Cisco ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services Routers provide a Software Defined WAN platform that aggregates multiple WAN connections and network services including encryption and traffic management, and forward them across WAN connections at line speeds from 2.5 to 200 Gbps. The routers contain both hardware and software redundancy in an industry-leading high-availability design.

The latest additions to the Cisco ASR 1000 Series are the Cisco ASR 1002-HX Router and the Cisco ASR 1001-HX Router. Both new routers support up to 100 Gbps in a 2-Rack-Unit (2RU) and 60 Gbps in a 1-Rack-Unit (1RU) form factor, respectively. The ASR 1002-HX has 8 built-in 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GE) ports and 8 1 GE ports, with the Ethernet Port Adapter (EPA) slot for expansion. The ASR 1001-HX has 4 built-in 10 GE ports, 8 1 GE ports, and 4 configurable 10 GE or 1 GE ports. The Cisco ASR 1000 Series Route Processor 3 is the newest addition to the modular control plane engines in the Cisco ASR 1000 Series. The Route Processor 3 adds more options for higher performance, memory, and storage to the ASR 1000 Series.

The Cisco ASR 1000 Series supports Cisco IOS XE Software, a modular operating system with modular packaging, feature velocity, and powerful resiliency. The Cisco ASR 1000 Series Embedded Services Processors (ESPs), which are based on Cisco Flow Processor technology, accelerate many advanced features such as crypto-based access security; Network Address Translation (NAT), thread defense with Cisco Zone-Based Firewall (ZBFW), Deep Packet Inspection (DPI), Cisco Unified Border Element (CUBE), and a diverse set of Data-Center-Interconnect (DCI) features. These services are implemented in Cisco IOS XE Software without the need for additional hardware support.

The Cisco ASR 1000 Series Routers carry a modular yet integrated design, so network operators can increase their network capacity and services without a hardware upgrade. With flexibility in the number of connections, speed maximums, and price, you don’t have to under- or overprovision for any network location.

Alternatively, you also have the option to buy “-X” and “-HX” models, so you can increase throughput by simply purchasing upgrade licenses as you grow to increase your network speed dynamically.

Cisco Software-Defined WAN

Cisco SD-WAN can be enabled on the Cisco ASR 1000 series platforms with IOS-XE. Cisco SD-WAN offers an entirely new way to manage and operate your WAN infrastructure.

SD-WAN Integrated Security

In order to efficiently connect to multiple cloud infrastructures many enterprise customers want to build an SD-WAN infrastructure that uses Direct Internet Access (DIA). This can save costs and reduce complexity by reducing WAN traffic backhauled to your data centers; however connecting branches directly to the internet without the right security controls exposes your network to threats and vulnerabilities.

Application visibility

Applications and users are more distributed than ever, and the internet has effectively become the new enterprise WAN. As organizations continue to embrace internet, cloud, and SaaS, network and IT teams are challenged to deliver consistent and reliable connectivity and application performance over networks and services they don’t own or directly control.

The ASR 1000 Series Routers are integrated with Cisco ThousandEyes internet and cloud intelligence. IT managers now have expanded visibility, including hop-by-hop analytics, into network underlay, proactive monitoring of SD-WAN overlay, and performance measurement of SaaS applications. This granular visibility ultimately lowers the Mean Time to Identification of Issues (MTTI) and accelerates resolution time.