Product Overview
The Cisco ASR1001HX-IPSECHW is a hardware-based IPSec encryption performance license for the Cisco ASR 1001-HX router, enabling accelerated, scalable, and secure VPN services. This performance upgrade leverages dedicated crypto hardware acceleration to deliver line-rate encryption throughput, critical for IPSec, DMVPN, GETVPN, and FlexVPN deployments. It’s an essential license for enterprises and service providers requiring high-performance encryption across WAN or hybrid cloud environments.
Product Details
| Attribute | Description |
| Product Name | ASR1001HX-IPSECHW |
| Type | Hardware-activated license for crypto acceleration |
| Target Platform | Cisco ASR 1001-HX Router |
| Function | Enables hardware-accelerated IPSec encryption |
| Performance Impact | Enables full platform throughput for encrypted traffic |
| Deployment Use Cases | VPN headend, branch aggregation, secure WAN, SD-WAN encryption |
| Licensing Model | Right-to-use (RTU) or Smart License depending on system version |
| Feature Category | Security, VPN, Crypto |
| Supported Protocols | IPSec, GRE over IPSec, DMVPN, GETVPN, FlexVPN |
| Ideal For | Enterprises, data centers, service provider core/edge |
Key Features
Unlocks hardware-level encryption acceleration on ASR1001-HX
Supports multi-gig IPSec throughput with minimal CPU overhead
Works with Cisco IOS XE, SD-WAN, and VPN feature sets
Enables secure WAN, VPN tunnels, and remote access solutions
Optimized for low-latency encryption and large-scale VPN deployments
Complements QoS, firewall, and routing features on the ASR platform
Technical Specifications
| Specification | Value |
| Supported Router Model | Cisco ASR 1001-HX |
| Feature Enabled | Hardware IPSec Crypto Acceleration |
| Licensing Mode | Smart Licensing or RTU |
| Required IOS XE Version | 16.x or later (recommend latest stable release) |
| Encryption Performance | Up to full platform bandwidth (~100 Gbps+) |
| Use Case | VPN headend, secure branch, data center encryption |
| Compatible Features | GETVPN, DMVPN, FlexVPN, IKEv2, QoS, ZBFW |
Similar Models / Related Licenses
| Model / License | Description | Use Case |
| ASR1001HX | Base model with modular performance and crypto support | Aggregation router |
| ASR1001HX-ESPBASE | Base ESP throughput license for ASR1001-HX | Required for base routing |
| ASR1001HX-IPSECHW | Hardware encryption acceleration license | Secure VPN acceleration |
| ASR1001HX-SWAPPK9 | Unified Communication and Security SW license | Enables advanced features |
| ASR1001HX-AESK9 | Standard AES encryption software license | Basic VPN encryption |
