Cisco unveils three versions of Adaptive Security Appliance

Cisco unveils three versions of Adaptive Security Appliance

Networking giants Cisco has unveiled three versions of a new Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) 5500 series. They announced these new products at the Interop show in Las Vegas and would come between a price range of $3,500 to $17,000.

They are touting these products as a part of a manageable and affordable system that could be used to link data centers with remote offices at large companies. In addition, these can be used in small and midsize businesses. Cisco CEO John Chambers said: “It is an architectural play, not a box, or a systems play”.

He was supported by Jayshree Ullal, Cisco’s senior vice president of security in another released statement, which said: “Instead of daisy-chaining, you are dealing with one form factor.” She was emphasizing on the simplicity of having various security functions contained in a single device.

It was also suggested that these devices would ultimately lead to deployment of the security features into Cisco routers and Catalyst switches. However, no timeframe was issued for this process. These devices forms an important part of Cisco’s Self-Defending Network security strategy which includes Virtual Private Network services, including remote IPsec and Secure Sockets Layer virtual private network capabilities, as well as quality-of-service capabilities and general routing.