PACKETPERF

Primary Device

Cisco Secure Firewall 1220 (1220CX)
Cisco Secure Firewall 1220 (1220CX)
★ 3.2 Value Score

Technical Specifications

  • Firewall Throughput: 15 Gbps (ASA stateful inspection, 1500B UDP); 12 Gbps (ASA multiprotocol)
  • Threat Prevention Throughput: 9.0 Gbps (FW + AVC + IPS, 1024B packets); 9.0 Gbps (NGIPS); 1.5 Gbps (TLS decryption)
  • IPsec VPN Throughput: 10 Gbps (Threat Defense, 1024B TCP w/ Fastpath); 12 Gbps (ASA, 450B UDP L2L)
  • Max Sessions: 300K concurrent sessions (with AVC); 300K concurrent firewall connections (ASA)
  • New Sessions/sec: 50K connections/sec (with AVC, Threat Defense); 250K connections/sec (ASA)
  • Interfaces: 2x 10GbE SFP+ (1/10 Gbps); 8x 1000BASE-T (RJ-45); 1x management 1000BASE-T; console (USB Type-C and RJ-45); 1x USB 3.0 Type A
  • Form Factor: Desktop/compact appliance (not rack units); optional rack or wall mount kits (CSF1200C-RACK-MNT=, CSF1200C-WALL-MNT=)
  • Max VPN Peers: 300
  • Max Virtual Routers (VRF): 10 (Threat Defense only)
  • Storage: Integrated 480GB SSD
  • Power: Single external AC supply, 100-240V AC, 50-60 Hz, 40W max (confirm for 1220CX), no PoE
  • Cooling: Integrated blower, side exhaust
  • Weight: 3.09 lb (1.40 kg)
  • Operating Temperature: 32 to 104u00b0F (0 to 40u00b0C)

Curation Review

  • ✔ Pros: Compact desktop form factor suits branch offices and small sites; 15 Gbps stateful firewall throughput and 300K concurrent sessions for its class; 2x 10GbE SFP+ uplinks plus 8x 1GbE copper ports; runs either ASA or Threat Defense software, so migration paths exist for existing ASA estates; supports up to 300 VPN peers and 10 VRFs (Threat Defense); integrated 480GB SSD and optional rack or wall mounting
  • ✘ Cons: Threat prevention throughput drops to 9 Gbps with IPS enabled, well below the 15 Gbps headline firewall figure; TLS decryption is only 1.5 Gbps, a significant limit for encrypted-traffic inspection; only two 10GbE ports, so it is not suited to high-speed aggregation; no PoE; performance figures are lab-measured and vary with features enabled and traffic mix; requires separate Cisco subscription licensing for threat features; retail pricing is widely dispersed across retailers and the official Cisco list price could not be confirmed
  • Est. Price: $3,299 - $4,562

Compare Against

Ubiquiti UniFi Cloud Gateway Fiber
Ubiquiti UniFi Cloud Gateway Fiber
★ 5.0 Value Score

Technical Specifications

  • Firewall Throughput: Not published by Ubiquiti; 5 Gbps IDS/IPS-secured routing throughput is the only headline figure (reviewer and retailer listings)
  • Threat Prevention Throughput: 5 Gbps IDS/IPS
  • IPsec VPN Throughput: Not published
  • Max Sessions: Not published; 500+ simultaneous users and 4,000-entry MAC address table
  • New Sessions/sec: Not published
  • Interfaces: 2x 10G SFP+; 1x 10GbE RJ45 (10G/2.5G/1G); 4x 2.5GbE RJ45 (2.5G/1G/100M/10M); 2 of the 6 WAN-capable ports are default WAN (1x 10G SFP+ and 1x 10GbE RJ45), with the other ports selectable as WAN
  • Form Factor: Compact desktop; 212.8 x 127.6 x 30 mm; 675 g without SSD
  • CPU / RAM: Quad-core ARM Cortex-A73 at 2.2 GHz / 3 GB RAM
  • Storage: Optional NVMe SSD up to 2 TB (NVR storage)
  • PoE Budget: 30W total from one PoE+ port (port 4)
  • Max Power Consumption: 29.4W excluding PoE output

Curation Review

  • ✔ Pros: Lowest-cost Ubiquiti gateway with 5 Gbps IDS/IPS, rated above the UDM-SE's 3.5 Gbps at a lower launch price ($279 MSRP vs. $499); Multi-gig flexibility with 10GBASE-T, dual SFP+ and four 2.5GbE ports; Compact desktop design with optional NVMe storage for UniFi Protect/NVR use; Supports site-to-site VPN plus OpenVPN, WireGuard and L2TP server functions, with integrated PoE+ for one device; Managed through the UniFi Network controller with 500+ simultaneous user capacity
  • ✘ Cons: No official routing, IPsec or WireGuard throughput figures published by Ubiquiti; community WireGuard numbers (around 400-500 Mbps) are unverified; Only one PoE+ output port (30W total) versus eight PoE ports on the UDM-SE; Lower device and user capacity and less storage expansion than the UDM-SE; No published IPsec tunnel or concurrent session limits; Reseller prices now often run above the launch MSRP (about $320-$346 USD at US resellers)
  • Est. Price: $279 - $346

Popular Comparisons

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