Cisco ASA 5505

RS_MCP

Hello People!

I have a Cisco ASA 5505 at home that I will be using to teach myself how it works!

Are there any resources I can use?

broc

I highly recommend this:

Cisco ASA: All-in-one Firewall, IPS, Anti-X, and VPN Adaptive Security Appliance Cisco Press Networking Technology: Amazon.co.uk: Jazib Frahim, Omar Santos: Books

and of course Cisco's website:

Cisco ASA 5500 Series Adaptive Security Appliances Configuration Guides - Cisco Systems

RS_MCP

Thanks for the links.

Does anyone know where I can get some Cisco ASA labs from?

peanutnoggin

RS_MCP wrote: »

Thanks for the links.

Does anyone know where I can get some Cisco ASA labs from?

RS_MCP,

I've been eyeing this one: Cisco Kits. I have a PIX 501 that I want to toy around with... I also anticipate using an ASA 5510 from work... but that won't be anytime soon. Anyhow, if you were to get this book, write a small review on the labs in case others are interested in it. Thanks! I HTH.

-Peanut

tiersten

peanutnoggin wrote: »

I have a PIX 501 that I want to toy around with... I also anticipate using an ASA 5510 from work...

The lab book you linked to won't be any use with the PIX 501 as it can't run anything past 6.3. You could wedge early versions of 7.0 into an upgraded 506e but it doesn't work on a 501.

peanutnoggin

tiersten wrote: »

The lab book you linked to won't be any use with the PIX 501 as it can't run anything past 6.3. You could wedge early versions of 7.0 into an upgraded 506e but it doesn't work on a 501.

Thanks for the info... off to ebay I go!

Do you think a pix 506e would suffice, or should I try to get a PIX 515? The 515 are still pretty pricey though... The ASA I can borrow from work... or more than likely, lab them up at work... but I would love to get a PIX for my own lab. Your thoughts? Also, have you used the afore mentioned book? Thanks!

-Peanut

tiersten

peanutnoggin wrote: »

Do you think a pix 506e would suffice, or should I try to get a PIX 515? The 515 are still pretty pricey though...

Is it a 515 or 515e? There is a big difference in hardware between the two. The 515 had a Pentium MMX 200MHz and the 515e had a Celeron 433MHz. They should both be able to run 8.x though assuming sufficient RAM has been installed.

I picked up an old 506e that work was throwing out and you can wedge early versions of 7.0 onto it as I said. Later 7.0 versions don't fit or crash out with some error however and anything past 7.0 just won't work at all. For a lab, the 501 and 506e are equivalent assuming you're not trying the 7.0 trick on the 506e.

If you can, I'd say buy a ASA5505 with a 50 user license on it. They're not crazy expensive and it will run the latest/greatest ASA software on it. If you want experience with the older versions then you can run those your PIX 501 as the ASA can't run anything that old.

The actual firewall I use is a 5510 as I got a good deal on it from our reseller. If you're used to the IOS firewall you'll also notice that the ASA firewall works slightly differently and doesn't support some of the features built into IOS like IPS. Be prepared to be horrified by the prices of the SSC/SSM expansion modules for ASAs though.

peanutnoggin wrote: »

Also, have you used the afore mentioned book? Thanks!

Nope

viper75

broc wrote: »

I highly recommend this:

Cisco ASA: All-in-one Firewall, IPS, Anti-X, and VPN Adaptive Security Appliance Cisco Press Networking Technology: Amazon.co.uk: Jazib Frahim, Omar Santos: Books

and of course Cisco's website:

Cisco ASA 5500 Series Adaptive Security Appliances Configuration Guides - Cisco Systems

I just got the Omar Santos book last week from Amazon. I will say it's a GREAT book for ASAs!!!

Easy to read and understand. I'm starting to deal with a lot of ASA's at work and will be deploying 130+ 5505's within the next 6 months with site-to-site VPN tunnles and failovers. This book is a MUST HAVE!!! It's a thick book, not easy to carry around, but it has a wealth of info for ASA firewalls. I bring it to work and home everyday along with my CCNA Security book by Catherine Paquet.

I highly recommend the Omar Santos ASA Ciscopress book.