PACKETPERF

Primary Device

Cisco Secure Firewall 4225
Cisco Secure Firewall 4225
★ 3.4 Value Score

Technical Specifications

  • Firewall Throughput: 80 Gbps (Cisco product page; some reseller listings show 90 Gbps or 95 Gbps stateful)
  • Threat Prevention Throughput: 80 Gbps (FW+AVC+IPS, 1024B; Cisco product page lists IPS at 80 Gbps)
  • IPsec VPN Throughput: 80 Gbps (Cisco product page); Decryption throughput 30 Gbps
  • Max Sessions: 90 Million concurrent firewall connections (ASA table; older datasheet revision lists 80 Million)
  • New Sessions/sec: 1.7 Million (ASA stateful firewall)
  • Interfaces: 2 x NetMod bays for expansion modules; reseller listing shows 8 x SFP+ on-chassis
  • Form Factor: 1RU rack-mount, dual power supply, 80 Plus Platinum

Curation Review

  • ✔ Pros: Strong 80 Gbps threat prevention and IPsec VPN throughput in a 1RU chassis; Two NetMod bays allow interface expansion without replacing the appliance; Available as ASA or Threat Defense (NGFW) software images, so the same hardware can serve different deployment needs; Supports high concurrent session counts (up to 90 million) and 1.7 million new connections per second for busy data center or campus edge use; Cisco Firepower Management Center and Cisco Defense Orchestrator give centralized management and policy control
  • ✘ Cons: High upfront cost, with reseller prices typically from about $145K to over $200K before subscriptions; Threat Defense features require ongoing subscription licensing, which adds recurring cost; Published throughput and session figures differ across Cisco datasheet versions and resellers, so specs must be verified against the current datasheet before purchase; Overkill for small and mid-sized businesses that need far less throughput; Requires NetMod modules and separate optics, which add to total cost of ownership
  • Est. Price: $145,679 - $213,663

Compare Against

Ubiquiti UniFi Dream Machine Pro Max
Ubiquiti UniFi Dream Machine Pro Max
★ 5.0 Value Score

Technical Specifications

  • Firewall Throughput: Not published by Ubiquiti. Third-party tests: about 3.8-4.7 Gbps internet (WAN) throughput; about 3.0 Gbps inter-VLAN routing
  • Threat Prevention Throughput: 5 Gbps IDS/IPS (Ubiquiti spec)
  • IPsec VPN Throughput: Not published by Ubiquiti. Unverified third-party estimate of about 1.8-2.2 Gbps
  • Max Sessions: Not published
  • New Sessions/sec: Not published
  • Interfaces: 2x 10G SFP+ ports; 8x 1GbE RJ45 LAN ports; 1x 2.5GbE RJ45 WAN port (sources conflict on WAN; one lists a 25GbE WAN port)
  • Form Factor: 1U rackmount

Curation Review

  • ✔ Pros: 5 Gbps IDS/IPS rating from Ubiquiti; 10G SFP+ ports for fast uplinks or LAN; Multi-WAN support with 2.5GbE WAN; Integrated UniFi Network controller and UniFi OS for centralized management; Built-in NVR bay for UniFi Protect cameras; Rackmount 1U form factor suited to server racks
  • ✘ Cons: Ubiquiti does not publish firewall, VPN, or session-rate figures; Real-world WAN throughput in independent tests is about 3-4.7 Gbps, below the 5 Gbps IDS/IPS rating; Port layout and WAN specs differ between sources; Costs about 2x the UDM Pro (about $220 more) for a modest throughput gain; Limited 1GbE LAN port count compared with dedicated switches; Requires UniFi ecosystem for full feature set
  • Est. Price: $599 - $660

Popular Comparisons

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