Cisco ASR 1001-X Router
ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services Router

Reinventing Edge Routing

Cisco ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services Routers aggregate multiple WAN connections and network services, including encryption and traffic management, and forward them across WAN connections at line speeds from 2.5 to 200 Gbps. The routers contain both hardware and software redundancy in an industry-leading high-availability design.

The latest addition to the Cisco ASR Family is the Cisco ASR 1001-X Router, a single-rack-unit (RU) router supporting 2.5- to 20-Gbps forwarding capacity. Cisco ASR 1001-X Router speeds can be “turned up” incrementally to as much as 20 Gbps with a simple throughput upgrade license, rather than having to purchase additional hardware blades or new routers.

The Cisco ASR 1000 Series supports Cisco IOS XE Software, a modular operating system with modular packaging, feature velocity, and powerful resiliency. The Cisco ASR 1000 Series Embedded Services Processors (ESPs), which are based on Cisco QuantumFlow Processor technology, accelerate many advanced features such as crypto-based access security; Network Address Translation (NAT), thread defense with Cisco Zone-Based Firewall (ZBFW), deep packet inspection (DPI), Cisco Unified Border Element (CUBE), and a diverse set of data center interconnect (DCI) features. These services are implemented in Cisco IOS XE Software without the need for additional hardware support.

Cisco ASR 1000 Routers sit at the edge of your enterprise data center or large office connecting to the WAN, as well as in service provider points of presence (POPs). The Cisco ASR 1000 Series will benefit the following types of customers:

• Enterprises experiencing explosive network traffic as mobility, cloud networking, and video and collaboration usage ramp up. Cisco ASRs consolidate these various traffic streams and apply traffic management and redundancy properties to them to maintain consistent performance among enterprise sites and cloud locations.
• Network service providers needing to deliver high-performance services, such as DCI and branch-office server aggregation, to business customers. Service providers can also use the multiservice routers to deploy hosted and managed services to business and multimedia services to residential customers.
• Existing Cisco 7200 Series Router (End-of-Sale) customers looking for simple migration to a new multiservice platform that delivers greater performance with the same design.

Features and Benefits:

The Cisco ASR 1000 Series Routers carry a modular yet integrated design, so network operators can increase their network capacity and services without a hardware upgrade. With flexibility in the number of connections, speed maximums, and price, you don’t have to under-provision or overprovision for any network location. Alternatively, you also have the option to buy an “-X” model, so you can increase throughput by simply purchasing upgrade licenses as you grow to increase your network speed dynamically.

Table summarizes the features and benefits of the Cisco ASR 1000 Series Routers.

Features	Benefits
High Availability
Redundant hardware components and power supplies	Provides system and business continuity. Redundant Route Processors and Embedded Services Processors in ASR 1006 and ASR 1013. Redundant instances of Cisco IOS XE Software in ASR 1001, ASR 1001-X, ASR 1002, ASR 1002-X, and ASR1004.
Stateful interchassis redundancy	Redundant hardware combined with modular software contains faults preventing systemwide failure. Enables redundancy across routers by using a pair of routers to act as backup for each other. Provides 99.999% (“five-nines”) availability for consistent, high-performance user application experiences.
In-Service Software Upgrade (ISSU) support	No need to schedule downtime windows; changes are made while the system keeps on working, with nonstop routing availability.
Cisco IOS XE Software Sub-package Mode	Ability to upgrade individual software components with reduced upgrade time.
Scalable Capacity and Throughput
Cisco QuantumFlow Processor-based platform	Enables advanced services to operate at high speeds without the need for additional hardware or blades.
Hardware acceleration	Features like QoS, crypto, and access control lists (ACLs) are processed in hardware.
Control and forwarding-plane separation	Ability to scale control plane and data plane independent of each other.
Investment Protection
Software modularity	Allows you to mix and match the services that best meet your business needs; no “wasted” investments on capabilities you don’t need.
Pay-as-you-grow licensing with “-X” models	When you need greater throughput, you simply activate it with a change in software license, rather than having to expend capital for additional hardware.
Cisco Shared Port Adapters (SPAs)	Allow you to reuse your investment in network I/O across platforms.
Cisco Network Interface Modules (NIMs)	Allow you to reuse your investment in network I/O across platforms.

Solutions:

Cisco ASR 1000 Series Routers: Transform and Extend the Enterprise WAN Edge

Cisco creates a new paradigm for the WAN edge with the Cisco ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services Routers, which offer business-critical resiliency with intelligent services flexibility to allow enterprise businesses to accelerate their growth potential.

What Is the Cisco ASR 1000 Series Router?

The Cisco ASR 1000 Series Router, a critical part of the Cisco Borderless Network Architecture, is the industry's first aggregation services router and the first system within the Cisco portfolio to use the Cisco QuantumFlow Processor, a processor built for edge-based service delivery (refer to Figure 1). You can deploy the Cisco ASR 1000 Series Routers at the enterprise to provide secure WAN aggregation services; integrated threat and defense services at the WAN or Internet edge; data center interconnect (DCI) router; managed customer premises-equipment (CPE) services; or to deliver complex residential quadruple-play (data, voice, video, and mobile) or business services from the provider edge.

Cisco QuantumFlow Processor: The Next-Generation Network Processor from Cisco

Meeting the requirements of the aggregation service edge required an entirely new category of network processors. Cisco has developed an innovative router engine called the Cisco QuantumFlow Processor, which is the industry's first fully integrated and programmable flow processor. The Cisco QuantumFlow Processor combines massive parallel processing, customized quality of service (QoS), advanced memory management, and integrated services programmability. With these capabilities, the Cisco ASR 1000 Series accelerates service deployment and feature velocity, resulting in reduced qualification and deployment time and lower operating expenses (OpEx).

What Problems Does It Help Solve?

Enterprises worldwide face several new WAN infrastructure challenges:

• WAN edge infrastructure performance: Enterprises need to deliver higher-performance, higher-bandwidth services over their converged WANs, along with capacity headroom to operate efficiently.
• Highly available WAN infrastructure: Enterprises need to provide anytime, everywhere access to applications and services over the WAN. This provision requires a more highly available, resilient, and adaptive infrastructure than they have today.
• WAN security for data protection and compliance: Businesses need to satisfy industry regulations regarding data privacy, and adhere to regulations such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), Payment Card Industry (PCI), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and so on.
• Service delivery with application intelligence: Enterprises need to meet demanding internal service-level agreements (SLAs), with improved service delivery and application performance over the WAN.

Cisco ASR 1000 Series Positioning

The Cisco ASR 1000 Series provides scalable, secure multiservice aggregation at the headquarters, and high-end branch-office and managed CPE services in remote offices. By meeting or exceeding these requirements, the Cisco ASR 1000 Series Routers are helping to define the new enterprise WAN.

Cisco Enterprise WAN Routing Portfolio

Benefits of Cisco ASR 1000 Series Routers

Enterprises deploying the Cisco ASR 1000 Series Routers can realize the following benefits:

Very high performance at the WAN edge to support new and faster WAN services:

• More than twentyfold increase in WAN bandwidth performance and capacity compared with Cisco 7200 Series Routers
• New collaborative and secure connectivity features enabled with Cisco WebEx® Node on Cisco ASR 1000 Series for on-premises web meeting acceleration, Cisco Unified Border Element (UBE) Service Provider and Enterprise Editions for enhanced business-to-business telepresence, high-definition (HD) voice and video telephony, voice-over-IP (VoIP) public-switched-telephone-network (PSTN) interconnect, and enhanced secure connectivity and application optimization
• New WAN initiatives such as segmentation of enterprise networks for workgroups, data-center consolidation, and converged data, voice, and video applications facilitated
• Easy upgrade path because the Cisco ASR 1000 Series Router price/performance is positioned between the Cisco 7200 Series at the low end of the portfolio and the Cisco 7600 Series and Cisco Catalyst® 6500 Series at the high end

Unparalleled WAN availability for consistent and reliable service delivery across the WAN:

• Highly available carrier-class design with redundant hardware and software, providing consistent, reliable, and "always-on" services
• Resilient hardware platform architecture with control- and data-plane separation for powerful system availability
• Complete hardware redundancy for forwarding and route processors with millisecond failover and zero packet loss (Note: forwarding engine failover results in minimal packet loss.)
• Industry's first redundant software (Cisco IOS® XE Software) on nonredundant hardware (1-rack-unit [1RU], 2RU, and 4RU chassis)
• Modular Cisco IOS XE Software that provides ability to remotely restart, fault containment, and In-Service Software Upgrades (ISSUs)

High-performance embedded WAN edge security for attack prevention and compliance:

• Ability to instantly turn on embedded security services without affecting WAN routing performance
• Integrated "all-in-one" router approach that simplifies operation and reduces costs and time to qualify, deploy, and maintain the WAN infrastructure
• Secure services aggregation for private WAN and remote sites
• Embedded secure Internet access, session border controller, firewall, and VPN termination
• Built-in high-performance, integrated security services that reduce the need for standalone devices:
  • Control packets, computation of routes, and connection setup; a redundant route-processor module option is available for the 6RU and 13RU chassis
  • Secure connectivity services: Provides secure and scalable network connectivity, incorporating multiple types of traffic; examples include various VPN services such as Dynamic Multipoint VPN (DMVPN), Group Encrypted Transport VPN, Enhanced Easy VPN, and up to 11-Gbps IP Security (IPsec) VPN services
  • Integrated threat control: Prevents and responds to network attacks and threats using network services; examples include Virtual Route Forwarding (VRF)-aware firewall and Network Address Translation (NAT) services with up to 100-Gbps throughput, NetFlow services, and multigigabit deep packet inspection through Network-Based Application Recognition (NBAR), Flexible Packet Matching (FPM), and Application Visibility and Control (AVC) to provide a rapid first line of defense against network threats and notable worms and viruses

Improved WAN service levels and operational excellence:

• Reduced and optimized total WAN operating costs through effective bandwidth usage, and overlaid network and device consolidation, power efficiencies, and service integration
• Improved bandwidth usage with WAN optimization features such as Web Cache Communication Protocol Version 2 (WCCPv2), and traffic management and instrumentation (scalable full NetFlow Version 9)
• Innovative hardware and software architecture to readily adapt to new business requirements
• Sophisticated Cisco ASR 1000 Series Router system software and hardware design to address oversubscription and provide scalable and flexible QoS for predictable application performance

Cisco ASR 1000 Series Components

A common hardware and software architecture and common components are used across the Cisco ASR 1000 Series Routers. Primary components include:

• Chassis: The chassis is available in five different form factors, and all have capability for dual power supplies.
• Route processor: The route processor runs the router control plane, including processing of network control packets, computation of routes, and connection setup.
• Embedded services processor (ESP): The ESP includes the Cisco Quantum Flow Processor chip set and provides forwarding, services, and traffic management (QoS) capabilities. A redundant ESP module option is available for the 6RU and 13RU chassis.
• SPA interface processor (SIP): The SIP is the housing for the shared port adapters (SPAs) in the system, each of which can take up to 4 half-height SPAs, or 2 double-height SPAs, or 1 double-height SPA and 2 single-height SPAs.

Use Cases:

Cisco ASR 1000 Series Enterprise Applications
Deployment Scenario	Description	System Characteristics
WAN edge: Guarantee high-priority applications by creating a virtual “glass ceiling” for lower-priority applications. Improve user experiences.	Applies Modular QoS CLI (MQC) policies on VLANs or tunnels Limits an arbitrary collection of low-priority traffic to a certain bandwidth Classifies based on differentiated services code point (DSCP), NBAR, and Cisco IOS FPM into numerous hierarchies, one for high priority and one for low priority	Implements flexible hierarchies Supports 464,000 queues Allows all queues to have a minimum, maximum, and excess bandwidth with priority propagation
Multiservice, scalable, and secure headend: IP Security (IPsec) VPN aggregation scales to meet the new bandwidth demands of service provider IP VPNs.	Reduces capital expenditures (CapEx) and operating expenses (OpEx) by migrating and consolidating to fewer Cisco ASR 1000 Series Routers Protects investment through easy transition to much higher encryption support, offering encryption support of up to 78 Gbps with the 200-Gbps Cisco ASR 1000 Series ESP (ASR1000-ESP200) Offers easier management through embedded security services in the Cisco QuantumFlow Processor, with no additional service modules or blades required Optimized for QoS and IP Multicast applications	Supports thousands of sites Supports 8,000 IPsec tunnels Offers up to 78-Gbps encryption performance and up to 200-Gbps noncryptographic throughput support with the Cisco ASR 1000 Series 200-Gbps Embedded Services Processor (ASR1000-ESP200) engine
Embedded high-speed firewall: With the Zone-Based Policy Firewall, the Cisco ASR 1000 Series acts as an implicit and complete barrier between any interfaces not members of the same zone. An explicit zone-pair policy must be specified (using Cisco Policy Language; that is, MQC) in each direction between each zone pair. The policy establishes within the router the kind of stateful inspection (Layer 4, Layer 7, or application) and session parameters to apply to each zone pairing. Example: An explicit policy allowing HTTP and Domain Name System (DNS) to traverse the Internet-DMZ zone boundary would be required.	The firewall is embedded in the Cisco QuantumFlow Processor; no additional service blades or modules are required Multiple gigabits of bandwidth are routed while at the same time the router performs Zone-Based Policy Firewall and other baseline features such as QoS, IPv4, IPv6, NetFlow, and others The Cisco ASR 1000 Series provides logging of all firewall session states off to network management applications capable of accepting relatively huge amounts of flow data. Third-party applications can handle the session data	Provides firewall performance of 2.5 to 200 Gbps, depending on the embedded services processor (ESP) used Offers high-speed logging of 40,000 sessions per second with NetFlow Version9
Managed CPE: This implementation of branch-office architecture offers powerful investment protection with services and scale.	Managed CPE helps branch offices route correctly over various types of Ethernet to comply with service-level agreements (SLAs). This application encrypts multiple gigabits of bandwidth without any additional service blades or modules. Managed CPE optimizes the WAN to routearound brownouts in the service provider network to further guarantee mission-critical applications. This application offers small form factors (1rack unit [1RU] for the Cisco ASR 1001 and 2RUs for the Cisco ASR 1002 Fixed, ASR 1002, and ASR 1002-X Routers), including software modularity and ISSU. Note: ISSU is not supported on Cisco ASR 1001, ASR 1002-F, ASR 1002, ASR 1002-X, or ASR 1004. Managed CPE offers accessibility even when the Cisco IOS Software is down.	Offers first-in-industry software redundancy support, without any additional hardware module, on Cisco ASR 1001, ASR 1001-X, ASR 1002, ASR 1002-X, and ASR 1004; hardware redundancy and ISSU are supported on Cisco ASR 1006 and ASR 1013. Offers powerful firewall and NAT performance of 2.5 to 200 Gbps and 1.8- to 78-Gbps encryption support in addition to WAN optimization and voice features.
Cisco ASR 1000 Series Service Provider Applications
Deployment Scenario	Description	System Characteristics
Broadband L2TP Access Concentrator (LAC) or L2TP Network Server (LNS): The solution offers Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP) endpoint-to-tunnel Point-to-Point Protocol (PPPoX) or IP sessions with bandwidth demands in the STM-1 ATM, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, and 10Gigabit Ethernet range.	The application is ideal for triple-play (data, voice, and video) wholesale deployments. It offers integral service delivery. Per-user firewall, SBC, etc. are supported.	Provides very high scalability of up to 64,000 subscribers and up to 64,000 tunnels
Service provider edge: Layer 3 VPN (L3VPN) provider edge: Example: You can deploy the solution at the distributed provider edge or provider edge in global VPN networks for bandwidth demands such as asymmetric DSL (ADSL), T1/E1, STM-1, STM-4, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, etc.	The application provides integral services in the Cisco QuantumFlow Processor. It provides encryption, FPM, NBAR, SBC, IP Multicast, etc.	Offers excellent multicast performance Scales to 8,000 Virtual Route Forwarding (VRF) instances, 1million Label Distribution Protocol (LDP) labels, and 4,000 access control lists (ACLs) Supports up to 4 million IPv4 routes Supports up to 4 million IPv6 routes
Service provider edge: High-end route reflector: You can use the solution as a route reflector for bandwidth support of 40 Gbps.	The application provides high scalability. It offers a modular design of the route processor and embedded services processor with hardware and software redundancy.	Scales up to 29 million IPv4 routes Supports 64,000 Layer 3 adjacencies Offers default memory 4-GB DRAM (onCisco ASR 1001 and ASR 1002-X) and 8-GB DRAM (on Cisco ASR 1000-RP2 and ASR 1001-X) Offers optional upgrade to 16-GB DRAM (on Cisco ASR 1001, ASR 1001-X, ASR 1002-X, and ASR 1000-RP2) Note: The Cisco ASR 1001, ASR 1002, and ASR 1002-X Routers ship by default with 4-GB DRAM. The Cisco ASR 1001 and ASR 1002-X are upgradable to 8- or 16-GB DRAM.
Next-generation voice and multimedia example: Cisco Unified Border Element (ENT Edition): The SBC application (named Cisco Unified Border Element [ENTERPRISE Edition]) performs the voice and video gateway functions simultaneously with regular IP data services. No appliance or additional service blade is required. The control protocols and media protocols work transparently within a complex voice architecture.	Enables secure and authenticated SIP trunk connections to service provider real time voice and video services. The WAN edge is simpler to manage because only one egress and one ingress point for internet or service provider services access. The control plane is separated from the data-forwarding plane, so the signaling and control processes are separate from media processing. The CUBE SBC application can be used for SIP trunk video and/or audio services provided by service providers or for Internet accessible SIP line-side services to Cisco Unified Communications Manager.	Facilitates SBC with security, QoS, IPv4, and IPv6 (IP Unicast and IP Multicast simultaneously) Supports 16,000 simultaneous voice calls and multimedia data of up to 200 Gbps with accounting, firewall, and call quality enabled Integrated with inbox high-availability infrastructure and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) Relay

Technical Specifications:

Cisco ASR 1001-X Specifications
Chassis Comparison and Specifications
Physical specifications*	Height: 1.71 in. (43.43 mm) Width: 17.3 in. (439.42 mm) Depth: 22.50 in. (571.5mm) Weight: 25 lb (11.35 kg) Fully Loaded Note: The Cisco ASR 1001-X Router has the route processor, ESP, and SIP integrated.
Default Memory	8-GB DRAM shared across RP, ESP, and SIP
Shared port adapters	1 single-height SPA slot
Cisco ASR 1000 Series ESP	Integrated in chassis
Route Processor	Integrated in the chassis: Cisco ASR 1001-X Series Route Processor with Quad Core Processor
Number of SIPs or Ethernet Line Cards Supported	Integrated in chassis
Redundancy	Software: Yes
Built-in Gigabit Ethernet Ports	Yes: 6 Gigabit Ethernet Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP) ports
Built-in 10 Gigabit Ethernet Port	Yes - 2x10 Gigabit Ethernet Small Form-Factor Plus Pluggable (SFP+) ports Note: Built-in 10GB ports cannot be reduced to 1GB speed
Network Interface Module	Yes
Integrated daughter card (IDC)	No
Airflow	Front-to-back
Processor Module Comparison and Specifications
ESP support	Cisco ASR 1000 Series 2.5-Gbps ESP (default) Upgradable through a software activated feature license to 5,10, or 20Gbps
ESP bandwidth	2.5 to 20 Gbps
ESP memory	Share the same control memory on route processor
SIPs and Ethernet Line Cards	Integrated in chassis; not upgradable
Embedded hardware-based encryption	Yes: up to 8 Gbps crypto support throughput
Minimum Cisco IOS XE Software release	Cisco IOS XE Software Release3.12.0
Rack-mounting	Yes: 19-inch
Wall-mounting	No
External USB flash memory	1-GB USB flash-memory support
Power Requirements
Redundant power supply	Yes: Dual power supplies by default; option of either AC or DC power supply Note: A mix of one AC and one DC power supply is not supported.
Power input	Worldwide ranging AC Input Range (+85 to +264 VAC) Worldwide ranging DC (-40 to -72 -48V nominal)
Power consumption	Maximum (DC): 242W Maximum (AC): 250W Maximum (out): 250W
Airflow	Front-to-back
Environmental Specifications
Operating temperature (nominal)	41 to 104ºF (5 to 40ºC)
Operating temperature (short-term)	0 - 50ºC
Operating humidity (nominal) (relative humidity)	10 to 85%
Operating humidity (short-term)	5 - 90%
Storage temperature	-20 - +70ºC
Storage humidity (relative humidity)	5 to 95%
Operating Altitude	-500 - 10,000 feet
Regulatory Compliance
Network Equipment Building Standards (NEBS)	N/A
EMC standards	FCC 47 CFR Part 15 ClassA VCCI ClassA AS/NSZ ClassA ICES-003 Class A EN55022/CISPR 22 Information Technology Equipment (Emissions) EN55024/CISPR 24 Information Technology Equipment (Immunity) EN300 386 Telecommunications Network Equipment (EMC) EN50082-1/EN61000-6-1 Generic Immunity Standard
Safety Standard	UL60950-1 CSA C22.2 No.60950-1-03 EN 60950-1 IEC 60950-1 AS/NZS 60950.1

Notes:

* Depth applies to chassis edge-to-edge dimension and does not include protrusions such as card handles, power supply handles and cable management brackets. Refer to applicable hardware installation guide for additional detail.

Software Licensing:

Software feature licenses are required to activate services on Cisco ASR 1000 Series Routers. Currently, two types of feature licenses are available. Certain services require only a right-to-use (RTU) license, whereas other services require both an RTU license and one or more number-of-sessions licenses. All the licenses on the Cisco ASR 1000 Series are honor-based, meaning that the licenses are not enforced through a product activation or license key.

For fixed platforms Cisco ASR 1001, ASR 1001-X, and ASR 1002-X, one of the following five packages is required:

• Cisco ASR 1001 IOS XE UNIVERSAL - NO ENCRYPTION
• Cisco ASR 1001 IOS XE UNIVERSAL - NO PAYLOAD ENCRYPTION
• Cisco ASR 1001 IOS XE UNIVERSAL
• Cisco ASR 1001 IOS XE UNIVERSAL W/O Lawful Intercept
• Cisco ASR 1001 IOS XE UNIVERSAL - NO PAYLOAD ENCRYPTION W/O Lawful Intercept

To enable a set of required features, one of the following three technology packages is required:

• Cisco ASR 1000 IP Base License
• Cisco ASR 1000 Advanced IP Services License
• Cisco ASR 1000 Advanced Services License

For modular platforms Cisco ASR 1004, ASR 1006, and ASR 1013, you can choose from six supported consolidated packages in each Cisco IOS XE Software release:

• IP Base without Crypto
• IP Base
• Advanced IP Services
• Advanced IP Services without Crypto
• Advanced Enterprise Services
• Advanced Enterprise Services without Crypto

Documentation:

Download the Cisco ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services Routers Datasheet (PDF).