Introduction

Cisco 4000 Family Integrated Services Routers (ISRs) form an intelligent WAN platform that delivers the performance, security, and convergence capabilities that today's branch offices need.

The Cisco 4000 Family Integrated Services Router (ISR) revolutionizes WAN communications in the enterprise branch. With new levels of built-in intelligent network capabilities and convergence, it specifically addresses the growing need for application-aware networking in distributed enterprise sites. These locations tend to have lean IT resources. But they often also have a growing need for direct communication with both private data centers and public clouds across diverse links, including Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) VPNs and the Internet.

The Cisco 4000 Family contains five platforms: the 4451-X, 4431, 4351, 4331, and 4321 ISRs.

Cisco 4000 Family ISRs provide you with Cisco® Intelligent WAN (IWAN) software features and a converged branch infrastructure. Along with superior throughput, these capabilities form the building blocks of next-generation branch-office WAN solutions.

Cisco Intelligent WAN (IWAN)
Cisco IWAN is a set of intelligent software services that allow you to reliably and securely connect users, devices, and branch office locations across a diverse set of WAN transport links. IWAN-enabled routers like the ISR 4000 dynamically route traffic across the "best" link based on up-to-the-minute application and network conditions for great application experiences. You get tight control over application performance, bandwidth usage, data privacy, and availability of your WAN links - control that you need as your branches conduct greater volumes of mission-critical business.

Cisco Converged Branch Infrastructure
The Cisco 4000 Series ISRs consolidate many must-have IT functions, including network, compute, and storage resources. The high-performance, integrated routers run multiple concurrent IWAN services, including encryption, traffic management, and WAN optimization, without slowing your data throughput. And you can activate new services on demand through a simple licensing change.