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 Cloud Gateway Max
Ubiquiti Cloud Gateway Max
★ 4.9 Value Score

Technical Specifications

  • Firewall Throughput: 2.5 Gbps (routing, IDS/IPS off)
  • Threat Prevention Throughput: 1.5 Gbps (IDS/IPS on)
  • IPsec VPN Throughput: Not published by Ubiquiti; WireGuard/Site-Magic VPN up to 500 Mbps (third-party review, untested method)
  • Max Sessions: Not published
  • New Sessions/sec: Not published
  • Interfaces: 5x 2.5GbE RJ45 (1 WAN + 4 LAN, one LAN port can be remapped to a second WAN)
  • Form Factor: Compact desktop, 142 x 127 x 30 mm, USB-C 5V/5A power (max 16.1 W)

Curation Review

  • ✔ Pros: 2.5GbE WAN and LAN ports on a compact, low-power chassis (max 16.1 W); 512GB built-in NVMe storage on the standard SKU for local UniFi data; Integrated UniFi controller with IDS/IPS and no license or subscription fees; Supports 300+ clients and 30+ UniFi devices; Multi-WAN capable through the remappable LAN port
  • ✘ Cons: Only 1.5 Gbps with IDS/IPS enabled, well below the 2.5 Gbps routing figure; IPsec VPN throughput, session counts and new sessions per second are not published; No PoE output and no built-in Wi-Fi access point; No LAG/LACP support; 500 Mbps VPN throughput is limiting for high-volume site-to-site tunnels
  • Est. Price: $240 - $279

Popular Comparisons

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