Cisco PIX familiarisation / certification

Sep 23, 2005 4 Replies

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Ziron-XL 20 years ago

Hello All,

I'm quite new to the PIX world of things and I'm currently looking at training up... I am looking on ebay with a view of buying a PIX to help me learn....

Is a 501 OK? or would you go for a 506E? Potentially I'll be looking at supporting 525 / 535's at work..... Am I wasting my time getting a 501 - I'll be using it to master the PIX command line / setting up SNMP monitoring / VPN config etc or would you opt for a 506E?

As I'm sure you're all aware the 506E is the next step up from the 501 in the current product line - the 501 looks more like a firewall with outside interface & internal switch... whereas the 506E has a both proper internal interface and an external interface....

Does the 501 'internal switch' get treated like an internal interface from the command line?

Any advice greatefully recieved.

-D

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ongkhaiyang 20 years ago

if u can afford, i recommend PIX-515E, if u can get unrestricted license, it's even better bcos u can test failover (but u need to have two pix). but 506 would be sufficient for most of the features.

be aware that PIX os 7.0 is out (not sure if it supports all models, please check cisco website for more info). As cisco also upgraded CCSP exam on 19th Sep, it's most useful if you can find a pix that can support 7.0

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Richard Deal 20 years ago

The problem with the 501 and 506E is that they don't run FOS 7.0; the new SNPA exam (replaces CSPFA) is based on this, which means you either need an ASA or a PIX 515E if you want hands-on experience. You can still take the old CSPFA exam, but you only have until 12/19 to pass it; otherwise, the old cert exam expires the next day.

Cheers! Richard

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ongkhaiyang 20 years ago

if PIX 7.0 cannot run on 501 or 506, then u minimum requirement would be a 515E with Restricted License. Be aware of 515E-R to run v7.0 requires 64MB RAM (old 515E-R comes with 32MB only), and

515E-Unrestricted requires 128MB (old 515E-U comes with 64MB)

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