Pfsense vs CISCO ASA5510-SEC-BUN-K9

[rick_c]

Hello All,

We have just come back to look at the wonderful Pfsense.

How does 2x Pfsense devices running on high spec hardware compare to 2x CISCO ASA5510-SEC-BUN-K9 in a data centre environment when configured correctly with vlans etc?

Thanks!

Rick

[jasonlitka]

Doing what?

[rick_c]

Nat's for webservers, VLan routing for about 30 servers? What would the max amount be, we would get the support also that looks like a good mode.

Also can Pfsense do transparent mode?

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/security/asa/asa84/asdm64/configuration_guide/asdm_64_config/intro_start.html#wp1318658

Thanks!

[valnar]

Transparent mode works better on the ASA.

Basic firewall functions are about the same unless you buy the IPS module from Cisco.

ASA has a lot more features in general but it depends on whether you will use them.  I know for home, I like pfSense because of the better DHCP server, UPnP and dyndns support.  For an enterprise, none of those matter.

[stephenw10]

You can operate pfSense as a transparent firewall but if you do that it will not route or NAT.

I guess the obvious answer to your original question is; it's much cheaper.  ;)

Steve