Cisco 2600/3600 Virtual Private Network (VPN) Modules Enable Cost Savings, Extended Connectivity, and Improved Application Performance for Enterprises
SAN JOSE, Calif., February 5, 2001- Cisco Systems, Inc., today announced Virtual Private Network (VPN) modules for the Cisco 2600 and 3600 modular multiservice routers, enabling enterprise customers to dramatically reduce wide area network (WAN) costs while securely extending remote connectivity.
As part of the Cisco Architecture for Voice, Video and Integrated Data (Cisco AVVID), these new hardware modules increase the performance of the currently available software-based Cisco 2600 and 3600 VPN solutions by up to a factor of 10 to support higher VPN WAN access speeds and additional concurrent applications without diminished performance.
As customers continue to Web-enable businesses using Cisco AVVID, comprehensive solutions for routing, voice-over-data gateways, firewall tasks, and secure VPN applications are essential to reduce installation and support complexity, consolidate network infrastructure, and scale new services on a cost effective platform.
Along these lines, the new VPN modules for the Cisco 2600 and 3600 series provide comprehensive VPN support in a single multiservice platform capable of supporting data, voice, dial, and VPN applications concurrently.
The new VPN modules are attractive to enterprises as customers look to VPNs to remove the costly requirement for leased lines, while enabling sophisticated remote access services. With this product introduction for the Cisco 2600 and 3600 modular multiservice routers, Cisco now delivers high performance VPN encryption modules for its entire range of Cisco multiservice routers, from the small-office Cisco 1700 Router to the high-end Cisco 7100 VPN Router and Cisco 7200 Multiservice Router.
VPNs for Health Industry Leader
Siemens Medical Solutions Health Services Corporation (Siemens), formerly Shared Medical Systems Corporation, a Cisco Certified Gold Partner, operates the Health industry's largest data center, the Information Services Center (ISC), and Health Information Network for application hosting, e-commerce, enterprise systems management, and managed Internet and infrastructure services.
"We at Siemens are excited about the release of the VPN modules for the Cisco 2600and 3600 platforms. We've been very successful with the use of IPsec VPN tunneling to connect our ISC to our business partners, field offices, and conferences across the United States. Cisco's VPN technology gives us the ability to meet our business needs by providing the flexibility to quickly deploy data, voice and video wherever and whenever we need it," said Stuart Higgins, Advisor and CCIE for Network Services/Applied Technology, at Siemens Medical Solutions Health Services Corporation."
Cisco 2600 and 3600 VPN Modules: Security, Scalability and Performance
The Cisco 2600 and 3600 series deliver integrated routing, firewall, dial, Packet Voice gateway and VPN functions for multiservice applications. The Cisco 2600 and 3600 routers integrate all the features necessary for secure, scalable and reliable VPN deployments, including encryption and tunneling protocols with industry-standard IP Security (IPsec), perimeter security with optional firewall/intrusion detection software, and application-aware QoS and bandwidth management for VPN transport reliability.
The VPN module occupies an AIM slot in the Cisco 2600 or 3660 chassis, or a network module slot in the Cisco 3620/3640 chassis. The modules offload the router's main processor by performing encryption and other IPsec related tasks in hardware, offering increased performance compared to software-based implementations, and freeing up the main processor to perform other router, voice and firewall functions. It encrypts data using the Data Encryption Standard (DES) and 3DES algorithms at speeds suitable for multiple full-duplex T1/E1 serial connections. The Cisco 2600/3600 series, when equipped with the VPN encryption modules will support as many as 2000 encrypted tunnels for concurrent sessions with mobile users or other sites, at speeds up to 24Mb/s.
Pricing and Availability
The Cisco VPN Modules for the Cisco 2600 and 3600 series modular multiservice routers are currently shipping with a U.S. list prices starting from$1500.
