The Cisco 7300 Series Internet Router is designed for network-edge applications where high-performance IP services are required at optical speeds, such as in the high-end enterprise, or as a managed service customer premises equipment (CPE) device. Within a compact, four-rack unit (RU), modular, four-slot form factor, the Cisco 7300 provides optical connectivity in addition to processor redundancy capability and multiprotocol capabilities. High-performance services are critical in these implementations, and the Cisco 7300 delivers an evolving set of high-performance, hardware-accelerated IP services via the Cisco patented Parallel Express Forwarding (PXF) IP services processor technology, upgradeable through a software upgrade.