| Cisco Router Selection | | | | workers with good performance and reliability |
| With the constant evolution and change of the | | | | then look no further than the Cisco 800 Series. |
| Cisco Router selection, it can be a tricky task to | | | | They have the Cisco IOS including IPS, VPN, |
| keep up-to-date. Do you know the current | | | | VLAN, QoS, NAC, and Firewall. There are many |
| models of routers and more to the point do you | | | | routers in the range including wireless options and |
| know which Cisco router to choose? | | | | ISDN and DSL applications. |
| Like us and many other people you will have been | | | | Small Remote Office |
| stunned and confused when Cisco removed from | | | | For networks that have up-to 25 or so users, the |
| it’s line up what was considered the standard | | | | Cisco 1800 Series routers are the best choice. |
| for midsized networks the 2600 and 3600 series. | | | | This router is ideal if all you need is a router to |
| It was not their robustness or capabilities that | | | | connect your office to the Internet, VPN, firewall, |
| saw them on to the ebay listings of secondhand | | | | and wireless. |
| routers, in particularly the 3600 series which can | | | | Larger Remote Office |
| still do just about everything its latest counterpart | | | | If you require more performance and up scaling |
| can do; What made these fall by the wayside | | | | that the Cisco 1800 Series can offer, then you |
| was the limitations of the CPU and the inadequate | | | | should look to the Cisco 2800 Series. Ideal for |
| RAM. With the growth of the Cisco IOS beyond | | | | up-to around 50 users for office Internet |
| what these could handle combined with the swell | | | | connectivity, robust VPN access, with redundant |
| of the packet load of most networks these older | | | | power supply, Gig-E ports, NM expansion slots and |
| routers can no-longer cut the mustard. Saying | | | | Call Manager Express. Having the NM card slot lets |
| that, the Cisco 3600 series is still the router of | | | | you add things such as a 36-port switch with PoE, |
| choice for some people as they can be picked up | | | | a DS3 ATM, a 24-port VoIP module, an intrusion |
| very cheaply in the secondhand marketplace. | | | | detection module, a network analysis module, or a |
| The Cisco ISRs | | | | Cisco Unity Express voice mail module. Wonderful! |
| | | | Office of 100 Workers or More |
| There is a Cisco ISR to suit everyone’s | | | | Cisco 3800 Series routers are similar to the 2800 |
| needs; from the 800 series for the small to | | | | Series in that there are a lot of HWIC and NM |
| medium-sized network right through large campus | | | | options for them. But what sets them apart from |
| or high performance large network. These are | | | | the 2800 Series is the sheer performance of the |
| more than just routers they now provide | | | | hardware and the number of HWIC and NM card |
| services like IPSec, VPN, firewalls, and VoIP. | | | | that you can put into them. |
| To help illustrate how to choose which router for | | | | Large HQ Office or Campus |
| your network type, the above diagram from | | | | For very large campus or service providers, the |
| Cisco demonstrates perfectly the routers available | | | | Catalyst 6500 and 7200/7300 Series platforms |
| and their suitability. The rules for choosing the | | | | are for you. Cisco calls these "service aggregation |
| correct Cisco router is not set in stone, however | | | | platforms." These are very high-performance |
| there are some general pointers that should help. | | | | networking platforms with a huge capacity for |
| Home office or small office | | | | expansion. |
| For constant VPN connections of up-to 10 home | | | | |