Cisco ASA users and customers are encouraged to migrate to the newer Cisco ASA 5500-X Series of next-generation firewalls (NGFW), which includes the ASA 5512-X, ASA 5515-X, ASA 5525-X, ASA 5545-X, ASA 5555-X and so forth.
In the following tables we will share the main Product Comparisons of ASA 5500 Models and the new ASA 5500-X models, which include the ASA 5550 and ASA 5555-X, ASA 5540 and ASA 5545-X.
ASA 5550 vs. ASA 5555-X
|
Feature |
Cisco ASA 5550 Adaptive Security Appliance |
Cisco ASA 5555-X Adaptive Security Appliance |
|
Next-Generation Firewall |
No |
Yes |
|
Application Visibility and Control Service |
No |
Yes |
|
Web Security Service |
No |
Yes |
|
IPS Service |
No |
Yes (Does not require separate hardware module) |
|
Content Security Service |
No |
Similar functionality available through Cloud Web Security (formerly known as ScanSafe) |
|
Firewall Throughput (Max) |
1.2 Gbps |
4 Gbps |
|
IPS Throughput (Max) |
Not Applicable |
1.3 Gbps |
|
VPN Throughput (Max) |
425 Mbps |
700 Mbps |
|
Connections (Max) |
600,000 |
1,000,000 |
|
Connections Per Second |
33,000 |
50,000 |
|
Integrated I/O |
8 GE Copper and 1 FE |
8 GE Copper + Dedicated GE Copper Management Port |
|
Expansion I/O |
Not Available |
6-port GE Copper, or 6-port GE SFP |
|
CPU |
Single Core |
Multiple Cores |
|
Memory |
4 GB |
16 GB |
|
Dual Power Supplies |
No |
Yes |
|
IPS Accelerator hardware |
No |
In-built hardware accelerator for both default and custom signatures |
|
Hardware support for 2048-bit certificates |
No |
Yes |
ASA 5540 to Cisco ASA 5545-X
|
Feature |
Cisco ASA 5540 Adaptive Security Appliances |
Cisco ASA 5545-X Adaptive Security Appliance |
|
Next-Generation Firewall |
No |
Yes |
|
Application Visibility and Control Service |
No |
Yes |
|
Web Security Service |
No |
Yes |
|
IPS Service |
Yes (Requires separate Hardware module) |
Yes (Does not require separate hardware module) |
|
Content Security Card Module |
Available |
Similar functionality available through Cloud Web Security (formerly known as ScanSafe) |
|
Firewall Throughput (Max) |
650 Mbps |
3 Gbps |
|
IPS Throughput (Max) |
650 Mbps |
900 Mbps |
|
VPN Throughput (Max) |
325 Mbps |
400 Mbps |
|
Connections (Max) |
400,000 |
750,000 |
|
Connections Per Second |
25,000 |
30,000 |
|
Dual Power Supplies |
No |
Yes |
|
Integrated I/O |
4GE Cu + 1FE |
6GE Cu |
|
Expansion I/O |
4-port GE Cu or 4-port GE SFP |
6-port GE Cu or 6-port GE SFP |
|
CPU |
Single-core |
Multiple cores |
|
Memory |
2GB |
12GB |
|
Hardware support for 2048-bit certificates |
No |
Yes |
More info from https://ciscorouterswitch.over-blog.com/2017/03/cisco-asa-5500-x-series-migration-options-asa-5555-x-asa-5525-x-asa-5515-x.html