Q&A
SYSTEM OVERVIEW
Q. What is the Cisco® 3800 Series?
A. The Cisco 3800 Series extends Cisco Systems' leadership in multiservice routing with a new family of routers that offers the network the agility, performance, and intelligence needed to meet customers' rapidly evolving network and business challenges. The Cisco 3800 Series is the flagship platform in a portfolio of next-generation routers that integrate advanced technologies, adaptive services, and secure enterprise communications. These new routers offer the performance and reliable packet delivery necessary to efficiently deliver mission-critical network capabilities, including real-time applications such as VoIP, business video, and collaborative communications. Architectural enhancements include embedded security processing, significant platform performance and memory improvements, and new high-density interface types. These design achievements complement the Cisco IOS® Software features and superior investment protection that this platform inherits from the Cisco 3700 Series. The Cisco 3800 Series, comprised of the Cisco 3825 and Cisco 3845 (Figures 1 and 2), serves as a catalyst for midsize organizations and enterprise branch offices that want to gracefully scale their enterprise edges and take advantage of converged business services, while minimizing the cost and complexity of network upgrades.
The Cisco 3800 Series offers two new modular platforms optimized for the secure delivery of concurrent voice, video, data, and wireless. The integrated services architecture of the Cisco 3800 Series builds on the highly successful Cisco 3700 Series design, and adds embedded security and voice processing to a highly modular system that is optimized for rapid deployment of intelligent network services and converged communications. The Cisco 3800 Series supports 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), while supporting the existing portfolio of modular interfaces. This helps to ensure continuing investment protection to accommodate network expansion or changes in technology as new services and applications are deployed. By integrating the functions of multiple separate devices into a single, compact unit, Cisco 3800 Series integrated services routers dramatically reduce the cost and complexity of managing remote networks.
Figure 1. Cisco 3825 Integrated Services Router
Figure 2. Cisco 3845 Integrated Services Router
Q. What are the product numbers for the Cisco 3800 Series?
A. Table 1 lists ordering information for Cisco 3825 and 3845 integrated services routers.
Table 1. Cisco 3800 Series Product Numbers and Descriptions
Q. When will the Cisco 3800 Series be available?
A. The Cisco 3800 Series is planned to be available in October 2004.
Q. Which Cisco IOS Software Release does the Cisco 3800 Series support?
A. The minimum release supported is Cisco IOS Software Release 12.3(11)T.
Q. What are the Cisco IOS feature license upgrade product names for the 3800 Series?
A. See Table 2 below for detailed Cisco IOS feature upgrade license and description.
Table 2. Detailed Cisco IOS Feature Upgrade License and Description
Q. What are the main features of the new Cisco 3800 Series routers?
A. The main features available on the Cisco 3800 Series are outlined in Table 3.
Table 3. Performance and System Characteristics of the Cisco 3800 Series
Q. How does the Cisco 3800 Series compare to the Cisco 2600XM, 2691, 2800, and 3700 platforms?
A. Table 4 offers a detailed feature comparison of these platforms.
Table 4. Feature Comparisons Between Cisco 2600XM, 2800, 2691, 3700, and 3800 Platforms
PLATFORM POSITIONING
Q. Why did Cisco introduce these new routers?
A. As evidenced by Cisco 3700 Series sales, customers have shown tremendous demand for a single, resilient routing system that delivers converged data, security, and voice services. Cisco wanted to take this advanced, multiservice approach to the next level, providing customers with more power and more choices for basic and advanced services. Cisco 3800 Series routers were designed deliver increased performance, while running voice, security, quality of service (QoS), and routing services.
An important component of the Cisco Self-Defending Network, the Cisco 3800 Series features the industry's most comprehensive security services embedded within the router, providing customers with a single, resilient platform to rapidly deploy secure networks and applications. Features include 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, Cisco Intrusion Prevention System [IPS]), and URL filtering.
For voice applications, the Cisco 3800 Series features the highest analog and digital voice densities available, coupled with award-winning IP Communications Express software for call processing, auto attendant and voice mail. Each router includes embedded Digital Signal Processor (DSP) slots, making every router a voice-ready system. Customers can add the voice capabilities they want, when they need it, with the scalability and availability required for large enterprise branch offices. With embedded voice and security features; Cisco IOS Software-based VPN, firewall, and IPS; and optional VPN, Intrusion Detection System (IDS), Content Engine, and Network Analysis network modules, Cisco offers the industry's most robust and adaptable solution for branch offices.
Q. With the introduction of these new platforms, what are the plans for the current Cisco 3700?
A. There are no plans to End-of-Sale the Cisco 3700 for at least 18-24 months from the FCS date of these new platforms. Cisco is committed to continue to develop new features for the Cisco 3700 Series through Cisco IOS release 12.4T, with bug fix support through IOS 12.5 Mainline. Cisco IOS timelines are still being defined-however this should enable new feature development through the end of 2005.
Additionally, to promote the Cisco 3700 Series longevity, Cisco recently raised the default SDRAM memory (and reduced add-on memory pricing) on the of Cisco 3700 Series. These actions were taken to provide customers with investment protection on their current platforms while allowing them to evaluate these new chassis and transition at their own pace.
When Cisco decides to end-of-sale the Cisco 3700 Series, Cisco will provide notice prior to the end-of-sale date along with support plans for the Cisco 3700 Series in accordance with Cisco's standard end-of-life policy.
Q. How is the Cisco 3800 Series positioned against the Cisco 3700 Series?
A. The Cisco 3800 Series is recommended for customers that require higher levels of performance or higher density levels of voice, security, or integrated services such as switching, network analysis, content delivery, and wireless. The Cisco 3800 Series is ideal for process-intensive, higher-performance applications and intelligent network services that need to run concurrently. The Cisco 3800 Series can be used for midsize to large enterprises that want to securely and easily enable strategic business applications for improved productivity, reduced operating and capital expenses (OpEx/CapEx), and increased revenues. The special integrated services system design of the Cisco 3800 Series provides customers with the industry's most adaptive and resilient design for the rapid integration of new services and applications with the highest-possible performance and headroom for growth.
Q. What is the performance of the 3800 series?
A. The 3800 Series routers are designed to deliver multiple concurrent services at wire-speed performance of up to T3/E3 rates. The T3/E3 value represents IMIX packet sizes in higher than typical 3800 services configurations. In less service-intense environments, actual WAN throughput will be higher. In light service environments with 64 byte packets, the 3800 series can achieve between 350-500 Kpps. For a more detailed discussion on chassis, security, and voice performance, please reference the 1800/2800/3800 performance white paper at http://www.cisco.com/go/isr.
Q. How does the Cisco 3800 Series compare with the Cisco 7200 Series?
A. The Cisco 7200 Series features modular and upgradable CPU and hardware-based forwarding engines for maximum flexibility and performance scalability. The series continues to evolve, with the recent addition of the 1-Mpps-capable NPE-G1 processor, which includes three onboard Gigabit Ethernet interfaces and several new software and hardware enhancements. The series offers numerous connectivity options, many of which are not supported on the Cisco 3700 and 3800 series, including Channelized T3/E3, packet over SONET (POS), DPT OC-12, SS7, ESCON, T3/E3 and OC-3 Circuit Emulation, and FDDI. Like the Cisco 3700 Series, the Cisco 3800 Series targets midsize and large enterprise branch offices that require a high degree of service and application performance. Cisco 7200 Series routers are aggregation devices, positioned at sites with integrated applications that require a high density of midspeed connectivity or multiple high-speed connectivity, such as regional aggregation sites and corporate headend sites.
Table 5 provides a comparison of network modules and port adapters.
Table 5. Cisco 7200 and Cisco 3800 Series Product Comparison
* OC-3 support will be available in mid-2005.
NETWORK MODULES, WAN INTERFACE CARDS (WICS), VOICE INTERFACE CARDS (VICS), AND ADVANCED INTEGRATION MODULES (AIM)S
Q. What are some of the built-in capabilities of the new Cisco 3800 Series?
A. Table 6 describes some of the capabilities of the Cisco 3800 Series.
Table 6. Features and Capabilities of the Cisco 3800 Series