Product Overview

The Cisco 2800 Series comprises four platforms (refer to Figure 1): the Cisco 2801, the Cisco 2811, the Cisco 2821, and the Cisco 2851. The Cisco 2800 Series provides significant additional value compared to prior generations of Cisco routers at similar price points by offering up to a fivefold performance improvement, up to a tenfold increase in security and voice performance, embedded service options, and dramatically increased slot performance and density while maintaining support for most of the more than 90 existing modules that are available today for the Cisco 1700, Cisco 2600, and Cisco 3700 Series.

The Cisco 2800 Series features the ability to deliver multiple high-quality simultaneous services at wire speed up to multiple T1/E1/xDSL connections. The routers offer embedded encryption acceleration and on the motherboard voice digital-signal-processor (DSP) slots; intrusion prevention system (IPS) and firewall functions; optional integrated call processing and voice mail support; high-density interfaces for a wide range of wired and wireless connectivity requirements; and sufficient performance and slot density for future network expansion requirements and advanced applications.

Secure Network Connectivity for Data, Voice, and Video

Security has become a fundamental building block of any network. Routers play an important role in any network defense strategy because security needs to be embedded throughout the network. The Cisco 2800 Series features advanced, integrated, end-to-end security for the delivery of converged services and applications. With the Cisco IOS Software Advanced Security feature set, the Cisco 2800 provides a robust array of common security features such as a Cisco IOS Software Firewall, intrusion prevention, IPSec VPN, Secure Socket Layer (SSL) VPN, advanced application inspection and control, Secure Shell (SSH) Protocol Version 2.0, and Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMPv3) in one secure solution set. Additionally, by integrating security functions directly into the router itself, Cisco can provide unique intelligent security solutions other security devices cannot, such as network admissions control (NAC) for antivirus defense; Voice and Video Enabled VPN (V3PN) for quality-of-service (QoS) enforcement when combining voice, video, and VPN; and Dynamic Multipoint VPN (DMVPN), Group Encrypted Transport (GET) VPN, and Easy VPN for enabling more scalable and manageable VPN networks. In addition, Cisco offers a range of security acceleration hardware such as the intrusion-prevention network modules and advanced integration modules (AIM) for encryption, making the Cisco 2800 Series the industry's most robust and adaptable security solution available for branch offices. As Figure 2 demonstrates, using a Cisco 2800 Series uniquely enables customers to deliver concurrent, mission-critical data, voice, and video applications with integrated, end-to-end security at wire-speed performance.

Converged IP Communications

As shown in Figure 2, the Cisco 2800 Series can meet the IP Communications needs of small-to-medium sized business and enterprise branch offices while concurrently delivering an industry-leading level of security within a single routing platform. Cisco CallManager Express (CME) is an optional solution embedded in Cisco IOS Software that provides call processing for Cisco IP phones, including wired and cordless WLAN phones. This solution is for customers with data-connectivity requirements interested in deploying a converged IP telephony solution for up to 96 IP phones. With the Cisco 2800 Series, customers can securely deploy data, voice, and IP telephony on a single platform for their small-to-medium sized branch offices, helping them to streamline their operations and lower their network costs. The Cisco 2800 Series with optional Cisco CME support offers a core set of phone features that customers require for their everyday business needs and takes advantage of the wide array of voice capabilities that are embedded in the Cisco 2800 Series (as shown in Table 1) together with optional features available in Cisco IOS Software to provide a robust IP telephony offering for the small to medium-sized branch-office environment.

Wireless Services

The Cisco 2800 Series can provide a complete wireless solution for branch offices, small/medium sized businesses, and Wi-Fi hotspots. Wireless services enable greater mobility for employees, partners, and customers, resulting in increased productivity. The Cisco 2800 Series supports an integrated access point for wireless LAN connectivity,

Wi-Fi Hotspot services for public access, wireless infrastructure services for cordless WLAN telephony and for larger sites, and land mobile radio over IP for radio users.