Inside a Cisco Router

The mainframe of a Cisco router is essentially the same as a normal desktop computer, and higher-model routers will have multiple processors and places to add more CPUs if needed. There are seven different internal components of a Cisco router. These are the CPU, RAM, NVRAM, Flash, ROM, housing and interfaces. By using other element components, the mainframe executes some commands that are given by the IOS or the operating system.

What sets a router apart from a PC is the fact that a router can perform special tasks like controlling or routing traffic between networks. Both the router and the PC have similar components much as a motherboard, RAM and an operative system. Basically, routers are a unique type of computer.

RAM is upgradeable, however, it loses its content when power is cut. RAM is used to stop the ARP cache, store routing tables, buffer information packets and stop queues. Also, it acts as a temporary module for the configuration router when the system boots up. The NVRAM is a nonvolatile RAM that stop your configuration files for startup. When the unit is powered off or restarted this type of RAM is not lost.

Flash ROM is upgradeable on most Cisco routers. This helps to hold information on software and hardware components for each node connected to the network. This aspect can be upgraded by simply removing the chip and installing a new one, which will give you a new version of the IOS. The Flash module is one of the most important aspects of a Cisco router because it stores the IOS image file for all software, and it stores all software backup. In this way, it acts similar to System Restore.

A Cisco router is able to use a combination of transceivers, card modules or onboard interfaces. The housing of the router is made up of physical plugs and jacks settled on the router, and it’s meant to act as an access port for different software setups. LAN, WAN and Console/Auxiliary network types can be connected here, and higher-end Cisco routers can be organized in several different topographies when creating a network interface.  PC Wholesale is outfitted to supply memory upgrades for every Cisco router.