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The current generation of routers typically incorporate Layer 2 switching capability, and many of today's switches include Layer 3 routing capability. Routers offered by Cisco, the source of the vast majority of the industry's routers, have improved significantly in capability and performance and Cisco makes a comprehensive product line that features routers engineered to meet the requirements of users from households to nationwide service providers.

The latest ISR routers from Cisco have the performance and integrated features to support IP voice and video as well as virtual environments while also offering fault tolerance, web-based administration, seamless scalability, and enhanced security and compliance. These routers allow your business to establish a firm foundation for an information environment that can grow smoothly as you add new workers, open new sites, configure new capabilities, give access to your system to clients and vendors, and build an expanding mobile workforce. Progent's Cisco qualified CCIE network engineers can provide immediate and economical online support to help you to select, deploy, manage, upgrade, and support Cisco's latest routers and can assist you to maintain your legacy routers or move efficiently to Cisco's current router products. Cisco Routers Designed for Home and Small Offices and Branches
Cisco's routers for small businesses and remote offices offer low-cost and dependable no-frills solutions that allow small groups of users to have safe access to wide area networks. All these fixed-configuration desktop devices include at least four 10/100 Ethernet ports with wireless options and integrated firewall for enhanced protection. Designed for simple installation, management, and support, Cisco's entry-level routers minimize total cost of ownership by cutting acquisition and operational expenses. Progent's online troubleshooting experts have in-depth backgrounds delivering immediate and affordable IT assistance for small companies to configure and maintain these devices, and Progent's CCIE network consultants can assist you to understand how Cisco's small office routers can increase the strategic value of your IT network.

Cisco ISR 900 Series Integrated Services Routers
The Cisco ISR 900 Series desktop routers are compact, quiet, fixed-configuration appliances intended for SMBs, branch offices, and home offices. These entry-level routers include four managed GE LAN ports and can support Metro Ethernet, LTE, and DSL WAN connections. Cisco's ISR 900 router product line delivers triple the IPsec performance of the ISR 800 Series routers. All ISR 900 models feature Group Encrypted Transport VPN, DMVPN, Cisco FlexVPN, and firewall. VPN throughput is up to 250 Mbps. All models support up to 50 VLANs. Supported dynamic failover protocols for high availability include Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol, HSRP, and Multigroup HSRP. Provisioning and management can be performed with Cisco Configuration Professional Express, Cisco DNA Center, and Cisco IOS Software. ISR 900 Series routers do not work with Cisco's SD-WAN solution.

Cisco's ISR 921 router comes with dual GE WAN, LTE Cat 4, and a built-in power supply. GE WAN VPN throughput is 150 Mbps. Cisco's ISR 926 and ISR 927 models include external power supplies and support a single WAN port, Category 4 LTE, VDSL2 and ADSL2/2+ high-speed broadband. VPN performance for both devices is 150 Mbps. The top-of-the-line Cisco ISR 931 features dual GE WAN and includes an internal power supply. VPN performance 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 (SD-WAN) and cloud-based unified threat management in one small-footprint appliance able to handle 50 to 200 users. Every MX series appliance must be licensed for the Meraki cloud. For sites with multiple WAN network connections (e.g., MPLS, fiber optic, cellular), SD-WAN technology permits administrators to assign the WAN interface a given app should use or to build performance-based algorithms to determine the preferred interface. Cisco Meraki MX fixed-configuration desktop security appliances share important features including:

• App and identity-based firewalling
• Content and web search filtering
• PCI-compliant Intrusion Detection and Prevention
• Advanced Malware Protection (AMP) with reputation-based filtering
• Load balancing to combine several WAN connections into a single high-speed interface with policy-based QoS, traffic shaping, and fast 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 Series ISR Enterprise Branch Routers
Cisco 1000 and 1100 family Integrated Services Routers using Cisco IOS XE software are a line of fanless appliances intended to deliver network connectivity, wireless support, and advanced security for small and midsize businesses, branch offices, retail stores, kiosks, and machine-to-machine (M2M) environments. Parallel processing CPU cores and compatibly with Cisco IOS XE software enable these routers to deliver features consistent with Cisco's entire family of Enterprise routers. 1000 and 1100 family ISR routers are available with 4 or 8 LAN ports and offer Gigabit Ethernet packet forwarding. Available features include Power over Ethernet (PoE) and PoE+, zero-touch provisioning, plus a range of built-in or pluggable connections including LAN, WAN, wireless LAN, G.fast DSL, 3G/4G Advanced wireless, 802.11ac wireless, and SFP. Cisco 1000 family ISR models work with Cisco's SD-WAN services for transparent multi-cloud access, advanced cybersecurity, and unified administration of hybrid network models.

Cisco's 1RU or desktop ISR 1100-4G router includes four integrated GE ports, built-in 3G/4G LTE wireless with two LTE antenna connectors, and one micro-SIM slot. Encryption speed is 200 Mbps. The Cisco ISR 1100-6G router also includes two 1G SFP connections and features encryption throughput of 520 Mbps. Cisco's desktop 1101-4P ISR router comes with four integrated GE interfaces, supports 802.11ac Wi-Fi as well as 3G/4G LTE wireless, and delivers encryption throughput of 280 Mbps. Cisco's ISR 1109-2P/4p desktop routers have two or four integrated GE connections and two pluggable 3G/4G LTE wireless ports. Encryption throughput is 200 Mbps.

Cisco's rackmount or desktop ISR 111x-4P/8P routers have four or eight built-in switched GE connections (two or four with PoE) and support VDSL2/ADSL2+, 802.11ac, 3G/4G LTE, and 1G SFP. Encryption packet processing speed is 280 Mbps. Cisco's rackmount or desktop ISR 1111X-8P router includes eight built-in switched GE interfaces (four with POE) and a port for SFP. Encryption speed is 340 Mbps. The 112x-8P ISR router has eight GE connections with Power over Ethernet and supports SHDSL, VDSL2/ADSL2+, 802.11ac, 3G/4G LTE wireless, and SFP Fiber. Encryption speed is 340 Mbps. Cisco's ISR 1161X-8P router has eight switched GE connections with PoE and supports 3G/4G LTE and SFP. Encryption packet processing speed 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 work at the enterprise branche and the WAN edge in support of hybrid network environments that can include a mix of public and private clouds and cloud-hosted applications. All Catalyst 8000 routers use Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software and offer expandability, intelligent cloud security, and 5G access. Performance is enhanced via custom hardware, a multicore architecture, high port density, and in-line encryption. Cisco's subscription software services provide ongoing access to the latest SD-WAN technology and enable unified management with enhanced cybersecurity, application-optimized policies, network segmentation, and cloud integration.

Cisco Catalyst 8200 Series Enterprise Edge Routers
Catalyst 8200 routers are upgrades to Cisco's 4300 Series Integrated Services Routers (ISRs), offering higher IPsec throughput and expandability, hardware-accelerated crypto, plus higher built-in WAN interface density. These one-rack unit appliances are built to provide Cisco's SASE, SD-WAN and 5G-connection technology to enterprise branches and the enterprise access edge. Cisco's Catalyst C8200L-1N-4T router features four CPU cores, supports 500 Mbps IPsec throughput, and permits 1,500 SD-WAN tunnels. Cisco's Catalyst 8200L platform does not support container-based applications. Cisco's Catalyst C8200-1N-4T model features eight CPU cores, delivers 1Gb IPsec performance, permits 2,500 SD-WAN tunnels, and enables edge computing with in-place container architectures. Both appliances include one Network Interface Module slot, one Pluggable Interface Module (PIM) slot, two 1 Gigabit Ethernet WAN copper ports, and two 1G Ethernet WAN Small-Form-Factor Pluggable interfaces. Four-port and eight-port 1 Gigabit Ethernet switch NIM modules are available for both 8200 models.

Catalyst 8300 Series Enterprise Branch Edge Routers
Catalyst 8300 WAN Edge routers are intended to supersede Cisco's 4400 Series ISR Routers, delivering Cisco's secure SD-WAN architecture to medium-sized and large enterprise branch offices looking for high WAN IPSec throughput with unified SD-WAN services. Enhanced features include 5G wireless support, built-in cybersecurity, WAN MACSec, integrated enhanced Layer 2 switching, and Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) with application-aware optimization. Catalyst 8300 WAN Edge routers support edge computing for an in-place container environment for Cisco UCS-E modules available on Cisco's 4000 Series ISR appliances. All versions in the Cisco Catalyst 8300 Series family allow 4,000 SD-WAN tunnels and feature backup power supplies for improved availability.

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

Cisco Catalyst 8500 Series Aggregation Edge Routers
The Cisco Catalyst 8500 Series Aggregation Edge routers are fixed, one-rack unit aggregation devices for SD-WAN and colocation deployments. Integrated features include route processor, embedded services processor (ESP), plus aggregation hardware for multiple connection choices. IPsec performance is twice that of Cisco's prior generation ASR1001-X router. Available interface options include 1GE to 100 GE WAN interfaces. The routers include dual power units for improved availability. Software subscription packages allow ongoing access to Cisco DNA Center Software for SD-WAN and routing and enable centralized management of cybersecurity, application-aware policies, segmentation, and cloud connectivity optimization.

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 interfaces and offers up to 20 Gbps aggregate throughput. SD-WAN IPsec performance can reach 19Gbps. The Cisco Catalyst C8500-12X appliance has 12 integrated 1/10GE WAN interfaces and supports up to 120 Gbps aggregate performance. SD-WAN IPsec throughput is up to 51 Gbps. The C8500-12X4QC aggregation router comes with four integrated 1/10GE WAN ports and eight 1-Gigabit interfaces and delivers up to 200 Gbps aggregate performance. SD-WAN IPsec performance can reach 68 Gbps. The C8500-20X6C router has 20 integrated 1/10GE interfaces and six x QSFP+ ports. Cisco's C8500-20X6C supports as much as 500 Gbps Cisco Express Forwarding aggregate performance. Cisco ISR Generation 2 Routers
Cisco's Integrated Services Generation 2 routers are designed to provide satellite offices of enterprises with advanced collaboration, virtual networking, protection, and dependable WAN access. Integrated Services G2 routers feature an architecture that protects prior investments in service modules for first-generation Integrated Services Routers and reduces future expenses by permitting field upgrades to new modules as they become available. Compared to older Integrated Services Routers, Cisco's ISR G2 routers feature 2-7 times higher throughput, substantially greater expandability, and more affordable maintenance. All Cisco ISR Generation 2 routers offer GE switching and include multi-core processors and ultra-fast fabric for higher performance. Integrated Services G2 routers also offer smart power management for improved energy conservation.

A key innovation with Integrated Services G2 routers is the Cisco IOS Software Universal image which includes all of the Cisco IOS feature sets so that your company can rapidly authorize and deploy extra services when required without needing to acquire and copy a new IOS image to yourrouter. Progent's team of Cisco-certified CCIE network engineers offer world-class skills to assist you to plan, implement, and support multi-location installations of Cisco ISR G2 routers that enhance branch office productivity and reduce the price of upgrades and maintenance.

Cisco's ISR 800 Series Routers
Cisco's 800 Series of ISR routers has been functionally replaced by the faster Cisco ISR 900 series but remains widely used. Cisco's comprehensive line of 800 Series ISR routers consists of desktop, fanless appliances intended for small businesses, branch offices, retail shops, teleworkers, and customers of broadband service providers. Many models in the 800 product line have been developed with various options over many years. Cisco's 881 Series of ISR routers exemplifies the vast array of options available within the Cisco 800 Series product family. Various models in Cisco's 881 Series router catalog can support converged media environments by delivering IP voice and video, Wi-Fi and cellular wireless and data in one integrated router and switch. Advanced security can include encryption, VPN, firewall, and URL filtering. For business continuity, available options for Cisco 881 routers include redundant WAN links or support for wired high-speed WAN links like DSL as well as multiple different cellular 3G and 4G wireless WAN connections all on one appliance.

The basic Cisco 881 router includes a 4-port fast Ethernet managed switch that delivers 15 Mbps throughput, the ability to handle up to 20 users, two-port integrated Power over Ethernet, and IPv6 compatibility. Cisco's 881W ISR router supports 802.11g/n Wi-Fi. Cisco's 881 SRST router includes four FXS ports and 1 FXO port for PSTN failover with Cisco SRST. With a Cisco CUBE license, the Cisco 881 ISR router allows SIP trunk connectivity as a replacement for legacy PRI lines or foreign exchange-office (FXO) voice connectivity to a PSTN service provider. CUBE-based SIP trunks also support offsite call agents in Cisco Call Center environments.

4000 Series ISR Routers
Cisco's 4000 Series ISR Routers are compact modular and scalable routers intended for businesses with a large number of branches and remote users requiring direct communication with private data centers and public clouds across VPN tunnels and the Internet. Cisco's 4000 series provides the throughput required for hybrid WAN environments to accommodate mobile users, Cloud-based services, and HD multimedia applications by using network optimization, deep packet inspection, and traffic-management techniques. Models in Cisco's ISR 4000 family are powered by Cisco's IOS XE software, come in a 1-rack-unit (RU) or 2RU package, are able to handle as much as 2 Gbps of traffic, and can include up to 3 network interface slots, 2 service module slots, 4 built-in 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports, 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, the 400o ISR provides comprehensive edge support for policy-enhanced session border control, branch telephony survivability, and Time Division Multiplexing gateways.

The primary difference between the Cisco 4400 and 4300 Series Routers is the inclusion of dual power supply support in the 4400 Series, providing a greater degree of availability. Cisco's 4321 Integrated Services Router has a 1 RU desktop package and includes two network interface modules, provides as much as 100 Mbps throughput, and allows up to 240 Digital Voice and Video Channels. The 4331 ISR Router has a 1 RU package and includes two network interface modules, offers as much as 300 Mbps throughput, and allows up to 360 Digital Voice/Video Channels. The 4351 ISR Router comes in a 2 RU form factor with three NIMs, offers as much as 400 Mbps throughput, and allows up to 720 Digital Voice and Video Channels. The power-redundant 4431 model comes in a 2 RU package with three network interface modules, delivers as much as 1 Gbps throughput, and allows up to 720 Digital Voice/Video Channels. The fault-tolerant 4431 Integrated Services Router features a 2 RU form factor with three NIMs, offers up to 2 Gbps throughput, and allows up to 1200 Digital Voice and Video Channels. Cisco's Midrange WAN Aggregation Routers and Carrier-class Routers
Cisco's WAN edge and carrier routers offer larger businesses with high-performance, secure head ends to manage branch office and remote user traffic and to provide service providers cost-optimized WAN edge routing. Cisco's WAN aggregation and carrier router product line features the Cisco ASR 1000 product line and the 9000 Series Aggregation Services family.

Progent's nationwide group of Cisco CCIE certified network consultants have in-depth backgrounds working with enterprises and service providers to design efficient deployments and seamless upgrades of Cisco's midrange and carrier-class routers. Progent's GIAC-certified information assurance consultants offer objective, independent security vulnerability evaluations, stealth penetration testing and comprehensive Security information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions to help companies that use Cisco's WAN aggregation routers to meet industry standards and government regulations for network information protection and reporting. Progent also can provide expertise with Horizon3.ai's NodeZero platform for threat assessment. NodeZero relies on AI technology to simplify the vulnerability evaluation cycle of finding security gaps in network perimeters and within the internal network infrastructure, prioritizing remediation, mitigating problems, and confirming successful repairs.

Cisco ASR 1000 Series WAN Edge Routers
Cisco's ASR 1000 WAN Edge line of routers is positioned in the middle of Cisco's midrange devices that focus on aggregating services at the WAN edge. Cisco's ASR 1000 WAN Edge routers offer a small footprint, multi-function answer for enterprises requiring satellite office aggregation at multigigabit Ethernet speeds. ASR 1000 Series routers incorporate an innovative design that mixes hardware acceleration with programmable versatility to offer a rich set of concurrent services while preserving dependable performance.

ASR 1000 WAN Edge routers include Cisco's proprietary QuantumFlow Processor composed of 40 purpose-built Packet Processing Engines (PPEs) that in combination can handle as many as 160 simultaneous threads. This parallel CPU architecture, in conjunction with on-board acceleration for every service, enables the top-of-the-line ASR 1006 WAN Edge router to expand up to 128 queues, 32K clients, 4K IPsec VPN tunnels at 10,000 sessions/second, and 2 million Netflow log records. This processing power permits Cisco's ASR 1000 Aggregation Services routers to deliver a variety of advanced services concurrently in massive volume while avoiding performance decay that could threaten compliance with SLAs. Examples of these advanced services include Cisco IOS Firewall, intrusion-detection services, NAT, FPM, and in-line deep packet inspection. The ASR 1000 also allows sophisticated traffic management for performing numerous levels of Quality of Service to a data packet in one pass, improving the user experience for high-bandwidth voice, video, and conferencing applications.

Cisco ASR 9000 Series Aggregation Services Routers
Cisco's ASR 9000 Series Aggregation Services Routers are designed as edge routers for service providers who are required to support world-class data, voice and video services to home, commercial, and mobile users by providing continual availability, high speed, and application-aware intelligence. All platforms in Cisco's ASR 9000 portfolio of Aggregation Services Routers are powered by Cisco's IOS XR, a self-healing, distributed OS designed for non-stop uptime. Throughput of the ASR 9000 family of Aggregation Services Routers can be expanded up to 96 Tbps per system. Cisco's ASR 9000 Series of Routers support high-density Gigabit Ethernet, 10 GE, and 100 GE and feature redundant fabric and power modules, power entry modules, and fan trays plus backup control planes.

The Cisco ASR 9001 platform is a carrier-edge router in a 6 RU package with 120 Gbps of nonblocking fabric performance. The ASR 9001 has two bays to support 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 Stratum 1 clocking, building integrated timing supply, and management. The Cisco ASR 9904 Router has a 6 RU chassis and offers dense 10 and 100 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity in space-limited sites. The 4-slot router can support up to 4 Tbps of switching capacity in one box. The ASR 9912 Router comes in a 30 RU form factor and includes 10 line-card slots that can support 550 Gbps of throughput. The Cisco ASR 9912 has 2 route CPUs as well as 6+1 Fabric Cards to provide N+1 redundancy. How Progent's Consultants Can Help Your Company to Support Cisco Routers
Progent's CCIE and CCNP certified engineers can assist you to design, setup, and support an integrated network infrastructure that can simplify operations, lower expenses, and speed the path to positive ROI. By teaming Cisco integrated services routers with Catalyst switches expertise and Catalyst and Meraki Wi-Fi wireless expertise, Progent can dramatically enhance the strategic value of your information network. Progent can provide on-premises and off-site help and can provide data center support throughout the U.S. To see more information about Progent's consulting support for Cisco technology, select a topic:

• Introduction to Cisco Network Support
• Fast and Affordable Remote Help from a Cisco CCIE Consultant
• Cisco Firepower Series Firewalls: Integration and Troubleshooting Support
• Cisco ASA 5500-X Firewalls with Firepower: Setup and Troubleshooting Expertise
• ASA 5500 Firewall Engineering Assistance
• Cisco PIX Firewall Maintenance Services
• Cisco Wireless Network Design Support
• Cisco Aironet Wireless APs Design Services
• Cisco Small Business WiFi APs System Design Support
• Cisco Catalyst 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6/6E APs Planning, Deployment and Troubleshooting Consulting
• Cisco WiFi Controllers Experts
• Meraki Access Points Deployment Help
• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM or Unified CM) and CallManager Consulting and Troubleshooting
• Cisco Voice over IP Phones and IP Video Desktop Phones Consulting Services and Wireless VoIP Phone Solutions
• Cisco Jabber Consulting and Support Services
• Catalyst Switches Consulting and Support Expertise
• Nexus Switches Configuration and Maintenance Expertise
• Meraki Switches Configuration and Maintenance Expertise
• Cisco VPN Setup and Troubleshooting Support
• SIP and CUBE Infrastructure Solutions: SIP Trunking and CUBE Integration Consulting
• Cisco Duo MFA Two-factor Authentication (2FA) Services for an At-Home Workforce
• Design Solutions for Cisco-powered Datacenters and Colocation Centers
• Infrastructure Design Consulting for Service Providers
• Centralized Cloud-based and Hybrid Network Management Strategies for Cisco-powered Infrastructure

In order to contact Progent about technical expertise for Cisco products, phone 1-800-993-9400 or see Contact Progent.