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50 Chapter 3: Assembling and Cabling the WAN Components
4000 Router Series
The 4000 series is tried and tested. The routers in this series are established models. This router
family makes use of Network Processing Modules (NPM) to implement different technologies.
These individual cards can be mixed and matched to some degree for various technologies.
LAN and WAN NPMs can be installed simultaneously at varying line speeds and encapsulations.
Although this series is somewhat versatile, any changing of components requires the removal
of the entire motherboard tray. Care should be taken here. Many 4000 routers have been
destroyed at this point because although there is a handle on the tray that facilitates its removal,
most people are not ready for the sudden weight change when the end of the tray clears the
chassis and the whole thing drops. Newer 4000 chassis have a clip built in that stops the tray to
get your attention; when the tray stops, you have to move the clip aside to continue removing
the board.
A router in the 4000 series is a good choice for a central site. However, the technological
advances and added features of the 3600 series tend to make them more attractive.
AS5X00 Router Series
This family of routers is an Access Server line (hence the AS in the name). The available models
in the line are the AS5200, the AS5300, and the AS5800. The series also includes a very high-
end model known as the AccessPath. It consists of a number of AS5300s operating together in
a single integrated rack with a Catalyst switch collocated.
The AS5X00 family of devices can provide carrier class service scalability as well as
multiprotocol routing services. These devices are usually deployed in an ISDN installation to
provide remote users dial-up access to internetwork resources. The AS5300 is Voice-over-IP
capable with the proper line cards installed.
This family of routers is designed to perform best in dial-up access environments. The routers
offer high-density voice and data solutions. The AS5200 is an older model and is quickly being
replaced by the AS5300. The AS5300 can terminate both digital and analog data calls. There
are three slots in an AS5300. It supports four or eight T1/E1 ports in a single slot, with MICA
modems or VOIP feature cards in the other two slots, which are typically PRI ports. With eight
T1s, the incoming call volume can reach 192 calls (240 with E1s). With the other two slots
populated with MICA modem blades, that capacity can easily be supported.
For extremely high call volume, the AS5800 model is available. It can handle six 12-port T1/E1
trunk cards (72 T1/E1 ports). This means it can handle up to 1728 B channels at T1 or 2160 B
channels at E1. This density enables hot sparing.
The AS5800 model has the capability to support 10 MICA modem line cards, each of which is
capable of handling 72 calls (720 total). With only 14 line card slots, it obviously cannot do both
T1/E1 and MICA modem cards at the same time; however, this combination is very common.