertise
• Cisco Duo MFA Two-factor Authentication (2FA) Services for an At-Home Workforce
• Design and Support for Cisco-powered Datacenters and Colocation Centers
• Infrastructure Optimization Expertise for Internet Service Providers
• Unified Cloud-based and Hybrid Management Techniques for Cisco-based Environments