1/6/2009 -- You might've missed it, but Cisco Systems Inc. recently notched another win for its behemoth Carrier Routing System-1 (CRS-1) mega-router. Just a week before the Christmas holiday, Cisco announced that the Czech CESNET Association had upgraded its network backbone with CRS-1.

CESNET maintains CESNET2, the Czech Republic's national research and education network. CESNET2 connects nearly 100 Czech science, research and education institutions. It's plugged into the European main, too, with connectivity to GÉANT (EU), Aconet (Austria) and Poland's Pionier. CESNET plans to use CRS-1 to improve the resiliency and availability of its network services, as well as to support increased levels of video traffic.

Since its introduction nearly five years ago -- when Cisco trumpeted the Carrier Routing System as the brawniest and most scalable routing platform ever developed -- CRS-1 has quietly gained market share, typically notching a few high-profile customer wins each year.

Also in 2008, Cisco flagged Sprint's decision to tap CRS-1 to power its Global Tier 1 IP Network. Other high-profile CRS-1 adopters include AT&T, Yahoo BB and Shanghai Telecom, to name just a few.

According to CESNET officials, CRS-1 is the best platform out there for dealing with the multimedia and video services that increasingly account for much of its traffic. "The nature of the services provided on the academic network is shifting from text to multimedia and video, which require a substantially higher transfer capacity. CESNET2's upgraded 10-gigabit optical network now opens the space for introducing new types of applications," said Helmut Sverenyák, deputy research and development manager for CESNET, in a statement.

Cisco partner Intercom Systems, which handled the implementation, touts the CRS-1's environmental bona-fides, too. "This is one of the first implementations of such a system in the Czech Republic. It saves space and power and optimizes the cooling process, taking into consideration environmental aspects as well," said Jan Šíp, sales and technical director at Intercom, in a statement. --Stephen Swoyer