SMBs gain all-in-one UC advantage with Grandstream GCC6020 series

One device, endless capabilities: Grandstream’s GCC6020 series brings together communications, security, VPN connectivity, and switching into a single, compact solution that seems almost unbelievable — until you see it in action.

This appliance combines an IP PBX, firewall, VPN router and network switch into one sleek platform. In this article, we examine the GCC6020 series and highlight its compelling characteristics for both small and mid-sized businesses. Read on to see how these devices make enterprise-grade performance easier and more affordable than ever.

Grandstream’s UC + networking convergence solutions

Grandstream has devised a UC + networking convergence device portfolio that combines the most essential functions required for a secure and reliable network. It adds a built-in IP PBX delivering advanced UC services, providing a complete communications package in one compact platform.

UC + networking convergence products are primarily aimed at SMBs looking for a cost-effective way to incorporate UC into their network ecosystem. A while back, we reviewed the GCC6010 series, and now we’re excited to share our views on the new GCC6020 series, which further expands this innovative portfolio.

GCC6020 series highlights

The new series consists of two devices: the GCC6020 and the GCC6021. These resemble network switches on the outside, but contain much more functionality on the inside. Both include a built-in IP PBX that provides voice and video communications with advanced collaboration features. And both have an enterprise-grade firewall and a built-in VPN router. Here are some of the specifics:

IP PBX features

Both devices in the series feature a built-in IP PBX, which supports up to 50 UC users and 16 concurrent calls right out of the box as well as having all the features of a UCM6300 series IP PBX! Upgrades can be purchased for a low one-time fee for the product’s lifetime to expand capabilities to up to 200 users and 48 concurrent calls.

The IP PBX provides all the rich telephony features you have come to expect from Grandstream, including IVR, audio and video conferencing, and full API integration with third-party platforms. It also includes support for property management systems (PMS), call centers, and CRM integration.

Firewall

Security is important no matter how big or small your business is. Both devices support advanced firewall features, including DDNS, DMZ, and content filtering. A wide variety of next-generation firewall (NGFW) features are available, including enterprise-grade layer 3 to 7 deep packet inspection, ensuring that the network edge is well protected.

VPN router

Many SMBs today use VPNs to allow remote employees to connect to the company’s internal network and to interconnect remote branch sites easily, cost-effectively, and securely. The GCC6020 series devices support today’s state-of-the-art VPN security standards, including IPsec, PPTP, L2TP, and OpenVPN. Although VPN mechanisms often slow down data transfer, both devices are rated at an IPsec VPN throughput of 1.3 Gbps.

Network switch

In addition to all the features described above, the devices are also high-speed network switches, enabling you to connect end devices such as PCs, laptops, IP phones, and other network peripherals, including IP cameras, network printers, and wireless access points, to name a few.

Additional features

Quality of service

These devices incorporate high-tech QoS capabilities, including support for multiple traffic classes; port-, IP-, and DSCP-based filtering; and traffic policing with application and protocol monitoring for detailed traffic statistics. The devices have built-in prioritization for all VoIP traffic, ensuring that the quality of voice conversations is never compromised.

Network management

Both devices support Grandstream’s Device Management System (GDMS), the GWN app, and a local web GUI. Monitoring and management protocols include SSH, SNMP, and command-line interface configurations.

In addition to these management options, the GCC6020 devices have a Network Nodes module, which is essentially a mini network management controller. This unit can manage and monitor additional Grandstream network devices, including switches and wireless access points (WAPs). It can also configure and manage an overall Wi-Fi network across all WAPs, including SSID configurations, security, wireless channel usage, and wireless meshing.

Wireless clients can be monitored, accumulating useful statistics. Moreover, a captive portal can be established using many options, including policies, guest services, customized splash pages, and vouchers for managing paid Wi-Fi access.

Load balancing

Both devices can be configured with multiple WAN connections, enabling WAN link load balancing and failover. Any network port can be configured as a WAN connection, with a maximum of three WAN ports for the GCC6020 and five for the GCC6021.

A comparison of the GCC6020 and GCC6021

Both models in the series offer all the features we’ve mentioned so far. The primary differences between the two are related to capacities, high availability, and physical characteristics, all of which are detailed below.

Network ports

The GCC6020 has one 10 GE SFP port for fiber uplink connections, one 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) RJ-45 port, and four GigE RJ-45 ports, making it perfect for small businesses with a few workstations and limited networking throughput requirements. All five RJ-45 ports support IEEE 802.3af/at PoE.

The GCC6021 goes beyond this feature set with four 10 GigE SFP ports, eight 2.5 GigE RJ-45 ports, and 16 GigE RJ-45 ports, efficiently serving the network edge for SMBs with dozens of users. All 24 RJ-45 ports support the same PoE standards as those of the GCC6021, with eight of them additionally supporting the more advanced IEEE 802.3bt PoE standard as well.

High availability

The GCC6021 offers high-availability deployment options, where two GCC6021 devices can be paired in a failover arrangement. In this way, if any connection being served by one device fails or any hardware component on one device malfunctions, the other device is already up and running and able to take over. This is especially useful for SMBs with mission-critical services operating over their communications networks.

Device capacities

In most measurable metrics, the GCC6021 outperforms the GCC6020 simply because it is designed for greater capacities. This can be seen especially in the throughput measurements, maximum clients, memory capacities, and PoE power outputs delivered by each device. These metrics for the GCC6020 and the GCC6021 are shown in the table below.

Physical characteristics

Due to the size of each model and the number of devices it supports, the deployment methods differ for each one. Whereas the GCC6020 can be deployed on the desktop, mounted on the wall, or in a standard network rack, the GCC6021 supports only desktop and rack-mountable options.

Feature list

Here is a more complete feature list that highlights some of the most important capabilities of these two devices.

Network interfaces:

• GCC6020:
  • 1× 10 Gigabit Ethernet SFP+ port, 1× 2.5 GigE port and 4× 1 GigE ports
  • Configurable WAN/LAN, max 3× WAN
• GCC6021:
  • 4× 10 Gigabit Ethernet SFP+ ports, 8× 2.5 GigE and 16× 1 GigE ports
  • Configurable WAN/LAN, max 5× WAN

Power over Ethernet (PoE):

• GCC6020:
  • All RJ-45 ports support IEEE 802.3af/at
  • Maximum PoE output: 120 W
• GCC6021:
  • 24× RJ-45 ports support IEEE 802.3af/at
  • 8× of those also support IEEE 802.3bt
  • Maximum PoE output: 370 W

Features common to both devices:

• IP PBX features:
  • 50 users and 16 concurrent calls by default
  • Upgrades available to up to 200 users and 48 concurrent calls
  • Rich PBX services, including call forwarding, transfer, parking, intercom/paging, IVR, and emergency calls
  • Built-in audio and video conferencing platform that supports Wave Desktop / web / Android / iOS
  • Fast provisioning of Grandstream SIP endpoints
  • Supports multiple audio and video encodings, such as Opus, G.711 A-law/U-law, G.722, G722.1 G722.1C, G.723.1 5.3K/6.3K, G.726-32, G.729A/B, iLBC, GSM; T.38 , H.264, H.263, H263+, and VP8
  • Protocols: SIP, TCP/UDP/IP, RTP/RTCP, ICMP, ARP, DNS, SFTP, SSH, HTTPS, RTSP, STUN, SRTP, TLS, LDAP
  • Full API available for third-party platform and application integration
  • Supports PMS, call centers, and CRM integration
• NGFW capabilities:
  • DDNS, port forwarding, DMZ, UPnP, DoS, and spoofing defense
  • DPI, antivirus, IPS/IDS, and SSL proxy
  • Content control, including DNS filtering, web URL/class/keywords filtering, application identification, and control
  • Email security and geo-IP filtering
• VPN services:
  • IPsec client-to-site and site-to-site connections
  • IPsec encryption, supporting 3DES and AES
  • IPsec authentication, including MD5, SHA-1 and SHA 256
  • IPsec VPN throughput of 1.3 Gbps
  • Support for OpenVPN, PPTP and L2TP
• 320K maximum NAT sessions
• Support for DHCP, static IP, and PPPoE
• Supported network protocols include IPv4, IPv6, VLANs (IEEE 802.1Q), port security (IEEE 802.1x)
• Network management:
  • Grandstream Device Management System (GDMS)
  • GWN app
  • Local web GUI
  • SSH, SNMP (v1/ v2c/v3) and CLI
  • Network Node local mini network controller
• QoS:
  • VLAN and ToS
  • Support for multiple traffic classes
  • Filter by port, IP address and DSCP and via policing
  • Application and protocol monitoring and traffic statistics
  • VoIP prioritization
• 1× Console port
• 1× USB 3.0 port
• Support for an SSD storage device

Conclusion

SMBs of all types continue to search for the happy medium of maximizing the communications services they enjoy while minimizing the effort and cost needed to deploy them. Grandstream’s UC+ network convergence solutions address this need. The GCC6020 series rounds out the portfolio, making enterprise-grade services accessible through these compact and highly cost-effective devices.

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