Cisco PIX Firewall and ASA Models To implement a Cisco PIX or ASA in a given network, you need only purchase the PIX or ASA hardware and software from Cisco | Cisco PIX Firewall and ASA Models To implement a Cisco PIX or ASA in a given network you need only purchase the PIX or ASA hardware and software from Cisco. Cisco PIXs come in all sizesfrom small office home office SOHO models to large enterprise or service provider models. The trick is to know what size PIX or ASA is appropriate for your network. In general you can classify the PIX or ASA products into three solutions SOHO solution Medium- to large-office solution Enterprise office and service provider solution SOHO Solution The PIX 501 is the model designed for the SOHO market and comes with a built-in four-port switch. The PIX 501 is primarily intended for offices of fewer than 10 internal users although it can be licensed for 10 50 or unlimited users and for use as the termination point for a single VPN connection typically to a central office or a small number of remote clients. The next model up is the PIX 506E which is designed for the small office remote office market and comes with two Fast Ethernet ports. The PIX 506E is primarily intended for offices of fewer than 100 internal users and for use as the termination point of no more than 25 VPN connections either remote users or remote office connections . Both the PIX 501 and 506E can only run PIX software in the code branch latest version is 5 at the time of this writing . Medium- to Large-Office Solution The first model designed for medium-sized to large offices is the PIX 515E. This model comes in a 1U form factor with two built-in Fast Ethernet ports and two PCI expansion slots that can accommodate additional Fast Ethernet ports or an optional VPN acceleration card VAC this is standard on unrestricted failover active passive and failover active active models . The PIX 515E can be used simultaneously to terminate up to 2000 VPN tunnels either terminating connections from remote locations or remote users . The PIX 515E can also be configured to support active active and active passive failover .
