Cisco Systems, Inc. this week announced the Cisco Networked Office stack for small businesses and branch offices.
This suite of stackable desktop products combines low-end hubs, switches, routers and Web servers, and is designed to deliver secure Internet and remote access.
The Cisco Networked Office stack includes Cisco's existing 1600 series routers and 1500 series Ethernet hubs. Three new products for the stack include the eight-port Cisco 1548 10/100 autosensing switch, the eight-port Cisco 1528 10/100 autosensing hub and the Cisco Micro Webserver 200.
The Cisco Micro Webserver 200 is a dedicated Web hosting appliance for management of intranet or Internet Web site content. As content grows, the Micro Webserver scales from a 2.1G-byte internal hard drive through support for as many as six external storage devices.
The Cisco Networked Office stack can use the Cisco IOS Firewall Feature Set supported on the Cisco 1600 series routers, or the Cisco Centri Firewall for Windows NT for secured Internet access. The Centri firewall is now available in a 50-user configuration for smaller businesses.
Cisco has initiated a leasing program that offers 100% financing of the Cisco Networked Office stack, including all costs related to the network upgrade for a period of 36 months with a $1 residual payment. The program also offers a network upgrade option at Month 30 that enables businesses to upgrade to the latest technology and forgive the final six months of payments. After an initial investment, leasing starts at $59 per month.
The 1548 switch and 1528 hub will be available in late February for $1,295 and $645, respectively. The Micro Webserver 200 and Firewall feature set will also be available in February at a cost of $1,595 and $650, respectively. The 50-user version of the Centri firewall, also available next month, will cost $2,495.
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