With support being such a bear, I doubt if Astaro will do much with returned PIX boxes other than to use them as glorified paper weights. To the recycle bin they will go.

PIX is an antiquated technology that enjoyed a great run but truth be told, its annual service contract cost more than buying a new device from a competitor. The point is to get these obsolete appliances out of peoples' networks and into places like the Smithsonian.

Received the following private email message:

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Brad/Reggie—

Thought the chart comparing Cisco vs. Astaro to be interesting, but I was confused.

I teach Cisco firewalls as part of my job, and in the class I taught last week, I gave lessons on:

Cisco GUI management (ASDM, which is actually second-generation at least after PDM, even if you don’t count the PDM and SDM revisions);

One-click VPNs via wizards;

Time, User and group-based URL filtering and traffic filtering

Active/Active clustering

I don’t mind looking at competitive products in the marketplace, but I do find it odd to misstate the capabilities of any competitor simply to make Astaro look better.

I was ready to forward your email out to my customers, but the misstatements in the email make me reluctant to give them information about your product with the incorrect information about other products included.

Did I miss something?

Official response from Astaro

The chart you used in the story was actually made by Astaro marketing, which of course usually assumes the best case using challenge words, something that Astaro competitors do as well.

It is also quite old, and needs updating.

1. For the GUI, Cisco uses the word intuitive, which of course is open to debate depending on whom is using the GUI.

A person who is Cisco expert and heavily familiar with the Cisco GUI, probably can move through it quite quickly.

The point Astaro is trying to make is that its WebAdmin is considered easier and more intuitive to use, not that Cisco has no GUI at all.

Suggest that Astaro marketing reword this.

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2. In regards to One-Click VPN, Astaro's focus is more on the Free of Charge statement, since ASA does have SSL vpn, (Astaro is not web portal based but rather a full IP ssl vpn) however Cisco offers only a 2 client sampler free of charge, not unlimited clients for multi-OS’s as part of the base price.

Being a marketing chart, Astaro once again is shining the light in the best possible way for Astaro.

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3. For the URL filter, this is incorrect as ASA does this, optionally, however this statement was supposed to have the Edirectory SSO and AD SSO in it, thus making the checkboxes correct.

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4. Active/Active clustering should read as Zero Configuration One Click Active-Active Clustering indicating Astaro’s feature requires no setup at all, simply plug in a new Astaro and the first one will assimilate it and build the cluster automatically.

It appears Astaro marketing took a few liberties here on this chart.

Sincerely,

Brad Reese
http://www.BradReese.Com