Difference between PIX and ASA Networks

To offer a wide range of valuable information, there are a few basic questions that come up on different kinds of products and equipment.

There are many different products of Cisco that we will discuss in detail here. With this in mind, we have provided a little information that will help to answer some questions.

Cisco PIX and ASA is something several users have got questions about. Thus here is a summary with the list of resources that you will view whenever you like.

But, before going ahead, let us check out the difference between IPIX Network and ASA Networks:

What’s the Cisco PIX network?

• Cisco PIX network is the most dedicated firewall appliance. All the latest Cisco PIX editions have the model numbers in 500s.
• The famous model for the home offices & small networks is PIX 501, and midsize companies use PIX 515 as the corporate firewall. These firewalls run only PIX operating system.
• Whereas PIX OS is very similar to Cisco IOS, there are considerable differences to cause frustration for the users familiar with IOS.
• It firewall sports PIX Device Manager for the graphical interface. Its GUI is a Java application that can quickly downloaded through the Web browser.
• Generally, these firewall has the outside interface, which connects to the Internet router & goes to the public Internet. It has the inside interface, which connects to the LAN switch, the private network.

What’s the Cisco ASA?

• Cisco ASA is the brand new firewall & Anti-malware appliance in this Cisco series. (Make sure you do not get confused with it for the static packet filtering).
• Cisco ASA products series are of 5500 series. Its Enterprise Edition includes four types: firewall, anti-x, ips, and VPN. For small & medium-sized businesses, there are commercial versions available.
• Cisco has five complete models, and most of the models use the ASA 7.2.2 software version. The interface is quite similar to the Cisco PIX.
• The CISCO pix & ASA have got significant performance differences. However, the lowest Cisco ASA model provides higher performance compared to the underlying PIX.
• Just like PIX, even ASA offers intrusion prevention systems & a VPN concentrator. ASA may replace three standalone devices, and they are Cisco VPN 3000 Concentrator, cisco pix Firewalls, as well as Cisco IPS 4000 sensors.

Features of the Cisco PIX

These firewall provides many features, which are highly valuable to manage the traffic, and they are:

1. Object Grouping makes accessing the list configuration & maintenance simple
2. Turbo ACLs
3. Time-based ACLs
4. List logging
5. Enabling or disabling ACL entries
6. NAT control

Features of the Cisco ASA

Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance is a Cisco security firewall device that will perform the necessary firewall abilities with the VPN capabilities, malware, and other features. Some features of the ASA are:

Packet filtering is an easy process to filter incoming and outgoing packets based on the rules defined on ACL applied to a device.

Stateful filtering – ASA performs the stateful tracking of a packet generated from the lower level’s higher security level.

Routing support – ASA will perform the static routing, the Default routing, or dynamic routing protocols such as OSPF, EIGRP, and RIP.

1. AAA support
2. Transparent firewall
3. IPv6 support
4. VPN support
5. Stateful failover
6. VPN Balancing

Cisco ASA models come in 5500 series. Enterprise Editions generally have four different versions: Firewall, Anti-X, IPS, and VPN. You have to make the right choice as per the size of your business.

Final Words

Hence, there are over 5 Cisco ASA models that you must check out. All of them run ASA 7.2.2 version, and its interface is like Cisco PIX.

Both Cisco PIX & ASA models differ in performance. Still, ASA’s lowest model provides higher performance compared to its base.

Just like it, even ASA will serve as the intrusion prevention system & VPN concentrator. Cisco ASA can take the place of 3 separate devices like Cisco network firewall, VPN 3000 Series Concentrator, and IPS 4000 Sensor.

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