Cisco ASR
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The ASR9000[1] is a router built by Cisco Systems, and is intended for the Service Provider market.
The major characteristics are:
- Designed for Metro Ethernet networks from the ground up
- Designed for video and other high bandwidth applications
- Supports a variety of interface types, those commonly used by Service Providers
- Uses IOS-XR, a full-featured OS
History
In the past, networking equipment was categorized as either a Switch or a Router, where a switch bridged L2/Ethernet traffic, and a router forwarded L3/IP traffic. As products became more sophisticated, the distinction between a switch and a router became blurred as high-end switches were being designed to to route traffic in addition to bridging, and likewise routers were being designed to perform L2 switching. At the same time, it was becoming clear that the needs for the Enterprise market were diverging from those of the Service Provider market. Though still maintaining the terms Switch and Router in their product names, Cisco divided their high-end networking products into those aimed for the Enterprise market and those aimed for the Service Provider market. In reality, many Enterprise customers use equipment Cisco categorizes under the banner of Service Provider, and vice-versa.
Prior to the introduction of the ASR9000, Cisco's high-end SP product portfolio consisted of the CRS-1, the GSR, and the 7600 (and the 6500). The ASR9000 fits well within this product portfolio; it is the logical successor to the GSR and the 7600. When the CRS-1 is deployed in a large network at the core, the ASR9000 complements it on the edge; both run IOS-XR. In 2011 Cisco announced capacity upgrades and support of network Virtualization (nV) capabilities[2] for the ASR9000. In 2011 the ASR9000 was awarded "Best Carrier Ethernet Aggregation Product" at the Carrier Ethernet World Congress[3].
IOS-XR Release Support
| Date | Release | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 3.7.2 | Initial release of ASR9k |
| 2009 | 3.7.3 | |
| 2009 | 3.9.0 | |
| 2010 | 3.9.1 | |
| 2010 | 4.0.0 | |
| 2011 | 4.0.1 | |
| 2011 | 4.1.0 | |
| 2011 | 4.1.1 |