Routers also come in many form factors, as shown in the figure. Network administrators in an enterprise environment should be able to support a variety of routers, from a small desktop router to a rack-mounted or blade model.
Routers can also be categorized as fixed configuration or modular. With the fixed configuration, the desired router interfaces are built-in. Modular routers come with multiple slots that allow a network administrator to change the interfaces on the router. As an example, a Cisco 1841 router comes with two Fast Ethernet RJ-45 interfaces built-in, and two slots that can accommodate many different network interface modules. Routers come with a variety of different interfaces, such as Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, Serial, and Fiber-Optic.