Quiet Cisco PIX end-of-sale (EOS) notice kindles PIX trade-in offer from Astaro

By Brad Reese on Sun, 02/03/08 - 9:50am.

Twelve years after its 1995 acquisition of PIX (Private Internet EXchange) creator - Network Translation, Inc., Cisco has quietly released:

End-of-Sale (EOS) Notice for Cisco PIX Products

The Cisco EOS notice covers all PIX security appliances, software, accessories and licenses for:

	PIX 501 PIX 506E PIX 515E PIX 525 PIX 535 systems and spares
	Cisco PIX Software Releases 6.2, 6.3, 7.0, 7.1, 7.2, and 8.0
	All accessory items such as power supplies, I/O cards, memory upgrade kits, VPN Accelerator Card Plus (VAC+) cards and software licenses.

Cisco PIX EOS Dates

Milestone	Explanation	Date
External announcement	The date when the end of sale and end of life of a product is announced to the general public.	January 28, 2008
End-of-sale date for platforms/bundles	The last date to order the platform and bundles.	July 28, 2008
End-of-sale date for accessories	The last date to order the accessories.	January 27, 2009
End of software maintenance releases	The last date that Cisco Engineering may release any final software maintenance releases or bug fixes. After this date, Cisco Engineering will no longer develop, repair, maintain, or test the product software.	July 28, 2009
End of new service attachment date	For equipment and software that is not covered by a service-and-support contract, this is the last date to order a new service-and-support contract or add the equipment and/or software to an existing service-and-support contract.	July 28, 2009
End of service contract renewals	The last date to extend or renew a service contract for the product. The extension or renewal period cannot extend beyond the last date of support.	October 23, 2012
End of support/end of life	The last date to receive service and support for the product. After this date, all support services for the product are unavailable, and the product becomes obsolete.	July 27, 2013

So far, the Linux platform based Unified Threat Management (UTM) solution vendor Astaro, has been the only competitor to address the Cisco PIX end-of-sale notice by announcing its Upgrade Your Cisco PIX trade-in program.

Over 100,000 IT administrators entrust their network with security appliances from Astaro.

The Astaro trade-in program offers Cisco PIX users 20% off the list price on all Astaro hardware, software and maintenance for 3 or 5 year agreements, with the return of a Cisco PIX firewall appliance.

"Astaro’s ease of use and robust feature set has always made us an effective platform that Cisco Pix users upgraded to," said Jan Hichert - Astaro CEO.

"When companies announce the end-of-life of an appliance line it essentially means that the product and the technology is now obsolete."

"Now with users forced to choose a migration path, we want to make sure that PIX users know there is an option available that can increase their protection and save them money vs. the ASA path being offered by Cisco."

Astaro vs. Cisco PIX

Astaro Security Gateway	Cisco PIX
Astaro WebAdmin is intuitive, so even basic users can build rules and make changes without special training.	Proprietary command line IOS interface is realistically usable by certified personnel only.
All configuration done with included WebAdmin GUI.	Rudimentary GUI supported offered via the Cisco Device Manager only.
Offers over 7000 IDS patterns standard, in addition to firewall, VPN, routing, NAT, and more.	Acts as a firewall/vpn/router only. IPS has a poor amount of patterns/attacks base.
VPN Performance from 50-600+ Mbps using AES or 3DES technology in various configurations.	Low VPN Performance, even on high-end models (under 100 Mbps).
ASG base model 120 offers 512MB RAM, with up to 4GB on higher models. Uses latest processors from Intel.	Low hardware specifications yield poor throughput. (32MB RAM, 16 MB flash RAM).
SSL VPN Support comes Standard /w Unlimited clients included free of charge.	No SSL Roadwarrior VPN support.

Astaro vs. Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances (ASA)

Astaro Security Gateway	Cisco ASA 5510/5520/5540
Full SSL VPN /w Unlimited Clients included.	2 SSL VPN Licenses included for demo/evaluation. Additional purchase required.
Base functionality includes Firewall, Roadwarrior VPN, Site-Site VPN, Intrusion Detection & Prevention, and Basic Web & Email Filtering.	Only Firewall and VPN included in base functionality.
No add-in slots required to enable all UTM features on the same platform.	1 Add-in slot for expanding functionality to include IPS, more ports, or Filtering.
Intrusion Prevention & Detection included standard with over 7000 patterns.	IPS only available with AIP SSM add-in card at extra charge.
Dual AV Engines, Anti-Spyware, Anti-Phishing, Content Filtering, and Malware blocking available with just a software license.	AV/Anti-Spyware/File Blocking only available with CSC SSM add-in card.
8 x 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports based on model selected.	5 Ethernet ports in various 10/100/1000 configurations depending on model.
7th Generation WebAdmin GUI uses immersive technology tools like AJAX and Javascript to produce a clean, fast, and effective management platform.	1st Generation GUI is kludgy and dated.
Offers true UTM functionality by including all features on a single box.	Not possible to outfit ASA with all offerings due to expansion port limitations.
Web Filtering offers access to more than 39 million categorized sites and over 2.5 billion URL’s and objects. Profile creation allows selection of sites in over 50 categories.	The ASA Anti-X option includes some basic web filtering capabilities only. To get advance web filtering comparable to Astaro's you have use external subscription services from 3rd party URL partners.

Astaro vs. Competitors



Choice of hardware or software solution
Intuitive web-based GUI for complete system management
One-click VPN for easy SSL remote access (free of charge)
IPsec, SSL, PPTP and L2TP VPN support on all appliances
Dual, independent anti virus engines
Clientless email encryption (TLS, S/MIME, OpenPGP)
Virus scanning for encrypted emails (S/MIME & OpenPGP)
Extensive set of multiple spam detection capabilities
Quarantine for spam mails on local hard drive
Time, user and group based URL filtering policies
Prevent spyware infection and hidden "phone home" communication
Automatic system software updates
End user self servicing portal for spam and VPN management
Active/Active cluster with integrated load balancing
VMWare support