The Cisco Systems Compression Service Adapter (CSA) performs hardware-assisted high performance compression for Cisco Internetwork Operating System (Cisco IOSTM) compression services. It is available for all Cisco 7500 series, 7200 series, and RSP7000 equipped 7000 series routers. CSA enables enterprises and service providers to improve compression performance without impacting system resources. As a high-speed, specialized coprocessor, CSA provides high performance compression at the central site. It is able to receive multiple compression streams coming from remote Cisco routers using Cisco IOS software-based compression. The CSA minimizes overall cost for data compression by integrating hardware-based and software- based Cisco IOS data compression solutions. The CSA also maximizes router performance by offloading compression algorithms from the central processing engines of the RSP7000, 7200, and 7500, allowing them to remain dedicated to routing and other specialized tasks.