One of the longer-running firewall lines, the Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA), has been around since it was introduced by Cisco in May 2005. It succeeded in replacing three distinct lines of Cisco devices, the Cisco PIX, the Cisco IPS 4200 series, and the Cisco VPN 3000 Concentrator. After the next few years, Cisco helped relieve some worry that it did not have some of the more advanced features by releasing the next-generation ASA firewall line. The Cisco ASA cemented itself as a mainstay in many small to medium business environments across the globe.
Cisco developed the Firepower appliance, the heir apparent and replacement to the ASA. Firepower ran on two different codes, the ASA code and the FTD (Firepower Threat Defense) code. The ASA was the basic software, but it lacked the advanced next-gen and IPS functionality. The next-gen ASA software had a Firepower module that ran inline on top of the existing architecture of the ASA. The module then would provide IPS, Malware, and URL filtering capabilities through Firepower. The Cisco Firepower appliance now integrates the firewall capabilities with the Firepower capabilities from the module together into one solution. This solution now falls under the newly branded Cisco Secure Firewall product line.
The Secure Firewall product line touts major advanced capabilities. All under one roof, Secure Firewall Management Center provides :
* Unified management of firewalls
* Application control
* IPS
* URL filtering
* Malware defense policies
