Cisco ASA 5500 Series appliances
The Cisco Firepower 5500 Series is a family of six threat-focused NGFW security platforms that deliver business resiliency through superior threat defense. It offers exceptional sustained performance when advanced threat functions are enabled. The ASA 5500 series’ throughput range addresses use cases from the SOHO/ROBO to the internet edge. The ASA 5500 Series platforms can run either the Cisco ASA Firewall or Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD).
Model overview
Cisco ASA 5500 Series summary:
Model |
Firewall |
NGFW |
NGIPS |
Interfaces |
ASA-5506 |
750 Mbps |
125 Mbps |
125 Mbps |
8 x RJ45 |
ASA-5508 |
1 Gbps |
250 Mbps |
250 Mbps |
8 x RJ45 |
ASA-5516 |
1.8 Gbps |
450 Mbps |
450 Mbps |
8 x RJ45 |
ASA-5525 |
2 Gbps |
650 Mbps |
650 Mbps |
8 x RJ45, optional 6 x GE |
ASA-5545 |
3 Gbps |
1 Gbps |
1 Gbps |
8 x RJ45, optional 6 x GE |
ASA-5555 |
4 Gbps |
1.2 Gbps |
1.2 Gbps |
8 x RJ45, optional 6 x GE |
Detailed performance specifications and feature highlights
Table 1. Performance specifications and feature highlights for ASA 5500 with the Cisco Firepower Threat defense image
Features |
* 5506 |
5508 |
5516 |
5525 |
5545 |
5555 |
Throughput: FW + AVC (1024B) |
250 Mbps |
450 Mbps |
850 Mbps |
1.1 Gbps |
1.5 Gbps |
1.7 Gbps |
Throughput: FW + AVC + IPS (1024B) |
125 Mbps |
250 Mbps |
450 Mbps |
650 Mbps |
1 Gbps |
1.2 Gbps |
Throughput: FW + AVC (450B) |
100 Mbps |
175 Mbps |
275 Mbps |
350 Mbps |
500 Mbps |
600 Mbps |
Throughput: FW + AVC + IPS (450B) |
75 Mbps |
125 Mbps |
200 Mbps |
250 Mbps |
350 Mbps |
420 Mbps |
Maximum concurrent sessions, with AVC |
50K |
100K |
250K |
500K |
750K |
1 Million |
Maximum new connections per second, with AVC |
3K |
7.5K |
11 K |
11.5K |
19K |
22K |
TLS |
- |
250 Mbps |
285 Mbps |
270 Mbps |
290 Mbps |
370 Mbps |
Throughput: NGIPS (1024B) |
125 Mbps |
250 Mbps |
450 Mbps |
650 Mbps |
1 Gbps |
1.2 Gbps |
Throughput: NGIPS (450B) |
75 Mbps |
125 Mbps |
200 Mbps |
250 Mbps |
350 Mbps |
420 Mbps |
IPSec VPN Throughput (1024B TCP w/Fastpath) |
100 Mbps |
175 Mbps |
250 Mbps |
300 Mbps |
400 Mbps |
700 Mbps |
Cisco Firepower Device Manager (local management) |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Centralized management |
Centralized configuration, logging, monitoring, and reporting are performed by the Management Center or alternatively in the cloud with Cisco Defense Orchestrator |
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Application Visibility and Control (AVC) |
Standard, supporting more than 4000 applications, as well as geolocations, users, and websites |
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AVC: OpenAppID support for custom, open source, application detectors |
Standard |
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Cisco Security Intelligence |
Standard, with IP, URL, and DNS threat intelligence |
|||||
Cisco Firepower NGIPS |
Available; can passively detect endpoints and infrastructure for threat correlation and Indicators of Compromise (IoC) intelligence |
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Cisco AMP for Networks |
Available; enables detection, blocking, tracking, analysis, and containment of targeted and persistent malware, addressing the attack continuum both during and after attacks. Integrated threat correlation with Cisco AMP for Endpoints is also optionally available |
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Cisco AMP Threat Grid sandboxing |
Available |
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URL Filtering: number of categories |
More than 80 |
|||||
URL Filtering: number of URLs categorized |
More than 280 million |
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Automated threat feed and IPS signature updates |
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Third-party and open-source ecosystem |
Open API for integrations with third-party products; Snort ® and OpenAppID community resources for new and specific threats |
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High availability and clustering |
Active/standby |
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Cisco Trust Anchor Technologies |
ASA 5500 Series platforms include Trust Anchor Technologies for supply chain and software image assurance. Please see the section below for additional details |
NOTE: Performance will vary depending on features activated, and network traffic protocol mix, and packet size characteristics. Performance is subject to change with new software releases. Consult your Cisco representative for detailed sizing guidance.
* ASA-5506 tested with FTD version 6.2.3.
Table 2. ASA Performance and capabilities on ASA 5500 appliances
Features |
5506 |
5508 |
5516 |
5525 |
5545 |
5555 |
Stateful inspection firewall throughput 1 |
750 Mbps |
1 Gbps |
1.8 Gbps |
2 Gbps |
3Gbps |
4 Gbps |
Stateful inspection firewall throughput (multiprotocol) 2 |
300 Mbps |
500 Mbps |
900 Mbps |
1 Gbps |
1.5 Gbps |
2 Gbps |
Concurrent firewall connections |
50K |
100K |
250K |
500K |
750K |
1 million |
New connections per second |
5K |
10K |
20K |
20K |
30K |
50K |
IPsec VPN throughput (450B UDP L2L test) |
100 Mbps |
175 Mbps |
250 Mbps |
300 Mbps |
400 Mbps |
700 Mbps |
Security contexts (included; maximum) |
N/A |
2; 5 |
2; 5 |
2; 20 |
2; 50 |
2; 100 |
High availability |
Active/Standby |
Active/active and active/standby |
Active/active and active/standby |
Active/active and active/standby |
Active/active and active/standby |
Active/active and active/standby |
Scalability |
VPN Load Balancing |
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Centralized management |
Centralized configuration, logging, monitoring, and reporting are performed by Cisco Security Manager or alternatively in the cloud with Cisco Defense Orchestrator |
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Adaptive Security Device Manager |
Web-based, local management for small-scale deployments |
1 Throughput measured with 1500B User Datagram Protocol (UDP) traffic measured under ideal test conditions.
2 “Multiprotocol” refers to a traffic profile consisting primarily of TCP-based protocols and applications like HTTP, SMTP, FTP, IMAPv4, BitTorrent, and DNS.
3 In unclustered configuration.
Hardware specifications
Table 3. Cisco ASA 5500-X series next-generation firewalls
Feature |
Cisco ASA 5506-X |
Cisco ASA 5506H-X |
Cisco ASA 5508-X |
Cisco ASA 5516-X |
Cisco ASA 5525-X |
Cisco ASA 5545-X |
Cisco ASA 5555-X |
|
Form factor |
Desktop, rack mountable |
Desktop, rack mountable, wall mountable, DIN-Rail |
1 rack unit (RU), 19-in. rack-mountable |
1 rack unit (RU), 19-in. rack-mountable |
1RU, 19-in. rack-mountable |
1RU, 19-in. rack-mountable |
1RU, 19-
|
|
Dimensions |
1.72 x 7.871 x 9.23 in. |
2.72 x 9.05 x 9.05 in. |
1.72 x 17.2 x 11.288 in. |
1.72 x 17.2 x 11.288 in. |
1.75 x 17.5 x 14.25 in. |
1.67 x 16.7 x 19.1 in. |
1.67 x 16.7 x 19.1 in. |
|
(H x W x D) |
(4.369 x 19.992 x 23.444 cm) |
(6.9 x
|
(4.369 x 43.688 x 28.672 cm) |
(4.369 x 43.688 x 28.672 cm) |
(4.45 x 20.04 x 36.20 cm) |
(4.24 x 42.9 x 48.4 cm) |
(4.24 x 42.9 x 48.4 cm) |
|
Integrated I/O |
8 x 1GE |
4 x 1GE |
8 x 1GE |
8 x 1GE |
8 x 1GE |
8 x 1GE |
8 x 1GE |
|
Expansion I/O |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
6 GE copper or 6 GE SFP |
6 GE copper or 6 GE SFP |
6 GE copper or 6 GE SFP |
|
Expansion slot |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
1 interface card |
1 interface card |
1 interface card |
|
Dedicated management port |
Yes (Shared) |
Yes (Shared) |
Yes (Shared) |
Yes (Shared) |
Yes (1 GE) |
Yes (1 GE) |
Yes (1 GE) |
|
Serial ports |
1 RJ-45 and Mini USB console |
1 RJ-45 and Mini USB console |
1 RJ-45 and Mini USB console |
1 RJ-45 and Mini USB console |
1 RJ-45 console |
1 RJ-45 console |
1 RJ-45 console |
|
Solid-state drive |
50 GB mSata6 |
50 GB mSata tested for heat |
80 GB mSata6 |
100 GB mSata6 |
1 slot, 120 GB MLC SED |
2 slots, RAID 1, 120 GB MLC SED |
2 slots, RAID 1, 120 GB MLC SED |
|
USB 2.0 ports |
USB port type ‘A’, High Speed 2.0 |
USB port type ‘A’, High Speed 2.0 |
USB port type ‘A’, High Speed 2.0 |
USB port type ‘A’, High Speed 2.0 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
Operating parameters |
||||||||
Temperature |
32 to 104°F (0 to 40 °C) |
-4 to 140°F (-20 to 60 °C) |
32 to 104°F (0 to 40 °C) |
32 to 104°F (0 to 40 °C) |
23 to 104°F (-5 to 40°C) |
23 to 104°F (-5 to 40°C) |
23 to 104°F (-5 to 40°C) |
|
Relative humidity |
90 percent non-condensing |
95 percent non-condensing |
10 to 90 percent non-condensing |
10 to 90 percent non-condensing |
10 to 90 percent non-condensing |
10 to 90 percent non-condensing |
10 to 90 percent non-condensing |
|
Altitude |
Designed and tested for 0 to 10,000 ft (3048 m) |
Designed and tested for 0 to 10,000 ft (3050 m) |
Designed and tested for 0 to 10,000 ft (3048 m) |
Designed and tested for 0 to 10,000 ft (3048 m) |
Designed and tested for 0 to 10,000 ft (3050 m) |
Designed and tested for 0 to 10,000 ft (3050 m) |
Designed and tested for 0 to 10,000 ft (3050 m) |
|
Acoustic noise |
Fanless
|
Fanless
|
41.6 A-weighted decibels (dBA) type. 67.2 dBA max |
41.6
67.2 dBA max |
64.2
|
67.9
|
67.9
|
|
Non-operating parameters |
||||||||
Temperature 1 |
-13 to 158ºF (-25 to 70ºC) |
-40 to 185ºF (-40 to 85ºC) |
-13 to 158ºF (-25 to 70ºC) |
-13 to 158ºF (-25 to 70ºC) |
-13 to 158°F (-25 to 70°C) |
-13 to 158°F (-25 to 70°C) |
-13 to 158°F (-25 to 70°C) |
|
Relative humidity |
10 to 90 percent non-condensing |
10 to 95 percent non-condensing |
10 to 90 percent non-condensing |
10 to 90 percent non-condensing |
10 to 90 percent |
10 to 90 percent |
10 to 90 percent |
|
Altitude |
Designed and tested for 0 to 15,000 ft (4572 m) |
Designed and tested for 0 to 15,000 ft (4572 m) |
Designed and tested for 0 to 15,000 ft (4572 m) |
Designed and tested for 0 to 15,000 ft (4572 m) |
Designed and tested for 0 to 15,000 ft (4572 m) |
Designed and tested for 0 to 15,000 ft (4572 m) |
Designed and tested for 0 to 15,000 ft (4572 m) |
|
Power input (per power supply) |
||||||||
AC range line voltage |
External, 90 to 240 volts alternating current (VAC) |
External, 90 to 240 volts alternating current (VAC) |
External, 90 to 240 volts alternating current (VAC) |
External, 90 to 240 volts alternating current (VAC) |
100 to 240 VAC |
100 to 240 VAC |
100 to 240 VAC |
|
AC normal line voltage |
90 to 240 VAC |
90 to 240 VAC |
91 to 240 VAC |
92 to 240 VAC |
100 to 240 VAC |
100 to 240 VAC |
100 to 240 VAC |
|
AC current |
N/A |
N/A |
0.25AC amps |
0.25AC amps |
4.85A |
5A, 100 to 120V 2.5A, 200 to 240V |
5A, 100 to 120V 2.5A, 200 to 240V |
|
AC frequency |
50/60 Hz |
50/60 Hz |
50/60 Hz |
50/60 Hz |
50/60 Hz |
50/60 Hz |
50/60 Hz |
|
Dual-power supplies |
None |
None |
None |
None |
None |
Yes |
Yes |
|
DC domestic line voltage |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
-40.5 to 56 VDC
|
-40.5 to 56 VDC (-48 VDC nominal) |
-40.5 to 56 VDC (-48 VDC nominal) |
|
1 Derate the maximum operating temperature 1.5°C per 1000 ft above sea level.