Cisco 7200 Series Extends High-End Capabilities To Wider Range Of Network Environments
SAN JOSE, Calif. - June 10, 1996 - Cisco Systems, Inc. today announced a new series of multiprotocol routers that delivers the performance, port density and availability typically associated with high-end systems - at per-port prices up to 40 percent less than competing routers. The Cisco 7200 series, which consists of the four-slot Cisco 7204 and six-slot Cisco 7206, supports the full suite of Cisco IOS(tm) software services, enabling users to manage access to network resources, allocate quality of service (QoS) among applications and provide new, value-added security and traffic accounting capabilities.
"When you talk about price, performance and port density, the gap between mid-range and high-end routing systems has been increasing," said Rolf McClellan, senior consultant at Strategic Networks Consulting, Inc. in Rockland, Mass. "The Cisco 7200 series should fill this gap nicely. It delivers the punch and port density needed in regional office and distributed backbone environments at aggressive per-port prices."
Cisco's new 7200 series breaks new ground in port density/price by providing as many as 48 Ethernet, 24 Serial, or 24 Token Ring ports. These high-density options enable users to drive costs down to as little as $1,285 per port.
The Cisco 7206, available now, has a system capacity of 600 Mbps and is powered by a RISC-based, 150-MHz system processor that can switch 140,000 packets per second. The Cisco 7204 will ship in the third calendar quarter of 1996. With Cisco's recently announced NetFlow(tm) Switching software, available in the third quarter for the Cisco 7200 series, switching performance can scale to 150,000 packets per second.
NetFlow Switching is a Cisco IOS software switching mechanism that identifies traffic flows between internetwork hosts and then, on a connection-oriented basis, switches packets in these flows at the same time that it applies relevant services. (Traffic flows are uni-directional streams of packets between a given source and destination, both defined by network-layer IP address and transport-layer port number.) This streamlined way of handling packets will enhance overall system performance on the Cisco 7200 series and increase performance for Cisco IOS services providing access control and traffic accounting information.
"Our cost-effective and powerful 7200 series will enable customers to extend new Cisco IOS services and bring the stability, security and control of Layer 3 switching to a much wider range of network configurations and environments," said Frank Marshall, vice president and general manager of Cisco's Core routing Business Unit.
Scalable Switched Networks
The Cisco 7200 series provides users with the routing capabilities that are essential in building reliable, scalable switched networks and moving traffic between virtual LANs (VLANs). With Cisco IOS software, it supports the widest range of routing protocols available, including IP, IPX, AppleTalk and DECnet. In addition, it supports Cisco's Inter-Switch Link (ISL) protocol for transporting VLANs across Fast Ethernet and the IEEE 802.10 standard for transporting VLANs over FDDI.
Customers with the 7200 series have a cost-effective platform that is well-suited to handling large volumes of high-speed, inter-VLAN data traffic. Featuring an embedded Fast Ethernet port, the 7200 series can be used in combination with Cisco's Catalyst LAN switches to deliver additional speed and port density in a cost-effective package. Thus, customers can take advantage of full, Layer 3 routing functionality in switched LAN environments, which do not need the high-end bandwidth and performance provided by the Cisco 7500 series.
Internet and WAN Access
By combining high performance with support for large numbers of WAN connections (up to 24 serial ports), Cisco 7200 systems give remote-office users faster, more cost-effective access to the Internet and to resources at corporate headquarters.
The new routers also will support Cisco IOS network encryption services, which enable traffic to be encrypted using private Data Encryption Standard (DES) and public key mechanisms. Consequently, remote users can safely transport mission-critical or confidential data across corporate networks or the Internet. With Cisco's new encryption port adapter, available in the fourth quarter of 1996, and with NetFlow Switching, users can boost the performance of these services and can selectively apply encryption to just the applications which require it. This improves overall network performance and is less expensive than encrypting all traffic on each link.
Cisco's new 7200 series provides similar benefits to service providers. They can offer greater WAN concentration at remote points of presence and full routing capabilities without having to deploy high-end systems at those locations. Further, service providers can use the 7200 routers for cost-effective frame relay concentration.
IBM Campus and Regional Office Environments
Cisco 7200 series routers offer more Token Ring ports (up to 24) than any competing platform, which is critical in IBM campus and regional office environments. Additionally, these new systems provide the high performance required for data-link switching plus (DLSw+) or advanced peer-to-peer networking (APPN).
Customers can maximize network scalability and minimize cost by using Cisco 7200 series routers as DLSw+ peers or APPN network nodes. The 7200 series offers the high performance required for these functions, as well as the density to support large numbers of serial interfaces. This makes it an ideal WAN access solution for integrated IBM and multiprotocol routers.
Modular Design Offers Unmatched Flexibility
Based on a modular design, the Cisco 7200 series supports the same port adapter modules used with Cisco 7000 and 7500 series Versatile Interface Processor cards (VIPs), which protects customer investments and minimizes spare parts inventories. With its compact, 5 1/4-inch tall package, the Cisco 7200 series offers more than double the port density in half the rack space used by Cisco's 7010 router.
When the Cisco 7204 and 7206 first ship, they will support Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Token Ring, FDDI and serial port adapter modules in various densities. (See following list.) ATM, ISDN, 100VG-AnyLAN and high-speed serial (HSSI) interfaces for the 7200 series will be introduced later, beginning in the fourth quarter of 1996.
Users can customize their systems by choosing from a selection of chassis and I/O controller types. What's more, the Cisco 7200 series will be very easy for customers to use and manage. With the new routers, Cisco is introducing management tools based on the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) standard. HTML support enables network mangers to monitor and manage the Cisco 7200 through a Web browser installed on a remote personal computer. For example, administrators can check the status of all interfaces and modify the configuration.
Reliability and Serviceability
To ensure that mission-critical applications are always available when users need them, the Cisco 7200 series features dual load-sharing power supplies and supports on-line insertion and removal of port adapters. To enhance serviceability, each element of the Cisco 7200 system, including the backplane, is field replaceable.
Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the leading global supplier of internetworking solutions for corporate intranets and the global Internet. Cisco's products, including routers, LAN and ATM switches, dial-up access servers and network management software, are integrated by the Cisco IOS software to link geographically dispersed LANs, WANs and IBM networks. Company news and product/service information are available at World Wide Web site http://www.cisco.com. Cisco is headquartered in San Jose, Calif.
Posted: Mon Jun 10 13:19:39 PDT 1996
