Cisco launched the new Cisco 8000 Series Secure Routers at Cisco Live 2025 San Diego. Customers are impressed by the "Cisco secure routers now have a new secure networking processor, which accelerates IPsec by 3x, and integrated NGFW capabilities".
This article will elaborate on how the secure networking processor is benefiting customers.
The Cisco 8000 Series Secure Routers use an all-new secure networking processor, a Cisco-customized unified system-on-a-chip (SoC) that processes security and routing tasks. It is used in the 8100, 8200, 8300 and 8400 Series Secure Routers.
The key benefits to customers are:
1. It has an inline crypto engine to speed up IPsec encryption/decryption, result in significantly higher IPsec throughput.
2. The processor is built with crypto agility to allow us to program NIST compliant post-quantum cryptography to secure WAN transport in post-quantum era.
3. Secure Firewall run on the processor with high bandwidth on chip packet move and firewall optimization to deliver incredible NGFW throughput. The processor enable customer to deploy branch router with security fused in, delivering operational and management simplicity.
4. AI/ML engine built-in the SoC to be future ready to enable AI use cases at the branch, for example machine learning based exploit detection.
5. Integrated HW acceleration for entire datapath from I/O, Packet Classifier, Packet Processor Engine & Traffic Manager to improve the overall forwarding performance
6. Integrated Ethernet Controller support various ethernet standard from 1GE to 2.5mGE, 5mGE, 10GE and 25GE to facility branch LAN and WAN speed migration.
7. Performance defined power allow processor scaling performance to match workload, result in 30%+ power saving
8. Programmable ucode not only protects Cisco intellectual property, allow easier enhancement and release control in future and also give customer 3000+ IOS XE feature parity from day1 with the same feature functionality & behavior to allow seamless migration from ISR1K, ISR4K and Catalyst 8000 Edge platforms.
