Cisco ASA 5520 Security Appliance
The Cisco ASA 5520 Security Appliance is a high-availability enterprise firewall and VPN. It
is designed as a perimeter security device, as well as a VPN head point for all enterprise
connectivity. The ASA 5520 supports a 2.0-GHz Celeron processor, with up to 512 MB of
RAM and 64 MB of Flash memory.
The availability of security contexts allows the ASA 5520 to support more flexible firewall
design than the ASA 5510. In addition, the ASA 5520 allows the use of SSL VPNs (WebVPN)
to support up to 750 IPSec VPNs.
The ASA 5520 can be configured for LAN-based failover by default. Failover can be enabled
as Active/Active or Active/Standby.
Connection capabilities for the ASA 5520 Security Appliance are as follows:
■ Maximum firewall throughput—450 Mbps
■ Maximum throughput (with AIP-SSM-10)—225 Mbps
■ Maximum throughput (with AIP-SSM-20)—375 Mbps
NOTE * The larger number is only available with a Cisco ASA 5510 Security Plus
License.
Table 3-7 Cisco ASA 5510 Licenses
License Function
Base Software License Support for 256 MB of RAM, up to 3 10/100 interfaces, and
50 IPSec VPN peers
Security Plus Software License Support for 256 MB of RAM, up to 5 10/100 interfaces, 10
VLANs, 150 IPSec VPN peers, and LAN-based failover
64 Chapter 3: Cisco Security Appliance
■ Maximum VPN throughput—225 Mbps
■ Maximum concurrent connections—130,000
■ Maximum concurrent IPSec VPN peers—300/750*
■ Maximum concurrent WebVPN peers—300/750*
Two licenses are available for the ASA 5520. The Base software license enables the standard
functions of the ASA Security Appliance, 300 IPSec VPN peers, and 25 VLANs. With the
ASA 5520, security contexts are enabled by default, and security contexts are installed with
the Base License 2.
The Security Plus Software License supports all the Base Software License features. Security
Plus upgrades the maximum VPN peers from 300 to 750. The ASA 5520 supports up to ten
Security Contexts, with the purchase of the VPN Plus License. Table 3-8 describes the
available licenses and their functions.