Cisco has long established itself as a manufacturer of reliable and high-quality network equipment. Based on the devices of this manufacturer, many organizations and corporations work, for which it is important to provide a connection between branches or within the framework of an enterprise. One of them, the Cisco 2921 router, will be discussed in the presented article.
Device Description
The appearance of the Cisco 2921 is concise and not replete with various design frills and decorative elements. The front panel is a grid with a minimum number of connectors and buttons.
Toward the left side there is a small block with a power indicator. It is followed by an on/off button. Well, the third element is the AC connector.
On the right side is the RPS adapter plug. And above it are a number of indicators, which are carefully signed by the developers:
- POE. Lit green - IP phone power is on, orange - off.
- PS. The system works with greenindicator signal, no - when orange.
- PRS. Indicates that the device is powered by an external power supply.
- SYS. This indicator has several positions. Solid green - normal operation of the equipment. Flashing the same color - the system is in the boot state. Orange - An error has occurred. If it is not lit at all, the power is either off or there is a fatal problem.
- ACT. A blinking LED indicates that the Cisco 2921 is currently transmitting data between ports or devices.
The back panel is more saturated and has a lot of connectors and indicators for them. At the very top left are 4 EHWIC ports. Next up is the USB serial port. Then one above the other - AUX and RJ-45. Moving to the right reveals one SFP port and two Gigabit Ethernet ports, plus one more on the side.
There are also two standard USBs here.
The bottom block contains ground contacts, ports for service and Flash modules.
Almost every connector on the rear panel of the Cisco 2921 has its own indicator, the signals of which are recognized by analogy with the front panel: green - everything is in order, orange - something is wrong. If it does not light up at all, it means that it is turned off.
Cisco 2921 specifications
The specifications of the device make it clear that this copy is not for domestic use, but rather for enterprises and large networks. It is worth considering the Cisco 2921 datasheet in more detail.
Connect to a providerThere are two ways - through the Ethernet port or using a USB and 3G modem.
There is no wireless technology in the device. Of the supported protocols on board are: PPTP, L2TP, IPsec, PPPoE. It is possible to use VPN tunnels to create reliable and secure connections.
To ensure security, there is a built-in brandmauer. The following types of encryption can be supported by hardware: DES, 3DES, AES 128, AES 192, AES 256.
At the same time, the router can support up to 100 sessions. The memory is represented by two types: 512 MB DRAM and 256 MB Flash. Both views can be expanded.
The device itself is quite weighty and amounts to 13 kg of "live" weight. And the dimensions are not the smallest - almost 50 by 50 cm. The device is only 89 mm high.
What you need to know before installing a router?
During installation, it is necessary to monitor the condition of the connectors and prevent them from becoming dirty and dusty. The plugs installed on the router are there for a reason. It is worth remembering that under them there may be dangerous voltage and an electromagnetic interference emitter.
This type of router is subject to a mandatory grounding procedure. Therefore, the connection of the electrical component must be carried out by a professional electrician.
The device must be located away from water sources. The room must be dry and well ventilated.
Cisco 2921 setup
To connect and initially configure the router, there isdedicated USB console port or RJ-45. If the procedure is performed via USB, you will need to install the Cisco USB driver first.
To access the settings in the Windows operating system, you will need the HyperTerminal program. Its options must be set as follows:
- 9600 baud;
- 8 data bits;
- no parity;
- 1 stop bit;
- no flow control.
Using the command line interface, you can access the primary settings of the router.
The first thing the user will be greeted with is an invitation to enter the initial configuration window. This is not required, since the task is to specify all the data manually. Therefore, here you need to dial No. The system will ask you to confirm the abort of the auto-installation.
After initialization, the device will prompt you to enter a command. For privileged mode, type Enable.
Management and configuration commands
The following is a list of commands and their assignments for basic initial setup:
- configure terminal - switch to global configuration setting mode;
- hostname - hostname, reassigns hostname to the specified one;
- enable password - password, allows you to set a password to access different privilege levels;
- enable secret - password, additional protection for the previous command;
- exec-timeout - minutes (seconds), sets the time during which the system will wait for the user to enter commands;
- show running-config - will show the filecurrent configuration;
- show ip interface brief - this command will display the status of IP interfaces;
- interface {fastethernet|gigabitethernet} - 0/port, specifies Ethernet interface and activates setup mode;
- description - a string that allows you to describe the interface in more detail. Optional parameter;
- ip address - address mask, setting the primary IP address for the interface;
- no shutdown - turn on the interface.
Other commands for finer and more comprehensive settings of the device can be found in the official manual for the device.
Device reviews
Many Cisco 2921 users note its long and stable operation in large corporate networks. This can be explained by the accumulated experience of Cisco, which has been developing and implementing such devices for more than 25 years.
A special point is the modularity of both this model and the entire 2900 series. This allows you to significantly expand the functionality of the device, use new modules, for example, the Cisco 2921 SEC K9 standard or other similar ones. Plus, you can upgrade the device without changing it entirely. This will keep the device up to date for a long time.
In general, reviews about the device are positive. Own software available for faster and easier integration. It has a good approach to production and constant support of its equipment by the manufacturer.
