The Cisco VPN Acceleration Module 2 (VAM2) for Cisco 7200 Series routers provides high-performance encryption/ compression and key generation services for IP security (IPsec) VPN applications. The Cisco VAM2 features hardware acceleration for Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), Data Encryption Standard (DES), and Triple DES (3DES), providing increased performance for site-to-site and remote-access IPsec VPN services. The Cisco VAM2 provides hardware-assisted Layer 3 compression services with its encryption services, conserving bandwidth and lowering network connection costs over secured links. A Cisco 7200 Series router equipped with the VAM2 extends beyond these critical VPN services with full Layer 3 routing, quality of service (QoS), multicast and multiprotocol traffic, and broad support of integrated LAN/WAN media. This combination of security features and advanced network services offers a flexible, integrated approach to accommodate the most diverse enterprise or service provider network environments.