Cisco PIX family firewalls and ASA Series adaptive security appliances combine comprehensive firewall, intrusion defense, and Virtual Private Network features in an affordable, one-box format. Both of these product lines have been replaced by the ASA 5500-X series of security appliances with Firepower. (Refer to integration and troubleshooting help with ASA 5500-X firewalls with Firepower Services.) Still, both PIX and previous-generation ASA 5500 model firewalls are extensively used and continue to deliver small and mid-size companies a reliable firewall environment.

PIX and the original ASA 5500 firewalls deliver powerful user and application policy support, mutlivector assault protection, and secure connectivity features. The increased knowledge sharing of consolidated security services in a single package provides users deploying these integrated solutions the advantages of enhanced protection, lower cost of ownership, and minimal maintenance costs. Cisco PIX security appliances and the ASA 5500 product line join Cisco IOS Firewall, the FWSM for Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series switches, and 7600 Series routers as components of Cisco's flexible, integrated firewall line. Engineered with a scalable, modular platform, each offering is equipped with a particular array of options to provide more efficient protection to a variety of networking environments. These products can be individually installed to secure specific areas of the connectivity environment, or can be grouped for a systematic, defense-in-depth strategy based on the architecture best practices described in the Cisco SAFE Blueprint. Completing the integrated firewall solutions, Cisco has developed a complete security management product portfolio, spanning Cisco security appliance and Cisco IOS Software security components and embedded appliance controllers, to standalone management utilities, helping to make sure that businesses can effectively use their Cisco protection infrastructure purchases. Cisco PIX Firewall Appliances
PIX firewall appliances deliver reliable user and application policy enforcement, multi-source invasion protection, and safe connectivity services in affordable, easy-to-deploy solutions. These specialized appliances offer a wealth of built-in protection and networking services including process-aware firewall features, Voice over IP (VoIP) and multimedia protection, robust site-to-site and remote-connectivity IPcec VPN networking, high availability, smart networking services, and flexible management options. The PIX firewall Appliance product line ranges from compact plug-and-play desktop units for small offices or home offices to stackable high-bandwidth appliances with ROI for enterprise and service-provider environments, PIX firewalls deliver dependable protection, performance, and reliability for networks of all sizes.

PIX Security Consulting Firm
Based around a tested, specialized OS that offers rich protection features, PIX firewall appliances provide excellent protection and have earned EAL 4 status and ICSA Labs Firewall and IP Security (IPsec) certification. Cisco PIX firewall appliances provide protection for a wide array of Voice over IP and additional mixed-media standards such as H.323 v. 4, SIP, SCCP, Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), and Media Gateway Control Protocol, enabling businesses to protect installations of a wide range of current and next-generation Voice over IP and multimedia applications. PIX firewalls feature a wealth of configuration, tracking, and analysis features, providing businesses the versatility to utilize the techniques that most closely meet their requirements. Management options include common, policy-based administration utilities, integrated web-accessible management, and compatibility with remote-monitoring standards like SNMP and syslog. The integrated ASDM system offers a powerful web-accessible management platform that greatly streamlines the deployment, ongoing modification, and monitoring of a specific PIX security appliance without requiring any additional utility beyond an ordinary web browser and Java plug-in to be running on a manager's computer.

Administrators can furthermore remotely set up, monitor, and analyze Cisco PIX security appliances using a command-line interface (CLI). Safe command-line interface (CLI) communication is possible through several techniques such as Secure Shell Protocol, Telnet through IPsec, and out-of-band through a console port. PIX security appliances also have dependable auto-update capabilities, a set of protected remote-management options that make sure that security configurations and software images are always current. Cisco ASA 5500 Series Firewalls
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances (ASA) 5500 Series Firewalls are purpose-built solutions that incorporate advanced, industry-leading security and Virtual Private Network support with an adaptive design. The result is a powerful, versatile network protection solution better suited to protect small and midsize business and enterprise networks and, at the same time, lower the overall installation and maintenance expenses previously required for this enhanced degree of protection.

Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances 5500 Series Firewalls Consultants
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances Firewalls build on engineering developed for Cisco's PIX 500 firewall, the Cisco IPS 4200 sensor, and the VPN 3000 model concentrator. These solutions converge on the Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances (ASA) Firewall family to deliver a platform that stops a wide range of threats. Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances 5500 Series Firewalls provide application protection, network containment and control, and safe Virtual Private Network connectivity across the entire product line. This breadth of security allows defense of any network section, including the most typical threat vectors like remote sites, locally-attached inside users, and off-site connected Virtual Private Networks. Cisco ASA 5500 Series firewalls provide a high-level of application protection via smart, application-aware inspection processes that analyze network flows at Layers 4-7. This produces a safer network including web, voice, and mobile wireless services. To defend environments from application-layer assaults and to offer businesses more control over the programs and protocols utilized in their environments, Cisco's inspection engines integrate broad application and protocol knowledgebases and employ protection enforcement solutions such as protocol anomaly detection and application and protocol state tracking. Also included are assault detection and mitigation technology including application and protocol command filtering and content verification. Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances (ASA) firewall inspection engines also deliver control over IM and peer-to-peer file sharing, allowing organizations to enforce usage policies and conserve network bandwidth for vital business processes. While increasing security, Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances 5500 Series firewalls also lower installation and support costs. By providing broad Virtual Private Network and protection functions, the Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances 5500 Series firewall can be used as the the only platform for a multitude of environments, enabling platform standardization. The Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances (ASA) 5500 Series firewall can be used as a consolidated attack-prevention device at a central location by taking advantage of its access control, process inspection, and worm, virus, and other malware mitigation capabilities. The Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances (ASA) firewall can also be used as a dedicated remote access device utilizing its Virtual Private Network features. As an alternative, the Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances (ASA) firewall performs equally well in the network interior for inter-office access management and to defend against malicious assaults internal workers might unknowingly release into the environment. For small business and branch office environments, the Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances 5500 Series firewall acts as an all-in-one platform offering comprehensive threat defense and Virtual Private Network functionality while suiting the budgets and operational demands of such deployments.

This versatile one-platform, many-solution approach minimizes the number of devices that need to be deployed and maintained while providing a common operating and administrative system across all those installations. This approach simplifies the education of setup, tracking, support, and security staff. To further reduce maintenance costs, Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances (ASA) firewalls are also highly network aware, allowing them to insert seamlessly into the environment without interfering with legitimate traffic and processes. How Progent's Cisco Certified Experts Can Help You with Cisco Firewalls
Cisco ASA Series adaptive security appliances and PIX security appliances provide a wealth of configuration, tracking, and analysis features that offer you the ability to configure these security appliances to match your business requirements. Progent's CCIE certified network experts can help you to support your current infrastructure that incorporates Cisco ASA or PIX firewall technology and that provides protection, fault tolerance, performance, and manageability. Progent can also help your organization to migrate to Cisco ASA 5500-X firewalls with Firepower Services.

Progent's GISA and CISM-premier information security consultants can assist your business to develop a security policy appropriate for your situation and can configure your PIX or ASA firewall to enforce your security strategy. Progent's security evaluation engineers can assess the strength of your existing firewall solution and help determine the overall security of your whole IT network. Progent's Technical Response Center can deliver urgent online technical support for Cisco products and can give you quick access to a Cisco CCIE network engineer. To find out more information about Progent's professional assistance for Cisco solutions, choose a subject:

To ask Progent about consulting assistance for Cisco products, phone 1-800-993-9400 or visit Contact Progent.

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