Sep, 2001 : Cisco Unveils Next Phase of 7000 Series of Routers

📅 September 13, 2001 - Cisco Systems, Inc. (cisco.com) has bolstered itsnext-generation routing portfolio, adding new mid-range capabilities to itslineup with the introduction of the Cisco 7300 Series Internet Router andenhancements to the Cisco 7600 Series Internet Router. These new productsdeliver high-performance application combinations and services forenterprise and service provider customers and offer multiprotocol routingthat scales to OC-48 speeds.

Part of Cisco AVVID, the Architecture for Voice, Video and Integrated Datafor enterprise customers, Cisco's mid-range optical routers are designed forthe network edge where rich high-performance services are implemented toenable profitability and enhanced business agility. Cisco provides thesecapabilities with its newest advances, the Cisco 7300, and additions to theCisco 7600 Series-the Cisco 7603 and Cisco 7606. The Cisco 7300, Cisco 7603and Cisco 7606 also create opportunities for service providers to offerhigh-value, differentiated services, and for enterprises to develop theadvanced network infrastructure necessary to succeed in high-trafficenterprise environments. As part of the Cisco 7000 family of routers, thesenew mid-range routers reduce network complexity and cost of ownership byenabling consolidated delivery of multiple, simultaneous applications, suchas voice over IP, virtual private networks , and Layer 7 content recognitionand switching, on the same high-performance, extensible platform.
"The Cisco 7300 and new additions to the Cisco 7600 further enhance Cisco'ssolutions in the mid range, where flexibility and breadth of servicesimplementation within modular and multiprotocol platforms are required byenterprise and service provider customers, said Deb Mielke, principal,Treillage Network Strategies. "With the size and modularity of Cisco's newmid-range routers, customers will be able to grow their networksincrementally allowing them to avoid large initial capital expenditures andto work within tight budget constraints."
The new Cisco 7300 extends the mid-range routing portfolio by providingmultiprotocol routing capabilities that scale to OC-48 speeds with highavailability and built-in Gigabit Ethernet ports, which reduce the cost ofLAN connectivity. The Cisco 7300 uses a centralized, high-performancerouting engine, NSE-100, to deliver a host of hardware-accelerated, CiscoIOS-based services and protocols over a range of modular interfaceofferings. The Cisco 7300 also uses Cisco patented Parallel ExpressForwarding IP Services processing technology.
"We expect the Cisco 7300 to become an valuable offering for the serviceprovider edge applications," said Matti Swan, R&D Group manager at ElisaCommunications. "The product will allow service providers to offer Qualityof Service at the edge of the network in a redundant and compact platform.When combined with other Cisco edge products, service providers can now finda cost efficient solution."
Part of the Cisco 7600 Series Internet Routers, the Cisco 7603 and Cisco7606 are small-form-factor, high-performance routers that deliver opticalspeed local area, wide area, and metropolitan-area networking withhigh-touch IP services at the network edge and in the Internet data center.
The Cisco 7603 delivers high performance with a forwarding rate of 15Million packets per second, and 32 Gigabits per second of bandwidth in acompact, modular chassis. With a powerful combination of speed and services,the company says its Cisco 7603 is optimal for deployment in applicationswhere a small number of interfaces is needed, for example, in a Tier 2 orTier 3 point of presence where space is critical and varying speeds ofaggregation are necessary, or in the metropolitan area to providehigh-performance Ethernet aggregation and uplink.
The Cisco 7606 is a six-slot unit modular chassis and provides a forwardingrate of 30 Mpps and 160 Gbps total throughput. Whether deployed as ahigh-speed wide area network aggregator or for metropolitan Ethernetaggregation and uplink, the Cisco 7606 meets requirements for redundancy,high availability, and rack density.
"After evaluating the Cisco 7603 we are impressed with the flexibility itoffers," said Jon Miller, director of core network development, InterNap."With this router Cisco has done a great job of balancing performance,interface types, interface density and small form factor. For applicationswhere footprint and performance might otherwise be at odds, the Cisco 7603hits the mark."
Both the Cisco 7603 and Cisco 7606 also are designed for high-endenterprises requiring fast-forwarding rates and high-speed connectivity inconjunction with rich IP services. Enterprises can protect their capitalinvestments by utilizing the Cisco 7600 and taking advantage of many Cisco7200 and Cisco 7500 port adapters for terminating DS0 to OC-3 connections.
Cisco 7600 Series routers can scale WAN connectivity from DS0 to OC-48 andLAN connectivity from 10-Mbps Ethernet through 10 Gigabit Ethernet. Ciscoalso continues to enrich the Multiprotocol Label Switching capabilities onthe Cisco 7600 platform. The Cisco 7600 Series was Cisco's first platform tosupport Ethernet over MPLS, and now will support MPLS, MPLS Quality ofService and MPLS VPN, allowing service providers to offer differentiatedservices, to allow quality guarantees, and to build scalable and unifiednetworks for their different enterprise customer requirements.
With expected availability in Oct. 2001, the Cisco 7300 Internet Router hasa base system price of $36,000, which includes the Cisco IOS and 2 GigabitEthernet ports. Additional interfaces start at $25,000. The list price ofthe Cisco 7603 Internet Router base system, including the Cisco IOS and 2Gigabit Ethernet ports, is $45,000, with expected availability by the end ofSept. 2001. The list price of the Cisco 7606 Internet Router base system,including the Cisco IOS and 2 Gigabit Ethernet ports, is $55,000, withexpected availability in Oct. 2001.