CISCO ISR4321/K9

The Cisco ISR 4321/K9 is a popular Integrated Services Router (ISR) designed for small to medium-sized branch offices. It’s a versatile platform offering a good balance of performance, features, and scalability. Here’s a comprehensive overview:  

Key Features and Capabilities:

• Performance: The ISR 4321/K9 offers a default throughput of 50 Mbps, which can be upgraded to 100 Mbps with a performance license. This makes it suitable for branch offices with moderate bandwidth requirements.  
• Connectivity: It comes with 2 Gigabit Ethernet WAN/LAN ports and 1 SFP port for flexible connectivity options, supporting various WAN technologies.  
• Modular Design: The router features 2 Network Interface Module (NIM) slots and an onboard Integrated Services Card (ISC) slot, allowing you to customize the router with additional interfaces and services as needed.  
• Security: It includes robust security features like firewall, VPN, and access control lists (ACLs) to protect your network from threats.  
• Voice Support: The ISR 4321/K9 supports voice services with the addition of voice interface cards, enabling you to integrate your branch office with your company’s phone system.  
• Cisco IOS XE Software: It runs on Cisco IOS XE software, which provides a rich set of features and capabilities, including advanced routing, security, and management tools.  
• Energy Efficiency: The router is designed with energy efficiency in mind, helping you reduce your operating costs.  

Benefits:

• Cost-Effective: The ISR 4321/K9 offers a good price-to-performance ratio, making it an affordable solution for small to medium-sized businesses.
• Scalability: The modular design allows you to expand the router’s capabilities as your business needs grow.
• Flexibility: It supports a wide range of WAN technologies and services, giving you the flexibility to choose the best options for your network.
• Reliability: Cisco ISRs are known for their reliability and stability, ensuring that your network stays up and running.
• Easy Management: Cisco IOS XE software provides a user-friendly interface for managing the router.

Use Cases:

• Small to medium-sized branch offices: The ISR 4321/K9 is ideal for branch offices that need a reliable and secure connection to the main office and the internet.  
• Service provider edge: It can also be used in service provider edge applications to provide connectivity to customers.