Description
Understanding the CISCO 1941/K9 1900 Series Integrated Services Router
The CISCO 1941/K9 is a part of the 1900 Series Integrated Services Routers, designed to provide robust networking capabilities for small to medium-sized businesses. In this detailed exploration, we will delve into the key features and specifications of the CISCO 1941/K9 router, shedding light on its hardware components, expansion slots, gigabit Ethernet capabilities, memory support, and power supply.
Overview of CISCO1941/K9 router
The CISCO 1941/K9 router is equipped with powerful hardware components that form the backbone of its networking capabilities.
- Ports: The router features 2 ports supporting 10/100/1000Base-T, providing versatile connectivity options for various network devices. These Gigabit Ethernet ports enable high-speed data transfer, ensuring efficient communication within the network.
- HWIC Expansion Slots: With 5 High-Speed WAN Interface Card (HWIC) expansion slots, the CISCO 1941/K9 offers flexibility and scalability for additional interfaces. These slots accommodate various modules, allowing users to customize and expand the router’s functionality based on their specific networking requirements.
Gigabit Ethernet Capabilities
Gigabit Ethernet is a crucial aspect of the CISCO 1941/K9 router, contributing to its high-performance networking capabilities.
- Gigabit Ethernet Ports: The inclusion of Gigabit Ethernet ports ensures faster data transmission, making the router suitable for bandwidth-intensive applications and scenarios. This feature is particularly beneficial for businesses requiring seamless connectivity for data-intensive tasks.
- High-Speed Data Transfer: The gigabit speed supported by the router facilitates quick and efficient data transfer between connected devices. This is essential for maintaining a responsive and high-performing network, especially in environments where real-time data processing is critical.
Memory Support
Memory is a vital component of any networking device, and the CISCO 1941/K9 router provides robust support for memory expansion.
- DRAM Memory: The router supports a maximum of 2GB Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM). This substantial memory capacity ensures efficient handling of concurrent processes, allowing the router to manage multiple tasks simultaneously without compromising performance.
- CompactFlash (CF) Card: In addition to DRAM, the router utilizes CompactFlash (CF) cards for storage purposes. These cards are commonly used for storing the router’s operating system, configurations, and other essential files. The use of CF cards enhances the router’s reliability and provides a convenient method for system recovery and updates.
Integrated Services Router
The CISCO 1941/K9 is classified as an Integrated Services Router (ISR), highlighting its multifunctional capabilities.
- Versatility of Services: As an ISR, the router combines various networking functions into a single platform. This includes routing, security, and other integrated services, streamlining the network infrastructure and reducing the need for separate devices for each function.
- Seamless Integration: The integrated nature of the router simplifies the deployment and management of network services. It enables businesses to efficiently implement and scale their network infrastructure without the complexities associated with managing multiple standalone devices.
Power Supply
The power supply is a critical aspect of the CISCO 1941/K9 router, ensuring consistent and reliable operation.
Voltage Support
The router is designed to operate with a power supply ranging from 110-220 V AC. This flexibility in voltage support makes the CISCO 1941/K9 compatible with a wide range of power configurations, adding to its adaptability in diverse networking environments.
Power Redundancy
Some models of the CISCO 1941/K9 may offer options for power redundancy, enhancing the router’s reliability. Redundancy ensures continued operation in the event of a power supply failure, minimizing downtime and maintaining network connectivity.
Management of Network Bandwidth
The CISCO1941/K9 Cisco 1941 2 Ports Services Router provides several features to manage the bandwidth of the network. Some of these features are:
- Traffic shaping: This feature allows you to control the rate at which traffic is sent, ensuring that the network does not become congested. You can configure traffic shaping to limit the amount of bandwidth used by certain types of traffic, such as video or VoIP, to ensure that they do not consume too much bandwidth.
- Class-based queuing: This feature allows you to divide traffic into different classes, and assign different priorities to each class. You can use class-based queuing to ensure that certain types of traffic, such as VoIP or video, are given priority over other types of traffic.
- Priority queuing: This feature allows you to assign a priority level to certain types of traffic, ensuring that they are processed before other traffic. You can use priority queuing to ensure that time-sensitive traffic, such as VoIP or video, is given priority over other types of traffic.
- Low Latency Queuing (LLQ): This feature allows you to assign a priority level to certain types of traffic, ensuring that they are processed before other traffic, with minimal delay. This feature is particularly useful for time-sensitive applications, such as VoIP or video.
- Weighted Random Early Detection (WRED): This feature allows you to drop packets before a queue becomes full, reducing congestion. This feature can be used to ensure that the network does not become congested, even during periods of high traffic.
- Weighted Fair Queuing (WFQ): This feature allows you to divide traffic into different classes, and assign different priorities to each class, based on the IP address, protocol, and other fields.
- Quality of Service (QoS) groups: You can use QoS groups to classify and prioritize traffic at different levels.
- Control-plane policing (CoPP): This feature allows you to limit the amount of bandwidth consumed by control plane traffic to ensure that it does not consume too much bandwidth and affect the network performance.
Remote Management Protocols
The CISCO1941/K9 Cisco 1941 2 Ports Services Router supports several remote management protocols that can be used to configure and manage the router remotely. Some of these protocols are:
- Telnet: Telnet is a remote management protocol that allows you to connect to the router using a Telnet client and a username and password. Telnet is an unencrypted protocol, so it is not recommended to use Telnet for remote management.
- SSH: SSH (Secure Shell) is a remote management protocol that allows you to connect to the router using an SSH client and a username and password. SSH is an encrypted protocol, so it is more secure than Telnet.
- SNMP: SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) is a remote management protocol that allows you to monitor and manage the router using an SNMP management system. SNMP uses a series of management information bases (MIBs) to represent the router’s configuration and status.
- HTTP and HTTPS: The CISCO1941/K9 Cisco 1941 2 Ports Services Router supports HTTP and HTTPS protocols, which can be used to access the web-based graphical user interface (GUI) of the router. The HTTPS protocol provides an encrypted connection and is more secure than the HTTP protocol.
- Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP): CDP is a Cisco proprietary protocol that allows network devices to discover other Cisco devices that are connected to the same network. CDP can be used to discover the CISCO1941/K9 Cisco 1941 2 Ports Services Router and other Cisco devices on the network and to obtain information about the devices.
- Remote Management via GUI (ASDM): The router also supports Cisco Adaptive Security Device Manager (ASDM), which is a web-based GUI for managing and configuring Cisco security devices.
It is recommended to use the most secure remote management protocols, such as SSH and HTTPS, for remote management of the CISCO1941/K9 Cisco 1941 2 Ports Services Router. It is also important to properly secure the remote management protocols by implementing proper authentication and access control mechanisms.
Advanced Security Features
The CISCO1941/K9 Cisco 1941 2 Ports Services Router supports several advanced security features that can be used to secure the network. Some of these features are:
- Firewall: The router includes a built-in firewall that can be used to control and restrict incoming and outgoing traffic based on predefined rules. The firewall can be configured to block certain types of traffic, such as malicious traffic or traffic from specific IP addresses.
- Virtual Private Network (VPN): The router supports several VPN protocols, such as IPSec, L2TP, and PPTP, which can be used to create secure, encrypted tunnels between the router and remote devices. This feature allows remote users to securely access the network as if they were connected directly to it.
- Network Address Translation (NAT): NAT is a technique that allows the router to translate private IP addresses to public IP addresses. NAT allows the router to hide the internal network from the external network, increasing security by making it more difficult for external devices to directly access internal devices.
- Intrusion Prevention System (IPS): The router supports the Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) feature which helps to detect and prevent malicious traffic from entering the network.
- Access Control Lists (ACLs): The router supports ACLs, which can be used to control access to the network based on predefined rules. ACLs can be used to restrict access to certain IP addresses, ports, or protocols, or to block traffic from specific IP addresses.
- Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) snooping: DHCP snooping is a security feature that helps to prevent malicious DHCP servers from assigning IP addresses to devices on the network.
- Port Security: Port security is a feature that allows you to restrict the number of MAC addresses that can be learned on a port, and also to specify which MAC addresses are allowed to access the port.
- Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE): Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is a network access control (NAC) solution that allows you to control network access based on the identity of the device or user.
- Advanced Malware Protection (AMP): The router includes an Advanced Malware Protection (AMP) feature which helps to detect and prevent malware from entering the network.
General Information about the Cisco CISCO1941/K9 2 Ports Services Router
- Manufacturer: Cisco
- Model Number or SKU# CISCO1941/K9
- Product Series: 1900
- Product Type: Services Router
Interfaces/Ports for Ethernet Router
- Total Number of Ports: 2
- USB: Yes
- Management Port: Yes
Network and Communication of 2 Ports Router
- Network Technology: 10/100/1000Base-T
- Ethernet Technology: Gigabit Ethernet
Memory
- Standard Memory: 512 MB
- Maximum Memory: 2 GB
- Memory Technology: DRAM
- Memory Card Supported: CompactFlash (CF) Card
I/O Expansions
- Number of Total Expansion Slots: 5
- Expansion Slot Type: HWIC
Power Description
- Input Voltage 110 V AC
- Input Voltage 220 V AC
- Power Source Power Supply
Outline, the CISCO 1941/K9 1900 Series Integrated Services Router stands as a robust networking solution with advanced features tailored for small to medium-sized businesses. Its versatile hardware components, gigabit Ethernet capabilities, memory support, and reliable power supply contribute to its effectiveness in addressing diverse networking requirements. As technology continues to evolve, routers like the CISCO 1941/K9 play a pivotal role in enabling efficient and seamless communication within modern business environments.