Cisco 3825 and Cisco 3845
Cisco redefines branch-office routing with a portfolio of integrated services routers optimized for secure, wire-speed delivery of concurrent data, voice, video, and wireless services. Founded on 20 years of innovation, the Cisco® 3800 Series Integrated Services Routers offer exceptional network agility, performance, and intelligence. These routers transparently integrate advanced technologies, adaptive services, and secure enterprise communications into a single, resilient system. They ease deployment and management, lower network cost and complexity, and provide excellent investment protection (Figure 1).
The Cisco 3800 Series Routers feature embedded security processing, generous performance, high memory capacity, and high-density interfaces that deliver the performance, availability, and reliability required for scaling mission-critical security, IP telephony, business video, network analysis, and web applications in the most demanding enterprise environments. Built for performance, these routers deliver multiple concurrent services up to wire-speed T3/E3 rates.
Figure 1. Cisco 3825 and 3845 Integrated Services Routers
Product Overview
The integrated services routing architecture of the Cisco 3800 Series is designed to embed and integrate security and voice processing with advanced wired and wireless services for rapid deployment of new applications, including application layer functions, intelligent network services, and converged communications. These routers support the bandwidth requirements for multiple Fast Ethernet interfaces per slot, time-division multiplexing (TDM) interconnections, and fully integrated power distribution to modules supporting 802.3af Power over Ethernet (PoE). And at the same time they still support the existing portfolio of modular interfaces, thereby ensuring continued investment protection to accommodate network expansion or changes in technology as new services and applications are deployed. Uninterrupted business operations and business continuity is supported with WAN link redundancy, On-line Insertion and Removal (OIR) and redundant power supply configurations. By integrating the functions of multiple separate devices into a single compact unit, the Cisco 3800 Series Routers dramatically reduce the cost and complexity of managing remote networks.
The Cisco 3800 Series includes the Cisco 3825 and Cisco 3845 Series Routers. These routers integrate a comprehensive set of security features such as firewall, IPSec and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) VPN, intrusion prevention system (IPS), and voice call processing with advanced wired and wireless services for rapid deployment of new applications that include application layer functions, intelligent network services, and converged communications. The Cisco 3800 Series is available in three optional configurations:
• AC power
• AC power with integrated inline power support
• DC power
In addition, two new models, C3825-NOVPN and C3845-NOVPN, offer all the features supported by the Cisco 3825 and Cisco 3845 Series, with the exception of VPN payload encryption and secure voice features. These two new models provide a limited set of security features, such as firewall, and IPS, compared to the Cisco 3825 and Cisco 3845 Series Routers.
Secure Network Connectivity for Data, Voice, and Video
An important component of the Cisco Self-Defending Network, the Cisco 3800 Series Routers feature the industry's most comprehensive security services embedded and integrated within the router, offering you a single, resilient platform to rapidly deploy secure networks and applications.
Cisco integrated services routers provide advanced security services and management capabilities such as built-in hardware encryption acceleration, IP Security (IPSec), VPN (Advanced Encryption Standard [AES], Triple Digital Encryption Standard [3DES], DES, and Multiprotocol Label Switching [MPLS]), stateful firewall protection, dynamic intrusion prevention (IPS), and URL filtering support. Cisco IOS® Software security feature sets enable all of these rich security features, as well as applications such as Cisco Network Admission Control (NAC), Dynamic Multipoint VPN (DMVPN), and Voice and Video Enabled VPN (H-VSEC).
For ease of management and configuration, the Cisco 3800 Series also features the intuitive, web-based Cisco Router and Security Device Manager (SDM) and Cisco Configuration Professional For secure services management, every Cisco integrated services router supports Secure Shell Protocol Version 2 (SSHv2) and Simple Network Management Protocol Version 3 (SNMPv3) to encrypt the management session.
Figure 2. Secure Network Connectivity with Converged IP Communications
Unified Communications
Cisco integrated services routers provide a unique platform for media-rich collaboration experience, including voice, video, and data across business, government agency, and institutional workspaces. The security, resilience, and scalability of the network enables users in any workspace to connect everywhere, every time, and everyone. As shown in Figure 2, the Cisco 3800 Series meets the Unified Communications needs of midsize to large enterprise branch offices, while delivering industry-leading security within a single routing platform. With embedded voice services inside the router, you have maximum deployment flexibility, plus higher densities for stations, trunks, and conferencing.
Unified Communications (UC) is enabled via a rich signaling and media processing infrastructure, including a variety of protocols, media interworking, signal and media security, transcoding, conferencing, and quality of service. Cisco integrated services routers feature the widest range of voice-gateway interfaces, supporting a broad array of signaling and physical network interfaces. In addition, the Cisco Unified Border Element (CUBE) enables IP trunking capability. CUBE functions provide a network-to-network demarcation and interface point for billing, security, call admission control (CAC), quality of service (QoS), and signal interworking.
Cisco integrated services routers offer the award-winning Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express (CUCME) IP telephony solution for wired and cordless wireless LAN (WLAN) phones. For larger, centralized Unified Communications deployments employing Cisco Unified Communications Manager, one can deploy Cisco Unified Survivable Remote Site Telephony (SRST) with the Cisco 3800 Series Routers. SRST provides high availability with feature-rich call-processing redundancy in the event connection to the centralized Cisco Unified Communications Manager is lost. Cisco Unity Express provides integrated branch office messaging capability. Cisco Unified Border Element (CUBE) can be deployed for connecting to service provider Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunk solutions or across various unified communications solutions. Small offices and branch offices can take advantage of a complete, all-in-one data, voice-processing, voicemail, and Automated-Attendant system by adding a Cisco Unity® Express advanced integration module (AIM) or network module to this solution.
Cisco 3800 Series Routers also feature the widest range of voice-gateway interfaces, scaling to meet the requirements of all sizes of branch offices for voice termination densities using a combination of SIP trunk software, network modules, extension voice modules (EVMs), voice interface cards (VICs), voice/WAN interface cards (VWICs), and onboard packet voice DSP modules (PVDMs). These routers offer scalability to support up to 24 T1/E1 trunks and 88 foreign-exchange-station (FXS) ports for analog phones, fax machines, key systems, and conference stations.
VoiceXML Solution Infrastructure
The Cisco 3800 Series Routers can interpret VoiceXML documents. VoiceXML is an open-standard markup language used to create voice-enabled Web browsers and IVR applications. Just as HTML enables users to retrieve data with a PC, VoiceXML enables subscribers to retrieve data using a telephone set. The accessibility of the telephone and its ease of use make VoiceXML applications a powerful alternative to HTML for accessing the information and services that the Internet provides. The Cisco VoiceXML Solution Infrastructure takes advantage of Cisco 3800 Series DSP resources, signaling, and media-conversion capabilities to execute VoiceXML application logic at the edge of the network, offloading servers and the network to support unified communications services.
The Cisco 3800 Series running a VoiceXML or TCL application can use Media Resource Control Protocol (MRCP) to control media resources on external media servers, such as speech synthesizers for text-to-speech (TTS) and speech recognizers for automatic speech recognition (ASR). The ability of this gateway to interact with ASR and TTS servers provides the capabilities required to satisfy the most demanding and advanced IVR solutions.
Wireless LAN and WAN Services
The Cisco 3800 Series can provide a complete wireless solution for branch offices, companies of all sizes, and Wi-Fi hotspots. Wireless services enable greater mobility for employees, partners, and customers, resulting in increased productivity. The Cisco 3800 Series supports an integrated access point for WLAN connectivity, Wi-Fi hotspot services for public access, wireless infrastructure services for cordless WLAN telephony and for larger sites, and land mobile radio over IP (LMRoIP) for radio users.
The Cisco 3G WWAN High-Speed WAN Interface Cards (HWICs) are tightly integrated with the services provided on the award-winning Cisco 3800 Series Integrated Services Routers, which deliver secure data, voice, video, and mobility services. When coupled with a service provider wireless data plan, the Cisco 3G WWAN HWICs provide a cost-effective, rapidly deployable, reliable, and secure backup solution for remote sites and branch offices. With data rates exceeding T1 speeds, third-generation (3G) networks provide an alternative to wireline backup solutions such as ISDN, cable, and DSL. If a network failure occurs, the Cisco integrated services router routes mission-critical data to the Cisco 3G WWAN HWIC for transmission across the wireless infrastructure. In addition, the router can distinguish different types of traffic and allow only mission-critical traffic to flow over the backup interface.
Video Surveillance
The Cisco Integrated Video Surveillance solution enables you to rapidly deploy highly distributed IP-enabled video surveillance at your offices while migrating traditional analog surveillance equipment to IP. Based on Cisco 2800 and 3800 Series Routers, the solution offers the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) for the branch office, ease of integration through network transparency, reliable data interoperability, and maximized overall security. It allows you to consolidate costly branch-office servers and deploy new applications centrally while still offering real-time access to physical security video and data.
Integrated Services
Figure 2 also highlights the fact that with the unique integrated services architecture of the Cisco 3800 Series, you can securely deploy IP communications with traditional IP routing and still leave the network-module slots available for additional advanced services. With the optional integration of a wide array of services modules, the Cisco 3800 offers the ability to easily integrate the functions of standalone network appliances and components into the Cisco 3800 Series chassis itself. Many of these network modules, such as the Cisco Network Analysis Module (NAM), the Cisco Intrusion Prevention System (IPS), and Cisco Wide Area Application Services (WAAS) Network Modules, have embedded processors and hard drives that allow them to run largely independently of the router, while allowing their management from a single management interface. This flexibility greatly expands the potential applications of the Cisco 3800 Series beyond traditional routing while still maintaining the benefits of integration: ease of management, lower solution costs, and increased speed of deployment.
Application Integration
The Cisco Application eXtension Platform (AXP) enhances the capabilities of the Cisco ISR 3800 by enabling a tighter integration between the branch network, IT and application infrastructure. The Cisco AXP further lowers TCO by providing an open Linux based platform to develop and host custom and third party applications directly on the Cisco ISR. The Cisco AXP provides a standards-based Linux hosting environment within the integrated services router, allowing third parties to integrate applications with the router. Tightly integrated, the AXP environment is configured and managed through the router. Harnessing this integration, an AXP application can appear to the end user as an extension of the router.
Primary Features and Benefits
The global economy is increasingly reliant on networked enterprise applications and the Internet as indispensable tools for addressing urgent business challenges. Successful companies require secure, high-performance networks that can quickly adapt to support volatile business conditions while helping boost competitive advantage and increasing network efficiencies. They must invest in network infrastructure that uses essential technologies and easily enables improved models of communication without disruption to core business functions. The Cisco 3800 Series can help your company operate securely in a networked economy and easily implement network services that will improve your business without affecting existing operations or degrading network performance.
Table 1 gives the features and benefits of the Cisco 3800 Series.
Table 1. Features and Benefits of Cisco 3800 Series