The MSR supports USB ports and CF card slots, providing external connectivity to USB and CF devices.
Ordinary CF card:  Ordinary USB memory: 
It is generally believed that USB and CF ports are only used to store system files and configuration files. But that is not always true. Storage is just a small part of their power. Far more than a router in the traditional sense, the MSR has even revolutionized the technical definition for a network device. We can see it as a combination of multiple services, or even an all-powerful PC. With the future integration of advanced services, traditional network interfaces surely cannot match our requirements. We need to support unified open interfaces used in the industry, while USB and CF ports are exactly what we expect.
More than memory alone, USB and CF represent a new standard for plug-and-play (PnP) interfaces with peripherals. Any device built on this standard can be connected to USB or CF ports to serve different purposes. Currently, a wide variety of USB/CF peripherals, such as the keyboard, mouse, modem, CD driver, joystick, scanner and printer, are available in the market. As USB/CF ports on a router, they are used more often on the network. Below are the applications we can conceive of so far, but there are surely more for us to explore.
- USB digital certificate as access key for security VPN (not yet supported by MSR)
In this solution, the digital certificate is stored in the USB key. The headquarters is equipped with a device for digital certificate authentication or alternatively MSR’s OAA. Only the administrator holding the key in each branch is given access to the VPN at the headquarters via MSR. In this way, all the branches can establish secure and confidential contacts with the headquarters. Any attempts to gain unauthorized access to the HQ network will be rejected for no hardware key, to protect the company’s information system from attacks and disclosure.
- USB/CF as mobile configurator to support remote or batch configuration (this feature is now available on the MSR)
Usually, a branch is geographically far from the HQ. When its network breaks down suddenly, the network administrator cannot do anything about it but seek help from the network administrator at the HQ. The HQ network administrator, after remote fault location, thinks it necessary to reconfigure the network, only to find the configuration is rather difficult.
Luckily enough, the company has just upgraded its MSR. The network engineer at the HQ creates a configuration file at home, and e-mails it to the network administrator of each branch. These network administrators save the configuration file to a USB drive, plug it into the router’s USB port, and then run a very simple command: load.
Now the network is recovered. Everything is OK again!
- Connected upstream with wireless network to back up wireline network (MSR will support this feature starting August 2007)
Many wireless devices with USB/CF ports now available in the industry support WLAN, GPRS, 3G and other standards. A router connected upstream with wireless devices can be the best backup for the wireline network, to keep the network always online.
WLAN device with USB port
GPRS device with USB port
GPRS device with CF port
3G device with USB port
Notably, this 3G Internet access card with USB port the US-based mobile carrier Sprint launched recently actually can operate at a rate of 525Kbps, exceeding the ADSL broadband Internet access rate reaching as high as 512Kbps. As 3G in China is around the corner, ADSL device as uplink backup now operating in many enterprises is set to migrate to 3G, because 3G costs may be lower. In addition, wireless device-based backup can guard against physical disconnection and provide better backup.
The following figure shows a typical application:
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