Cisco Announces New Modular Internet/Intranet Routers That Deliver Simple and Affordable Businesses Connectivity

Cisco 1600 series routers deliver flexibility and expandability in a modular design

SAN JOSE, Calif. - October 28, 1996 - Cisco Systems, Inc. today announced the Cisco 1600 series of modular access routers. The Cisco 1600 series delivers unsurpassed WAN flexibility, and end-to-end Security and quality of service to customers deploying time-sensitive Internet/intranet Multimedia applications. The Cisco 1600 series introduces an affordable best-of-class solution to businesses connecting to the Internet or building corporate intranets. Also targeted toward connecting offices of independent businesses together, the Cisco 1600 series delivers flexibility and investment protection against changes in WAN technologies and service availability.

"Cisco is the first vendor to deliver an affordable next-generation modular access router that enables cost-conscious customers to deploy secure end-to-end multimedia networks," said Kevin Kennedy, vice president and general manager of the Access Business Unit at Cisco Systems. "Additionally, with built-in modularity, the Cisco 1600 series gives customers the choice to deploy WAN services such as ISDN today and migrate to higher-speed connectivity as bandwidth requirements increase or new technologies evolve."

Cisco 1600 Series Modular Routers

All Cisco 1600 models include one Ethernet port, one built-in WAN port and one WAN Interface Card (WIC) expansion slot for additional connectivity and flexibility. The Cisco 1601 includes a built-in serial WAN port; the Cisco 1602 has an onboard Channel Service Unit/Data Service Unit (CSU/DSU); the 1603 has an ISDN Basic Rate Interface (BRI) port; and the Cisco 1604 includes an ISDN BRI interface and a built-in Network Termination (NT-1) device. The Cisco 1600 series shares modular WICs with the newly announced Cisco 3600 series, further increasing cross-platform flexibility and investment protection.

"As a service provider, it is absolutely vital to us that our access routers provide flexibility and modularity to move from one WAN service or technology to another," said John Pannell, product marketing manager of British Telecom. "As user needs change and WAN technology and services evolve investment protection must be maintained."

End-to-End Security and Quality of Service

The Cisco 1600 series supports end-to-end security with a rich set of Cisco IOS(TM) software security features, including firewalling, user, router and route authentication, Lock & Key and Payload Encryption, ensuring secure transmission of data through open public networks. The Cisco 1600 series addresses end-to-end quality of service with upcoming support for advanced multimedia protocols including Resource Reservation (RSVP), Weighted Fair Queuing (WFQ), Real-Time Transport (RTP) and IP Multicast, enabling efficient bandwidth utilization required by evolving multimedia (data, voice and video) applications. The combination of end-to-end security and end-to-end quality of service maximizes customer flexibility and investment protection in Internet/intranet connectivity and deployment of new advanced applications.

Internet/Intranet Access

To provide customers with maximum flexibility and cost optimization, the Cisco 1600 series supports Network Address Translation (NAT) and IPX to IP gateway features. These features enable customers to roll out new networks without worrying about the cost and workload associated with changing end-station addresses or upgrading IPX clients to IP. Both NAT and the IPX to IP gateway consume only one single IP address for the entire LAN, significantly conserving address space for both service providers and private businesses. Additionally, the Cisco 1600 series supports Virtual Private Networking and encrypting technology, allowing customers to build and deploy secure networks over the public Internet.

Ease of Deployment and Use

The Cisco 1600 series includes a number of software options for ease-of-use and low-cost deployment. Cisco's ClickStart(TM) software configuration and monitoring tool allows PC or workstation users to install, configure and monitor a Cisco 1600 series router in minutes with any Web browser. Cisco AutoInstall is also supported for central site configuration downloads and a flash card for Cisco IOS software storage makes the Cisco 1600 series easy to manage locally or centrally. With support for CiscoWorks^(TM), an SNMP-based management software application, customers can easily configure, monitor and troubleshoot their entire network from a central location.

WAN Optimization

The Cisco 1600 series supports a variety of Cisco IOS features that optimize reliability and lower recurring WAN costs. These include Dial-on-Demand routing, Bandwidth-on-Demand, disaster recovery, snapshot routing, IPX/SPX spoofing and AppleTalk Name Binding Protocol (NBP) filtering, as well as link and payload compression. Additional features include support for RIP (Routing Information Protocol), RIPv2, Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) and Internet Gateway Routing Protocol (IGRP).

Delivering End-to-End Remote Access Solutions

Cisco offers the most comprehensive line of end-to-end remote access solutions available today. The following products complement the Cisco 1600 series, delivering a broad range of connectivity options. The Cisco 2500 Series is ideally suited for enterprise branch offices where support for a large number of users and wide range of WAN protocols is required. The newly announced Cisco 3600 series is best-suited for central-site offices and small- to- medium-sized Internet Service Providers (ISPs) requiring high-density ISDN connectivity or a mixture of WAN technologies. For high-speed connectivity over Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) or Fast Ethernet, the high-performance Cisco 4500/4700 is ideally suited. With such depth and breadth of access products complementing the Cisco 1600 series, along with Cisco IOS software features throughout the product line, Cisco delivers complete end-to-end remote access connectivity.Pricing and availability The Cisco 1600 series is available immediately directly from Cisco starting at a list price of U.S. $1,495, including software. The CiscoPro(TM) 1600 models are available simultaneously through authorized CiscoPro resellers.

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 WAN switches, dial-up access servers and network management software---are integrated by Cisco IOS^TM 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.

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