Full English Description for Cisco ASR 9901
1. Official Short Order Description (Datasheet Standard Format)
ASR 9901: Cisco ASR 9000 Series Compact 2RU High-Density Fixed-Port Provider Edge Router built on 5th-generation Quantum Flow Processor forwarding architecture, integrated single RSP route switch processor with fixed 42 multi-rate native ports (1G/10G/100G SFP/SFP28), total nonblocking full-duplex fabric capacity up to 456 Gbps, integrated Stratum 1 GPS GNSS timing + BITS/SyncE/IEEE 1588v2 PTP synchronous timing subsystem, dual redundant hot-swappable AC/DC/HVDC power supplies and redundant fan trays, RSP base 16GB ECC DDR4 memory upgradable to 32GB, 32GB industrial eUSB bootflash, modular carrier-grade Cisco IOS XR 64-bit operating system with full MPLS L2/L3VPN, EVPN Segment Routing, broadband BRAS, 4G/5G mobile backhaul convergence, hardware MACsec/IPsec wire-speed acceleration and multi-layer H-QoS, optimized for metro aggregation, compact 5G cell-site gateway, small service provider POP PE, enterprise DCI and low-scale multi-cloud secure interconnection deploymentsCisco.
2. Complete Detailed Product Overview
Product Line Positioning
Cisco ASR 9901 is the compact 2RU fixed-port high-performance edge chassis within the modern ASR 9000 5th-Generation X-series IOS XR portfolio, differentiated from older ASR 9001 and modular ASR 9902/9904/9906 large chassis. It delivers 42 built-in multi-rate fiber ports without external line card/MPA expansion slots, ultra-high 456 Gbps nonblocking fabric throughput in a shallow 2RU rack footprint, dual redundant power and cooling, and unified synchronous timing hardware purpose-built for mobile transport and metro carrier edge sites. It shares identical IOS XR feature parity with all ASR 9000 series routers, targeting space-constrained aggregation sites requiring high-density native 10G/100G fiber ports, carrier-grade encryption and synchronous clocking without the cost of large modular multi-slot chassisCisco.
Fixed Native Front-Panel Multi-Rate Port Layout
All 42 integrated ports support wire-speed L2/L3 forwarding, SyncE clock recovery, MACsec hardware encryption and H-QoS offload, split into three port groups:
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32 × 10GE SFP+ slots for metro access aggregation, microwave backhaul and enterprise branch uplinks
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8 × 1GE SFP slots for legacy TDM gateway, utility field network and low-speed access devices
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2 × 100GE QSFP28 high-capacity core uplink ports for DCI and regional MPLS core interconnection
All SFP/SFP+/QSFP28 slots support single/multi-mode fiber and copper transceivers for flexible mixed-media deploymentCisco.
Integrated Multi-Standard Precision Timing Interfaces (Critical for 5G Mobile Transport)
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1 × GPS GNSS mini-coax input port for Stratum 1 grandmaster clock generation
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1 × BITS RJ45 timing port compliant with GR-1244-CORE Stratum 3 carrier central office standard
Native full support for SyncE, IEEE 1588v2 PTP telecom profiles, ToD and 1PPS pulse signals to eliminate clock drift for synchronous 4G/5G fronthaul/backhaul transport networksCisco.
Management, Alarm & Auxiliary Interfaces
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Dual isolated 10/100/1000BASE-T RJ45 out-of-band management Ethernet ports for redundant remote chassis monitoring
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Dual console access: RJ45 serial console + Mini-USB Type B port for local offline configuration
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1×RJ45 AUX dial-out port for backup analog modem remote management
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2×USB 3.0 Type-A host ports for license import, offline configuration backup and IOS XR firmware image upload
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Multi-color front-panel LED array monitoring RSP health, port link activity, power supply, fan tray condition, timing lock, crypto engine activity and system critical/minor/major fault alarmsCisco.
Processor, Memory & Storage
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Integrated Single RSP Route Switch Processor (Fixed FRU)
Multi-core Intel Xeon D x86 CPU paired with QFP3 5th-gen distributed forwarding ASIC delivering fixed 456 Gbps nonblocking full-duplex IMIX throughput. Embedded dedicated crypto co-processor provides wire-speed MACsec and IPsec VPN acceleration across all 42 ports:
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Base factory configuration: 16GB ECC DDR4 memory, supports up to 2 million IPv4/IPv6 routing table entries
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Field-upgradable to maximum 32GB ECC DDR4 memory for large-scale BGP route reflector and broadband BRAS multi-subscriber workloads
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Boot Flash: Fixed 32GB rugged industrial eUSB onboard flash for IOS XR 64-bit modular boot images, crash dumps, NVRAM and persistent system logging; no internal HDD/SSD expansion tray supportedCisco.
Power, Mechanical & Environmental Specifications
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Form Factor: Standard 2RU 19-inch four-post shallow-depth rack-mount chassis
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Physical Dimensions: 44.45mm H × 444.5mm W × 381mm D (1.75 × 17.5 × 15 in)
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Weight: ~12.2kg empty chassis; fully loaded weight ~14.5kg
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Cooling: Dual hot-swappable redundant fan trays with front-to-back airflow, OIR zero-downtime fan replacement without chassis power down
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Power Supply Architecture: Dual hot-swappable wide-range AC (90–264VAC) / -48VDC / HVDC power supplies for N+1 carrier-grade power redundancy; maximum total chassis power draw 780W
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Operating Temperature: 5°C ~ +40°C continuous indoor central office / equipment room operation
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Storage Temperature: -40°C ~ +70°C
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Humidity: 10%–90% RH non-condensing operating humidity
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Compliance: UL 62368-1, IEC/EN 60950-1, NEBS GR-1089 / GR-63, FCC Class A, CE certified for carrier central office, cell-site and enterprise data center edge deploymentCisco.
Official Performance Benchmarks
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Fixed aggregate nonblocking IMIX forwarding throughput: 456 Gbps full-duplex
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Hardware-accelerated IMIX IPsec/MACsec total crypto throughput: Max 32 Gbps system-wide encryption capacity
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Maximum concurrent EVPN/VPLS L2VPN service instances: Up to 10,000 with 32GB RSP memory
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Total concurrent stateful firewall sessions: Up to 8 million sessions
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Full hardware offload support for NBAR2 AVC deep packet inspection, hierarchical MQC H-QoS, large-scale CGNAT address translation, multicast replication and sub-second BFD fast convergenceCisco.
Software & Core Supported Capabilities (64-bit Modular Cisco IOS XR)
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Carrier-Grade Routing & Full MPLS Suite
IPv4/IPv6 dual-stack forwarding, BGP, OSPF, EIGRP, IS-IS, Segment Routing, RSVP-TE, BFD fast convergence; complete MPLS feature stack including L3VPN, EVPN, VPLS, EoMPLS, multi-tenant route reflector and broadband L2TP BRAS termination for service provider multi-tenant private WAN architectures.
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4G/5G Mobile Backhaul Convergence Transport Suite
Native SyncE / IEEE 1588v2 PTP / GPS/BITS multi-layer synchronous timing stack, Carrier Ethernet MEF-compliant E-Line/E-LAN/E-Tree services, SAToP/CESoP TDM pseudowire legacy circuit migration, zero-touch provisioning compatible with Cisco NSO mass cell-site orchestration.
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Unified Integrated Carrier-Grade Security Stack
Line-rate hardware MACsec/IPsec tunnel acceleration, next-generation stateful zone firewall, IDS/IPS threat inspection, advanced malware protection (AMP), large-scale CGNAT subscriber address translation, AAA RADIUS/TACACS+, TLS encrypted remote multi-tenant traffic segmentation.
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Application Visibility & Hierarchical H-QoS Management
NBAR2 full application signature classification, multi-level hierarchical MQC traffic shaping/policing, strict priority queues for mobile voice and control signaling, IP SLA performance monitoring, NetFlow/IPFIX streaming telemetry for centralized broadband and transport network capacity analytics.
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Carrier-Grade High Availability Mechanisms
NSF Nonstop Forwarding, ISSU In-Service Software Upgrade for zero-downtime firmware updates, HSRP/VRRP gateway redundancy, sub-second BFD link failure detection, dual redundant power and fan trays eliminating single points of failure for unmanned remote cell-site and POP deployments.
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Multi-Tenant Automation & Programmability
CLI/SSH console access, REST API, NETCONF/YANG, gRPC, Python scripting, streaming telemetry, native integration with Catalyst Center and NSO Network Services Orchestrator for mass enterprise and service provider edge device lifecycle automation.
Typical Deployment Scenarios
Medium enterprise headquarters metro WAN aggregation hubs, small service provider POP multi-tenant PE aggregation CPE, compact 4G/5G regional cell-site backhaul gateways, low-scale broadband multi-subscriber BRAS termination nodes, medium-scale data center DCI interconnection routers, nationwide retail SD-WAN regional aggregation hubs requiring 42 built-in 1G/10G/100G fiber ports, 2RU compact shallow rack mounting, dual redundant power/fan hardware HA and integrated carrier-grade synchronous timing synchronization.
3. E-commerce Short Marketing Description
Cisco ASR 9901 Compact 2RU High-Density Fixed-Point Provider Edge Router, integrated RSP with fixed 456Gbps nonblocking fabric capacity, upgradable 16GB ECC DDR4 RAM up to 32GB, 32GB eUSB bootflash, 42 native multi-rate 1G/10G/100G SFP/SFP28 ports, integrated GPS Stratum 1 + BITS/PTP/SyncE multi-layer precision timing subsystem, dual redundant AC/-48VDC/HVDC power supplies and dual OIR fan trays, dedicated hardware crypto engine up to 32Gbps IPsec throughput, modular 64-bit Cisco IOS XR OS with full carrier-grade MPLS EVPN, 5G mobile backhaul transport and integrated NGFW security, ideal for metro aggregation, small service provider POP PE and compact 4G/5G cell-site edge transport deployments.
4. Product Catalog Keyword Tags
Cisco, ASR 9901, ASR 9000 Series, 2RU Compact Fixed-Port High-Density Provider Edge Router, QFP3 5th-Generation Forwarding ASIC, Fixed 456 Gbps Full-Duplex Nonblocking Fabric Throughput, 42 Built-In Multi-Rate 1G/10G/100G SFP/SFP28 Ports, Integrated GPS Stratum 1 + BITS/PTP/SyncE Timing, Dual Redundant AC/DC Power Supplies, Dual Hot-Swap OIR Fan Trays, NEBS GR-1089 Certified, Up to 32 Gbps Wire-Speed IPsec/MACsec Acceleration, 64-bit Modular Cisco IOS XR Operating System, Carrier-Grade MPLS L3VPN/EVPN/VPLS, MEF Carrier Ethernet Service Support, 4G/5G Mobile Backhaul Aggregation Gateway, Small Service Provider POP PE CPE, Metro Ethernet Aggregation Router, Compact Data Center DCI Interconnection Router
Naming Rule Explanation
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ASR = Aggregation Services Router carrier-grade multi-service edge aggregation platform
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9000 = High-performance IOS XR carrier core series (separated from shallow-depth IOS XE ASR 900 mobile transport edge routers)
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9901 = Modern fixed-port 2RU high-performance chassis (5th-gen QFP3 forwarding, 42 integrated fiber ports, no modular line card slots, upgraded timing and crypto hardware vs legacy ASR 9001)
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No suffix = Standard fixed-port high-density edge chassis of the ASR 9900 new generation portfolio
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