There is a wide variety of routers that are suitable for various computing environments whether small businesses or enterprises. Choosing a router could be simple and straightforward as your company may fit perfectly into one or the other. As you experience growth, it may be hard to find the best fit for your network as you move from a mid-sized company to an enterprise-based system.
Today, we will be comparing Cisco's ASR and ISR router series, and as we dive in our hope is to help you make that decision. Where they both have their distinct purposes, there is some overlap, especially when it comes to breaking through to a new threshold in your routing environment. Let's dive in.
Aggregation Services Routers (ASR) are designed for large enterprises and service provider’s organizations for managing network edge routing. They are perfect for high data transfer capacity applications, for example, sound, video, and video conferencing. You'll see below there are currently the 900, 1000, 5000, and 9000 series. When working up to the 9000 series not only do you have core to edge routing capabilities, but each series can handle up to 100G Ethernet.
ISR represents Integrated Service Router. The expression "integrated services" portrays a sort of system design used to ensure arranged Quality of Service (QoS). The ISR series is for small- to medium-sized businesses and is used for connecting different branch offices. ISR arrangement routers have edge routing abilities and give solid, secure branch office availability.
Cisco made the ASR 9000 series for correspondence transporters and specialist co-ops as it operates on IOS XR. When looking at the 900, 1000, and 5000 series they operate on the IOS XE system. Also, the ASR 900 gives a stage to secluded metro conglomeration, versatile pre-accumulation, and broadband collection. The advantage the 9000 series has with the IOS XR is the system is designed for Cloud-scale networking and allows for software image upgrades and module changes without impacting operations.
Cisco planned the ISR arrangement switches for less figuring concentrated conditions. Accordingly, they have lower greatest Ethernet speeds. For instance, the ISR 4000 backings up to 10 G Ethernet. The ISR arrangement switches were completely made for the industry-driving system, figure, and WAN administrations. Robust features of the ISR enable cloud computing, distributed computing, secure systems administration, interactive media execution, and portable availability. As the ISR is made for less computing-intensive environments, they operate on the IOS system and have a small footprint in comparison to the ASR.
As we look at these models, we can take the comparison further by adding various manufacturers and other options. Check out the options and tools we provide alongside the hardware itself. Click below to explore router options and the resources we provide.
The simple and easy decision is if your business is small to medium-sized, then you can go with Cisco ISR router series. For large enterprise networks and edge routing with high bandwidth requirements, the Cisco ASR is the better option. Though, as a company looking to scale, it may not be that simple. Reach out to PivIT to chat through your needs and get help in deciding which router series is most fitting for your network.