Cisco CSR-3 Next Generation Internet Backbone Router Unveiled

Information Week has an article about the new Cisco CSR-3 routers recently annouced. 

March 9, 2010 03:21 PM

ByW. David Gardner
InformationWeek

Cisco chief executive John Chambers’ prediction long ago that video one day would disrupt the Internet is nearly a reality. On Tuesday, the company announced a powerful router designed to help make that prediction come true.

With 100G networks still something of a Holy Grail in networking, Cisco believes its new CRS-3 router will represent a powerful central nervous system for enterprises wishing to reach that goal. The Federal Communications Commission is a proponent of sweeping broadband improvements, which are articulated in its National Broadband Plan to Congress.

Cisco claims the CRS-3, which will be available in a few months for prices beginning at $90,000, has 12 times the traffic capacity of its nearest competing system. The Tuesday announcement was hyped for weeks as an event that would “change the Internet forever,” and the implication now is that Cisco is betting on the CRS-3 as its entry in the race to roll out 100G networks.

Pankaj Patel, SVP and general manager of Cisco’s Service Provider Business, predicted the CRS-3 will become the company’s flagship router of the future and will form the foundation of intelligent and advanced broadband networks in the Internet.

The presentation Tuesday also featured an appearance by AT&T’s Keith Cambron, who talked about the carrier’s successful 100G field trial between Florida and Louisiana as a harbinger of better networking things to come. Cambron, who is president and CEO of AT&T Labs, noted that AT&T’s video traffic is growing at a rate of 80% a year.

AT&T has been under pressure to speed up its wireless network, because its exclusive arrangement with Apple to provide the iPhone has pressured AT&T’s mobile network while the carrier’s landline broadband struggles to keep up with growing traffic.

Praising Cisco’s CRS-3, Cambron said: “We are entering the next stage of global communications and entertainment services and applications, which requires a new set of advanced Internet networking technologies. AT&T’s network handled 40% more traffic in 2009 than it did in the previous year and we continue to see this growth in 2010.”

Cisco said the CRS-3 has three times the scale of its CRS-1 predecessor and two times more service intelligence. It has a total capacity of as much as 322 Terabits per second — a metric that translates to the downloading of the entire printed collection of the Library of Congress in just over one second.

The CRS-3 has been developed to enable its users to access both traditional networks and emerging data center clouds. The router features a Network Positioning System that covers Layers 3 to 7 application information. Its cloud virtual private network with Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) paves the way for “pay-as-you-go” services.

Cisco’s new QuantumFlow Array processor, included in the CRS-3 design, enables users to access unprecedented levels of applications and devices while consuming a low level of power, according to Cisco.

Chambers said the Tuesday Webinar (liveblogged here) was not just about the CRS-3, but was really “an announcement about the future of InternetYou will see a series of announcements coming.”

In a sense, Cisco is travelling full circle in its Internet vision — from Chambers’ prediction about video as a disruptive force, to the CRS-3 and the firm’s belief it will sit at the core of the Internet vision with consumer video at the edge.

As if to illustrate the point Chambers on Tuesday waved around a Flip video camera from Pure Digital Technologies, a firm Cisco acquired last year.

Cisco has a press release as well:

Cisco Introduces Foundation for Next-Generation Internet: The Cisco CRS-3 Carrier Routing System .  Advanced Platform Designed to Deliver New Wave of Video, Mobile and Data Center/Cloud Services

Cisco CRS-3 Carrier Routing System

SAN JOSE, Calif., March 9, 2010 – Cisco today announced a major advancement in Internet networking – the Cisco® CRS-3 Carrier Routing System (CRS) – designed to serve as the foundation of the next-generation Internet and set the pace for the astonishing growth of video transmission, mobile devices and new online services through this decade and beyond.

With more than 12 times the traffic capacity of the nearest competing system, the Cisco CRS-3 is designed to transform the broadband communication and entertainment industry by accelerating the delivery of compelling new experiences for consumers, new revenue opportunities for service providers, and new ways to collaborate in the workplace.

And here is the introduction of the CRS-3:

Overview:

• The Cisco CRS-3 triples the capacity of its predecessor, the Cisco CRS-1 Carrier Routing System, with up to 322 Terabits per second, which enables the entire printed collection of the Library of Congress to be downloaded in just over one second; every man, woman and child in China to make a video call, simultaneously; and every motion picture ever created to be streamed in less than four minutes.
• The Cisco CRS-3 enables unified service delivery of Internet and cloud services with service intelligence spanning service provider Internet Protocol Next-Generation Networks (IP NGNs) and data center.  The Cisco CRS-3 also provides unprecedented savings with investment protection for the nearly 5,000 Cisco CRS-1 deployed worldwide.  Cisco’s cumulative investment in the Cisco CRS family is $1.6 billion, further underscoring the company’s commitment.
• AT&T, one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies, recently tested the Cisco CRS-3 in a successful completion of the world’s first field trial of 100-Gigabit backbone network technology, which took place in AT&T’s live network between New Orleans and Miami.  The trial advances AT&T’s development of the next generation of backbone network technology that will support the network requirements for the growing number of advanced services offered by AT&T to consumer and business customers, both fixed and mobile.
• The Cisco CRS-3 is currently in field trials, and its pricing starts at $90,000 U.S.

Highlights and Capabilities for the Next-Generation Internet:

• Unmatched Scale:  With a proven multi-chassis architecture, the Cisco CRS-3 can deliver up to 322 tbps of capacity, more than tripling the 92 tbps capacity of the Cisco CRS-1 and representing more than 12 times the capacity of any other core router in the industry.
• Unique Core and Data Center/Cloud Services Intelligence:  In addition to capacity requirements, the growths of mobile and video applications are creating new multidirectional traffic patterns with the increasing emergence of the data center cloud.  The new Cisco Data Center Services System provides tight linkages between the Cisco CRS-3, Cisco Nexus family and Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) to enable unified service delivery of cloud services.  This intelligence also includes carrier-grade IPv6 (CGv6) and core IP/MPLS technologies that permit new IP NGN architectural efficiencies required to keep pace with the rapidly growing cloud services market.  Unique capabilities include:
  • Network Positioning System (NPS) — provides Layers 3 to 7 application information for best path to content, improving consumer and business experiences while reducing costs.
  • Cloud virtual private network (VPN) for Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)-enables ‘pay-as-you-go’ for compute, storage and network resources by automating Cisco CRS-3 and Cisco Nexus Inter-Data center connections for Cisco UCS.
• Unprecedented Savings:  The Cisco CRS-3 offers dramatic operational expense savings and up to 60 percent savings on power consumption compared to competitive platforms.  The Cisco CRS-3 also delivers significant capital expenditures savings and investment protection for existing Cisco CRS-1 customers.  The new capabilities in the platform can be achieved by reusing the existing chassis, route processors, fans and power systems with the addition of new line cards and fabric.  These upgrades can be performed in-service and be provided by Cisco Services to ensure a smooth transition.
• Silicon Innovation:  The Cisco CRS-3 is powered by the new Cisco QuantumFlow Array Processor, which unifies the combined power of six chips to work as one, enabling unprecedented levels of service capabilities and processing power.  Making this implementation even more unique is its ability to deliver capabilities with a fraction of the power required by lesser performing chipsets.  The Cisco QuantumFlow Array chipset was designed to provide the new system the ability to scale with the ever increasing demands being placed on the IP NGN by the many different applications and billions of devices being used by both businesses and consumers in the Zettabyte era.

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Filed Under: Business • Innovation • Internet • Silicon Valley • Technology

Tags: backbone, cisco, crs-3, Internet