To make you more familiar with the concepts of network routing and to get acquainted with the reputable vendors of network routers, we have prepared a number of blogs as a series, the different parts of which are as follows:

In these posts we have a mental premise: Everyone who reading these posts has enough understanding and knowledge about the different layers of OSI and TCP/IP architectural models and especially knows the difference between the roles and function of layers two and three.

In this series of blogs you will come across a variety of terms, abbreviations, concepts, and technologies. We have tried to explain the general concepts and terms as much as possible in the first part of this series. In the following sections, we assume that you have read first part and therefore we will not re-explain these concepts and terms in the following sections. Of course, each vendor also has a number of specific terms and concepts that are explained in blogs related to the same vendor’s products.

Last note, all the content as well as the images used in this series of blogs are taken from the official websites of the reviewed vendors (Cisco, Microtik, and HP ).

Part 4- Mikrotik Routers: RB Routers, CCR Routers, PowerBox Routers and hEX Routers

MikroTik is a Latvian network equipment manufacturer. The company develops and sells wired and wireless network routers, network switches, access points, as well as operating systems and auxiliary software. The company was founded in 1996. The popularity of the company’s products is constantly increasing. Most of the company’s products, in addition to the command line environment, can be easily configured through a powerful graphical interface. In addition, the company’s products support almost all standard networking protocols. The company’s routers are the subject of this blog.

Concepts & Technologies

RouterOS: It is a network operating system based on Linux. MiKrotik routers (known as RouterBOARD) use this operating system. It has all the necessary features for an ISP – routing, firewall, bandwidth management, wireless access point, backhaul link, hotspot gateway, VPN server and more.
Combo Port: Combo-port – a single 1Gbit software interface that has two hardware interfaces – an SFP cage and a Gigabit Ethernet port, allowing you to use any type of connection available to you. It is also possible to switch between both physical interfaces in RouterOS.

Abbreviations

G: GbE: Gigabit Ethernet Port
S: SFP Port
S+: SFP+ Port
C: Combo Port

Router Families

Mickrotik routers come in four families:

hEX: It is a five port Gigabit Ethernet router family for locations where wireless connectivity is not required.
RB: It stands for RouterBoard.
CCR: It stands for Cloud Core Router.
Powerbox: The PowerBox is an outdoor five Ethernet port router with PoE output on four ports. You can use this device to supply power to four PoE capable devices such as our SXT or others. Since the device has a waterproof outdoor case, you can mount it on a tower, or in other outdoor locations.

hEX Routers

In the following figure, you can compare the important features of these routers:

RB Routers

In the following figure, you can compare the important features of these routers:

CCR Routers

In the following figure, you can compare the important features of these routers:

PowerBox Routers

In the following figure, you can compare the important features of these routers:

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Source: In preparing this blog, we have tried to use the documents and contents available on the official website of Mikrotik Company (mikrotik.com)

Read other blogs related to this series:

Part 1 – What is a Network Router? Routing Terms (Such as Routing Protocols, and Types of Routers)

Part 2 – Cisco Routers: Branch Routers, Industrial Routers, and Network Functions Virtualization

Part 3 – Other Cisco Routers: Service Provider, Small Business, Virtual, WAN)

Part 5- HP Routers: Branch, Campus, Data Center, Virtual and Small Business