- More Information on Cisco 7200 Series Routers
- More Information on Cisco 7500 Series Routers
- More Information on Cisco VIP
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- January 28, 1997 -- Cisco Systems, Inc. todayannounced a series of enhancements and new systems for its high-endrouters that will significantly boost performance, while driving downcosts.
The enhancements include systems based on a new, integrated Route/SwitchProcessor (the RSP4); a new Versatile Interface Processor card (theVIP2-15) for Cisco 7500 series routers; new port adapter modules forboth 7500 series and 7200 series systems; and a new network processingengine for the 7200 series.
With the introduction of these new products, Cisco also announced thatthe prices of some existing RSP2-based systems, VIPs and otherinterfaces have been reduced because of lower component costs andenhanced manufacturing efficiencies. For example, the prices of Cisco7507 and 7513 systems with RSP2s have been reduced $4,000 ( to $15,900and $24,900, respectively. Cisco also reduced the price of itsChannelized T-3 Interface Processor.
By making these and other recent enhancements to its high-end routers,Cisco has significantly exceeded the historical price/performancebenchmarks established in the microprocessor market. These benchmarksoften are compared to price/performance trends in the high-end routingmarket, according to Richard Palmer, director of marketing for Cisco'sCore Products Business Unit.
"Microprocessor manufacturers strive to develop, every 18 months, newproducts that cost about the same as existing systems, but deliver twicethe performance," Palmer said. "No one thought that could be done in thehigh-end router market. But with these and the other new products we'veintroduced in the last year-and-a-half, Cisco actually has cut per-portprices in half, increased port density by seven times and quadrupledperformance."
Since mid-1995, for example, Cisco has reduced the per-port prices ofDS-1 serial interfaces for its high-end routers from $2,600 to $1,300.During the same time, the company has increased the packet-processingperformance of its high-end routers from 250,000 packets per second(pps) to more than 1 million pps and increased the maximum number ofDS-1 serial ports from 44 to more than 300.
The new RSP4 systems that Cisco announced today can boost performance by40 to 50 percent for most protocols and, in some cases, deliver athree-fold improvement.
Cisco's new Versatile Interface Processor, the VIP2-15, offers nearlytwice the Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) capacity of the VIP2-10,enabling it to support new, higher-speed, higher density port adaptermodules (daughter cards). Cisco Versatile Interface Processor cardsoffer distributed switching and high performance for the application ofCisco IOS services providing security, quality of service (QoS) andtraffic management.
Today, Cisco also rolled out several new, high-speed, high-density portadapter modules for its 7500 and 7200 series routers ( including fullduplex Token Ring, 100VG AnyLAN, full duplex FDDI, ATM OC-3 (155 Mbps),ISDN Primary Rate Interface (E-1 and T-1) and ISDN Basic Rate Interface( which will give customers a wider range of LAN and WAN connectivityoptions than ever before. The company also announced its intent to shipGigabit Ethernet and ATM OC-12 (622 Mbps) interfaces for its high-endrouters in 1998.
This unprecedented level of high-density, LAN and WAN connectivityoptions is especially important to companies such as PeopleSoft, Inc. ofPleasanton, Calif., which develops client/server-based softwaresolutions for human resources, finance, material management,distribution and manufacturing. PeopleSoft will use the new, Ciscohigh-end routing products to help scale its communications network,which delivers information to employees around the world and supportshundreds of customers.
"When you're growing at the rate that we are, you need to be able to addmore capacity without much fuss," said Stan Christensen, networkengineer at PeopleSoft. "With Cisco, we can definitely scale quitetremendously. We know that our routing and switching technology can bedeployed on a small site and then stretched to accommodate a very largesite without having to buy more equipment. We just plug in another portto add the capacity we need. Cisco provides some of the largest portdensity in the industry, and that's a big advantage for us."
While introducing enhancements to its 7500 series routers, Cisco Systemsalso announced today a new network processing engine (the NPE-100) forits 7200 series. The new central processing unit (CPU) is a more costeffective alternative to the NPE-150, introduced last June for the Cisco7204 and 7206. The new network processing engine is ideal for customersrunning applications that don't require the high processing power andsystem bandwidth supported by the NPE-150.
Meanwhile, Cisco announced end of sales for the Cisco 7000 and 7010,effective July 31, 1997. The company will help customers migrate fromCisco 7000 to 7500 series platforms through a new, flexible upgradeprogram. Under the program, customers can receive a credit of up to 35percent of the original price they paid for a 7000 series system, whichcan be applied to the purchase of a 7500 series system.
Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) is the leading global supplier of enterprise internetworking solutions,including routers, LAN and ATM switches, dial-up access servers andnetwork management software. These products, integrated by the
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