Introducing Cisco IOS

There is no company in the world that can match Cisco’s ability to deliver the most applications on the Internet at the lowest cost. Internet technologies have advanced dramatically in the past decade.

More than anything else, Cisco owes its success to the superiority of its robust Router Operating System (IOS). Cisco IOS is the valuable software that is at the heart of Cisco’s Internet solutions. This operating system helps companies create data with minimal overhead. We would like to explain you this operation system and Introducing Cisco IOS.

Introducing Cisco IOS:

Cisco IOS is short of Internetwork Operation System that is collection of proprietary operating systems that run on cisco system hardware, including routers, switches and other network devices. The core function of Cisco IOS is to enable data communications between network nodes. Cisco IOS enables the administration, operation and management of Cisco network devices.

Cisco IOS is a multitasking operation system used on most cisco system routers and switches. IOS has a CLI with a predetermined number of multiple-word commands. The IOS operating system is used to configure routing, switching, interworking and other features supported by Cisco IOS devices.

Cisco IOS offers dozens of additional services that an administrator can use to improve the performance and security of network traffic. Such services include authentication, encryption, firewall capabilities, policy enforcement, deep packet inspection, intelligent routing and proxy server capability. In Cisco’s Integrated Services Routers, IOS can also support call processing and unified communications services.

Totally, if we want to answer to this question that what is Cisco IOS? We can say: The Cisco IOS (Internetwork Operating System) is a proprietary operating system that provides routing, switching, and internetworking features. It controls and manages the hardware on which it runs. Technically, it provides an interface between a user and the hardware, allowing the user to execute commands to configure and manage the Cisco device.

Originally, the IOS was developed for Cisco routers, but a few years later Cisco decided to use the IOS to its other platforms, including the Catalyst switches. Currently, the IOS runs on most Cisco routers as well as a growing number of Cisco Catalyst switches such as Catalyst 2960 and 3560 series switches.

Features of Cisco IOS:

• Interface configuration
• Network management and monitoring
• Quality of services
• Routing
• Security
• Switching
• Carry network protocols and functions
• Connect between different data link layer technologies
• Connect high-speed traffic between devices
• Secure network resources
• Control unauthorized access
• Provide scalability foe ease of network growth
• Keep the network stable and reliable

Read more: What is cisco router

What is connectivity in Cisco IOS?

Every type of media uses a separate format to transfer data over it. IOS not just understands the formats of almost all modern type of media, but it can also convert them. You can use an IOS running router to connect two different networks that use different media types:

For connecting a LAN network to a WAN network & for connecting a wireless network to a wired network.

What is reliability in Cisco IOS?

The first IOS was written in 1986. Since then, to keep the IOS up to date, to ensure critical resources always remain accessible and to adapt new technologies introduced in the market. Cisco has not only tweaked and tuned IOS several times but also has added new features in every update.

Because of the success of its IOS software, cisco has moved from a garage-router company to one of the world’s largest companies in less than two decades. Nowadays a large portion of the Internet backbone is composed of Cisco products. Due to reliability and stability of the IOS, most enterprise network, as well as ISPs use cisco products in one form or another.

What is security in Cisco IOS?

The IOS includes a wide range of security features that allow you to strictly control your network resources and networking devices according to your internal security policies. You can configure the IOS to allow or deny a specific host or a range of hosts. You can also configure the IOS to allow or deny access to a particular application.

Once security policies, commonly known as the access control lists, are configured the IOS actively monitors all traffic that passes through it and allows or denies the traffic based on the configured rules.

For example, if the IOS receives traffic from a host that is blocked in the access list, the IOS discards the traffic immediately. Or if the IOS receives traffic from a host that is allowed in the access list, the IOS process the traffic and forwards that to the destination.

That’s all for this part. In the next part of this tutorial, we will understand the Cisco IOS naming convention in detail. If you like this tutorial, please don’t forget to share it with friends through your favorite social network.

What are different types of Cisco IOS in cisco switch?

Cisco switches have their own operating system, which can also be run on switches and routers. The main task of this operating system is to enable data communication between networks.

Among the services that the Cisco switch operating system provides, we can refer to encryption, authentication, firewall capabilities, improving the quality of service (QOS), etc. For more information, see the article Types of Cisco Switch Operating Systems.

• IOS XE: This type of operating system runs on Linux and has similar code to other IOS. This operating system is also known as Families. This allows each user to use the same code base. It is supported in Cisco’s newer enterprise switching, routing and wireless devices. IOS XE is found in a number of Cisco products, including its Catalyst 9000 switches, 1000 Series Aggregation Services Routers and Catalyst 9800 wireless controllers, among others. Although IOS XE and IOS share a lot of same code, IOS XE is more modular, feature-rich version and provides more advanced functionality and scalability. Other benefits of IOS XE include enhanced user experience, unified management, virtualization of modular architecture, HA and software redundancy.
• IOS WR: This is a QNX-based operating system that is similar to commercial UNIX. This operating system supports software-defined networking (SDN) and the embedded systems market. It is also known as trains, which offers a new type of IOS version.
• NX-OS: This operating system is used for Nexus series Ethernet switches and MDS series Fiber Channel storage network switches. This IOS is based on Wind River Linux and can run with other Cisco operating systems. NX-OS provides modularity, resilience and scalability. NX-OS also offers enhanced features optimized for modern data centers hosting hybrid clouds and other complex enterprise environments. Key features and benefits of Cisco NX-OS include operational simplicity, architectural flexibility, system resilience and end-to-end visibility.
• IOS XR: Cisco IOS XR runs on networking devices intended for service providers. It has an entirely different codebase from IOS XE. Since its 6.x release, Cisco IOS XR has been based on Linux. Previously, it was based on QNX, a Unix-like OS. IOS XR is designed for scalability and reducing complexity across massive networks operated by carriers and internet service providers. The latest versions of IOS XR focus on a modular design with management application programming interface (API) integration and network automation. Other features and benefits of Cisco IOS XR include HA, advanced multicast, extensive QoS and software package management.

Read more: What is Cisco Switch

What is Cisco IOS based on?

As proprietary software, Cisco IOS is not based on other OSes, like Windows. It is a monolithic OS with a custom core. However, newer incarnations, including IOS XE, are based on a Linux kernel.

This provides modularity and other modern features absent in basic IOS, including memory protection, virtualization support, high availability (HA), scalability, automation capabilities, enhanced security features and in-service software upgrades.

What are IOS modes?

IOS has some different modes. There are some sub-modes that we will introduce them.

• User EXEC Mode: this is default mode of IOS CLI. This mode by user placed in after accessing the IOS. Only basic commands that are available in mode.
• Privileged EXEC Mode: by typing the enable command from the user EXEC mode, this mode is accessed. This mode can protect the password and a user can view and change a device’s configuration.
• Global Configuration mode: this mode can be accessed by typing the configure terminal command from the privileged EXEC mode. It is used to change the device’s configuration.

Conclusion:

In this article, we try to talk about all aspect of Cisco IOS such as what is it? Different types of it, benefit and features. If this post was useful for you, read other Atech blogs and visit our site.

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