MENLO PARK, Calif., January 17, 1994 -- Cisco Systems has added four new models to its Cisco 2000 remote access router family. The new models offer more wide-area connectivity options than any router in the industry and, for the first time, unbundle router hardware and software to achieve greater configuration and pricing flexibility.

Called the Cisco 2500 series, the four products are already in shipment as part of the Cisco 2000 family first introduced in June 1993 to provide full router functionality to small offices.

With the new models, the Cisco 2000 family gains an additional synchronous serial port, an ISDN BRI connection, Flash memory and future data-compression capability. By mid-year, the serial ports on the new platforms will offer the unique ability to operate in either synchronous or asynchronous mode.

Each of the four Cisco 2500 models has one LAN (Ethernet or Token Ring) port, two synchronous serial ports and one asynchronous serial port for use over ordinary telephone lines. Two of the models also have an Integrated Services Digital Network Basic Rate Interface (ISDN BRI) port.

In addition to the two serial lines, the Cisco 2500's auxiliary interface port will be configurable to provide a dial-up line for asynchronous routing -- a feature being implemented across Cisco's full product line (see accompanying release).

The original two models in the Cisco 2000 family, which provide only one synchronous serial port and no ISDN capability, eventually will be phased out in favor of the newer models, which offer greater functionality at comparable or lower price levels.

With the new models, the Cisco 2000 family gains several features previously available only on Cisco's higher-end, more expensive routers. One is a native ISDN BRI (Basic Rate Interface) that removes the requirement for customers to purchase expensive external ISDN terminal adapters. Cisco supports a variety of ISDN signaling specifications, including the National ISDN-1 standard, AT&T's 5E6 ISDN for its 5ESS switch, and Northern Telecom's DMS ISDN (North America); NET3 (Europe); VN2 and VN3 (France); 1TR6 (Germany); SITS 92/48 (United Kingdom); and INS64 (Japan).

Choice of Three Software Suites with Each Platform

With each of the new platforms, users can choose from three software feature sets. The most basic, IP Router Software, includes the IP protocol, transparent and source-route bridging, X.25, Frame Relay, HDLC, PPP, dial-on-demand routing, and the IGRP, RIP, OSPF, BGP and EGP routing protocols. IBM features in the IP Router Software include remote source-route bridging, local acknowledgement, NetBIOS name caching, proxy explorer, and Class of Service LU address prioritization.

A second software suite, Desktop Router Software, is for customers using only a few protocols. It includes all IP Router Software features plus IPX, AppleTalk and DECnet Phase IV. This feature set is closest to that of the original Cisco 2000 series.

The third software feature set, Enterprise Router Software, will include all Cisco-supported communication protocols, routing protocols, WAN technologies (including SMDS), IBM features, and protocol translation software that provides a gateway between X.25, Telnet and DEC LAT environments.

"Our decision to unbundle router software from our hardware platforms for the first time in Cisco's history addresses the wide diversity of feature requirements and price constraints at customers' remote sites. Users can choose low-priced IP-specific software, a set of the most popular desktop protocols, or an enterprise-wide set with our full protocol suite. And with our software upgrade program they're not locked into a given choice," said Lammerding.

Each software suite includes AutoInstall, the unique Cisco capability that allows fast, economical router installation with minimal technical expertise at remote sites. Each also provides for management by the CiscoWorks series of router management applications and other SNMP-based management systems.

Affordable Internet Connectivity

Supported for the first time in the Cisco 2000 family are BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) and EGP (Exterior Gateway Protocol), the primary inter-domain routing protocols used in the global Internet. This allows IP network service providers purchasing the economical IP Router Software suite to offer their customers very affordable Internet connectivity solutions.

Flash EPROM memory, a standard feature on all other Cisco routers, has been added to the Cisco 2500 models to allow fast, reliable software updates.

Each Cisco 2500 model comes standard with 4 megabytes (MB) of Flash EPROM and 2 MB of DRAM system memory (expandable to 6 or 18 MB). Each also has a console port for configuration and an auxiliary port for out-of-band network management.

With the Enterprise Router software set, the Cisco 2500's synchronous ports can be configured to connect SDLC devices to a corporate internetwork using the second synchronous serial port. This configuration allows an organization to protect its SDLC investment while improving performance and management control.

Pricing/Availability

All Cisco 2500 hardware platforms, as well as the IP Router, Desktop Router and Enterprise Router Software suites, are available immediately. Pricing is as follows:

New Hardware Platforms
  Cisco 2501 Ethernet/serial               $  995
  Cisco 2502 Token Ring/serial             $1,495
  Cisco 2503 Ethernet/serial/ISDN BRI      $1,695
  Cisco 2504 Token Ring/serial/ISDN BRI    $2,195

Software
  Cisco 2500 IP Router Software            $1,500
  Cisco 2500 Desktop Router Software       $2,300
  Cisco 2500 Enterprise Router Software    $3,000

Software Upgrades
  IP Router to Desktop Router Software     $1,000
  IP Router to Enterprise Router Software  $2,000
  Desktop to Enterprise Router Software    $1,000

---

Posted: Mon Nov 3 10:36:30 PST 1997