CCR2216-1G-12XS-2XQ

The MikroTik CCR2216 is a flagship Cloud Core Router designed for extreme performance and high-capacity networking.1 It represents a significant leap forward in MikroTik's router lineup, particularly for environments demanding the highest speeds and reliability.

Here's a breakdown of what a CCR2216 can do:

Key Capabilities & Features

• Ultra-High-Speed Networking:

  • Two 100 Gigabit QSFP28 ports: This is its defining feature, allowing for blazing-fast 100 Gbps connectivity, essential for core network links, data center interconnects, or large-scale ISP backbones.

  • Twelve 25 Gigabit SFP28 ports: Provides high-density 25 Gbps fiber connectivity, which is ideal for connecting to high-speed servers, switches, or distribution layers in a data center or large enterprise network. These ports are also backward compatible with 10G SFP+ modules.

  • One Gigabit Ethernet port: Typically used for management or out-of-band access.

• Exceptional Processing Power:

  • 16-core ARM 64-bit Annapurna Labs Alpine v2 CPU (AL73400): Clocked at 2 GHz, this CPU delivers immense processing power, rivaling and often outperforming the previous flagship CCR1072's 72-core Tile CPU in terms of single-core performance. This is crucial for tasks that rely on per-connection processing like complex firewall rules or traffic queuing.

  • Marvell Prestera Aldrin2 switch-chip with L3 Hardware Offloading: This dedicated switch chip offloads Layer 3 routing tasks from the CPU, enabling wire-speed forwarding for millions of packets per second. It has four 25G CPU connection lines, greatly improving internal data flow compared to older models. This means the router can handle massive traffic volumes with minimal CPU load for common routing functions.

  • 16 GB of DDR4 RAM (often ECC RAM): Provides ample memory for large routing tables, complex configurations, and smooth operation under heavy loads. 2TB of Storage to be used for any NFV applications.

• Robustness and Reliability:

  • Dual redundant hot-swappable power supplies: Ensures high availability and minimizes downtime by providing power redundancy.

  • Four hot-swappable fans: Maintain optimal operating temperatures even under demanding conditions.

  • Designed for a wide operating temperature range (-20°C to +60°C).

  • RouterOS (License level 6): Runs MikroTik's full-featured RouterOS, offering a vast array of networking functionalities:

    • Advanced routing protocols (BGP, OSPF, MPLS).

    • Comprehensive firewall capabilities with hardware offloading support.

    • Quality of Service (QoS) for traffic prioritization.

    • VPN support (IPsec hardware acceleration).

    • VLANs, bonding, and other Layer 2 features.

    • Extensive monitoring and management tools.

• Ideal Applications:

  • Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Carriers: Perfect for core and aggregation layers due to its high throughput and port density, handling large BGP tables and carrier-grade infrastructure.17

  • Large Enterprises and Data Centers: For building high-performance, resilient networks requiring 25G and 100G connectivity for servers, storage, and inter-rack communication.

  • Research and File Hosting Facilities: Where massive data transfer speeds are critical.

  • Organizations requiring L3 Hardware Offloading: Maximizing routing performance with minimal CPU overhead for common tasks.

Extensible Platform with Containers

1. Network Monitoring and Logging:

   • Grafana/Prometheus: Deploy a lightweight Grafana instance for visualizing router metrics (CPU, memory, traffic, interface stats) and Prometheus for collecting them. This provides far richer and more customizable dashboards than built-in RouterOS monitoring.

   • Syslog Server: Run a small syslog server to collect logs from multiple MikroTik devices or other network gear directly on the router, simplifying log management for smaller networks.

   • Traffic Analysis Tools (e.g., NetFlow/IPFIX Collectors): While RouterOS can export NetFlow, a container can run a basic collector and analyzer, providing deeper insights into network traffic patterns without needing a separate server.

2. Out-of-Band Management/Tools:

   • Jumphost/Bastion Host: A small Linux container with SSH can act as a secure jumphost for accessing other devices on your network, isolating your management traffic.

   • Network Utilities: Run common network tools like nmap, iperf3, curl, wget, tcpdump (with proper network configuration), etc., directly on the router for troubleshooting or testing without needing to SSH into another machine.

   • Configuration Backup/Automation Scripts: A container can run Python or Bash scripts to automate configuration backups of other network devices, push configuration changes, or interact with APIs.

3. Lightweight Application Hosting (Edge Computing):

   • Home Automation Hub: For advanced home users, a container could host a lightweight home automation platform (e.g., Home Assistant Core) to integrate with smart home devices.1

   • DNS Blocklist (Pi-hole/AdGuard Home): Run a DNS-based ad blocker for your entire network.2 This is a very popular use case, providing system-wide ad and tracker blocking.

   • Local Caching Proxy: For specific scenarios, a small caching proxy might improve performance for frequently accessed content.

   • IoT Device Management: For small-scale IoT deployments, a container could host a lightweight IoT broker or data collector.

4. Security Enhancements:

   • Intrusion Detection/Prevention (IDS/IPS - Lightweight): While not a full-blown commercial IDS, a container could run a lightweight IDS (e.g., Suricata in a basic configuration) to monitor specific traffic for known threats, especially on less critical segments.

   • Threat Intelligence Feed Ingestion: A container could fetch and process threat intelligence feeds, which could then potentially be used by RouterOS firewall rules (though this would require custom scripting).

   • Honeypot: A simple honeypot can be deployed in a container to detect and log unauthorized access attempts.

5. Development and Testing Environments:

   • Sandbox: A perfect environment for testing new RouterOS scripts, configurations, or even network service changes in an isolated manner without affecting the main router functionality.

   • Custom Services: If you have a very specific, lightweight network service that isn't provided by RouterOS, you can develop and run it in a container.

In summary, the CCR2216 is a top-tier router built for environments where speed, reliability, and high port density at 25G and 100G are paramount. It's a powerhouse designed to handle the most demanding network tasks with its robust hardware offloading capabilities and powerful CPU.