Firepower hardware architecture makes for more efficient processing, fewer bottlenecks Cisco is coming out with four next-generation firewall boxes aimed at giving smaller organizations protection that is better sized to their needs and engineered to minimize performance hits as additional security services are turned on. The devices make up a family called the Cisco Firepower 2100 series and are built around dual, multi-core processors. That architecture enables custom processing of traffic requiring threat inspection, and also supports tagging traffic that doesn’t need threat inspection so it flows through only the separate network processing unit. These features combine to provide ample processing power for services such as IPS and also lighten the total load on that processor by diverting traffic that doesn’t require those services, Cisco says. The Firepower 2100 series competes against midrange devices made by Check Point, Fortinet and Palo Alto Networks. Cisco says it doesn’t have numbers yet for how performance is affected when Cisco Advanced Malware Protection and SSL acceleration are turned on. Advertised throughput for the devices ranges from 1.9G to 8.5Gbps. Management for the new devices can be handled by the onboard Cisco Device Manager, Management Center appliances for managing multiple devices, and Cisco Defense Orchestrator, its cloud-based policy management tool. The appliances can automate security tasks including assessment, tuning and remediation. Through integration with Cisco’s Threat Intelligence Director, the management center can absorb and act on threat intelligence via third parties that use industry standards for formatting and sending. The orchestrator can apply individual policies throughout an organization that uses multiple Cisco security products. Cisco Firepower 2100 Series Next-Generation Firewall starts at $10,995 for the 1.9Gbps 2110 model and ranges upward to $64,995 for the 8.5 Gbps 2140 model. Related content news IBM, Palo Alto marry to focus on AI-based security technology The expanded partnership includes the sale of IBM’s QRadar security intelligence platform to Palo Alto Networks. By Michael Cooney May 15, 2024 4 mins Communications Security Network Security news ZutaCore launches liquid cooling for advanced Nvidia chips The HyperCool direct-to-chip system from ZutaCore is designed to cool up to 120kW of rack power without requiring a facilities modification. By Andy Patrizio May 15, 2024 3 mins Servers Data Center news 2024 global network outage report and internet health check ThousandEyes tracks internet and cloud traffic and provides Network World with weekly updates on the performance of ISPs, cloud service providers, and UCaaS providers. By Ann Bednarz May 15, 2024 45 mins Internet Service Providers Network Management Software Cloud Computing news Network jobs watch: Hiring, skills and certification trends What IT leaders need to know about expanding responsibilities, new titles and hot skills for network professionals and I&O teams. By Denise Dubie May 15, 2024 8 mins Careers Data Center Networking PODCASTS VIDEOS RESOURCES EVENTS NEWSLETTERS Newsletter Promo Module Test Description for newsletter promo module. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe