App hosting limitations for ISR1000 (X) devices

[mario.jost]

We are looking to buy C1121 routers and we want to be able to host containers on these devices. So as far as i read, there are two options.

• C1121 with the AppX License (SL-1K-8P-APP-SV)
• C1121X also requiring the AppX License (SL-1K-8P-APP-SV)

So as i understand, the model without the X does only have 4GB of memory while the X Models do have 8GB. How much of the memory is reserved for the system/OS? How much can we use for a container? And are there other limitations besides the RAM difference?

[Leo Laohoo · Accepted solution]

We have a fleet of ISR 1000 and ISR 1000X and we have them on SD-WAN. 

Over time, we've noticed that the 1000 (4 Gb memory) were experiencing non-stop memory leaks.  We would reboot them and they would go OK for awhile and the memory leaks would return (but different processes causing it). 

We spoke to the Cisco "in country" SD-WAN specialist and the first question he asked was, "Are these happening to the routers with 4 Gb memory?"  He said that the SD-WAN developers have been "challenged" with trying to squeeze in as much code that would work in 4 Gb memory.  

In my personal opinion, it will not be long before Cisco is going to completely abandon the ISR 1000 with only 4 Gb of memory.  With the ongoing rate of bloatware being churned out, 16 Gb memory is not big enough but 32 Gb might.

If you wanted to host "apps", do not skimp:  Get a bigger router, like the Cat 8k or something (with necessary modules and storage).  The ISR 1000X (or whatever iteration comes next) does not have enough CPU grunt nor memory to really run/host an app efficiently & effectively.

[sdroy]

The Cisco C1121 and C1121X routers differ primarily in their memory capacity, with the C1121 having 4GB and the C1121X offering 8GB. For both models, a portion of the memory is reserved for the system/OS, typically around 1GB to 1.5GB, depending on the specific configuration and features enabled. This leaves approximately 2.5GB to 3GB available for containers on the C1121 and around 6GB to 6.5GB on the C1121X. Beyond the RAM difference, other limitations include the processing power and storage capacity, which may affect the number and complexity of containers you can run. Additionally, ensure that the AppX license is activated to enable container hosting capabilities.