Core router

This article is about a computer router used on the Internet backbone. For the kind used within a network, see Router (computing). For the discontinued router by Symantec, see Norton Core.
Cisco CRS-1 Backbone Core Router

A core router is a router designed to operate in the Internet backbone, or core. To fulfill this role, a router must be able to support multiple telecommunications interfaces of the highest speed in use in the core Internet and must be able to forward IP packets at full speed on all of them. It must also support the routing protocols being used in the core. A core router is distinct from an edge router: edge routers sit at the edge of a backbone network and connect to core routers.