PACKETPERF

Primary Device

Cisco Secure Firewall 4245
Cisco Secure Firewall 4245
★ 3.3 Value Score

Technical Specifications

  • Firewall Throughput: 140 Gbps (FW+AVC, 1024B, per Cisco 4200 datasheet); 180 Gbps (ASA stateful inspection, 1500B UDP)
  • Threat Prevention Throughput: 140 Gbps (FW+AVC+IPS, 1024B, 50% TLS 1.2 traffic)
  • IPsec VPN Throughput: 140 Gbps (per Cisco 4200 series listing)
  • Max Sessions: 60 million concurrent (with AVC, per Cisco datasheet)
  • New Sessions/sec: 800,000 (unverified; one listing cites 1.7M)
  • Interfaces: 8 x 10GbE SFP+ on-chassis; 2 NetMod bays supporting up to 8 x 25GbE SFP28 (netmod-dependent)
  • Form Factor: 1U rackmount

Curation Review

  • ✔ Pros: Very high throughput for a 1U appliance (140 Gbps threat prevention and IPsec VPN, per Cisco datasheet); 60 million concurrent sessions with AVC for large data center and campus edge deployments; Modular NetMod bays allow 25GbE SFP28 connectivity; Supports Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) or ASA software images; Multi-instance support for consolidating workloads; Strong integration with Cisco Firepower Management Center and Cisco security ecosystem
  • ✘ Cons: Very high acquisition cost compared with mid-range NGFWs; Throughput and session figures vary across Cisco and reseller sources, so validation against the current datasheet is needed; Max VPN peer count and new connections per second are not confirmed by an authoritative Cisco source; Full 25GbE capacity requires purchasing separate NetMod modules; Licensing (threat, malware, URL) is a significant recurring cost on top of hardware
  • Est. Price: $222,425 - $326,223

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

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