Full English Description for Cisco ASA5585-X-SSP20-K9
1. Official Short Order Description
Cisco ASA5585-X-SSP20-K9: 2RU rack-mount mid-high tier modular legacy Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA Next-Generation Firewall) from Cisco ASA 5585-X series, factory preloaded Security Plus full unrestricted K9 license with dual-core SSP-20 security services processor blade. Equipped with 8 built-in 10/100/1000 Gigabit copper ports, 2 native SFP+ 10GE fiber uplink slots, one dedicated Fast Ethernet out-of-band management port, one half-width expansion SSP slot for optional FirePOWER IPS SSP or CX unified content security blades, dual redundant hot-swappable AC power supply bays, running ASA OS 8.x / final supported ASA OS 9.1 firmwareCisco. Built on Cisco Adaptive Security Algorithm, it delivers wire-speed stateful SPI firewall, full DES/3DES/AES strong-encryption IKEv1/IKEv2 IPsec/DMVPN/FlexVPN, AnyConnect Premium SSL/DTLS remote access VPN, NAT/PAT, unified communications TLS proxy, VoIP fixup inspection, multi-context virtual firewalls, and both Active/Standby & Active/Active stateful failover with native multi-chassis firewall/VPN clustering. Performance benchmarks: up to 10 Gbps real-world HTTP stateful firewall throughput, 2,000,000 maximum concurrent TCP/UDP connections, 75,000 new connections per second, 2 Gbps hardware-accelerated full 3DES/AES VPN throughput, supporting up to 10,000 simultaneous IPsec IKE peers and 10,000 permanent AnyConnect SSL remote access sessions, plus 1024 logical routed VLAN interfacesCisco. K9 license removes all DES-only limitations, unlocks unlimited TLS proxy sessions, full multi-context segmentation and complete high availability/clustering functions. Managed via serial console, embedded ASDM web GUI, Cisco Security Manager (CSM), Syslog and SNMPv3. Fully End-of-Sale (Aug 25, 2017) and End-of-Support (Aug 31, 2022) obsolete hardware, superseded by Firepower 4100/9300 modular NGFW platformsCisco.
2. Complete Detailed Product Overview
Product Line Positioning
The Cisco ASA5585-X-SSP20-K9 is the mid-high performance modular chassis of the ASA 5585-X datacenter NGFW family, positioned above entry SSP-10 models and below flagship SSP-40/60 variants. Designed for large enterprise multi-segment core DMZ edges, tier-2 service provider central office PoPs, and medium-to-large MSP multi-tenant colocation environments requiring native 10GE fiber uplink density, massive concurrent session scale, expandable integrated FirePOWER threat defense blades and unrestricted enterprise strong crypto capabilitiesCisco.
The K9 suffix stands for factory pre-activated full Security Plus unrestricted license, eliminating all DES-only limitations of K8 base SKUs, enabling unlimited TLS proxy capacity, maximum multi-context virtual firewall segmentation, and load-balanced Active/Active failover for distributed multi-customer traffic isolation. The ASA 5585-X platform reached End-of-Sale August 25, 2017 and End-of-Support August 31, 2022; no official firmware patches, vulnerability fixes or Cisco TAC technical support are available today, replaced by modern Firepower modular security appliances.
Physical Hardware & Dual Half-Width SSP Modular Architecture
Form Factor & Mechanical Specifications
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Standard 2RU 19-inch rack-mount metal chassis, rack rails included; optional rubber feet for standalone desktop placement
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Dual hot-swappable redundant universal auto-switch AC power supply bays (100–240V 50/60Hz), dual power supplies factory standard on SSP-20 SKUs
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Variable-speed intelligent redundant cooling fans with front-to-back airflow, NEBS Level 3 compliant for telecom rack deployment
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Front panel multi-color diagnostic LED array: Power, System Status Fault, SSP blade operational state, global traffic activity, PSU health, fan fault indicator
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Integrated physical security lock slot for anti-tampering protection
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Hardware core (SSP-20 firewall blade): Dual multi-core security processors, fixed 12 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 16 GB compact flash storage for ASA OS, configurations and persistent event logs
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Two independent half-width SSP expansion slots: Slot0 pre-loaded SSP-20 firewall blade, Slot1 empty for optional matching FirePOWER IPS SSP or CX content security blades (SSP blades are non-hot-swappable; power cycle required for replacement)Cisco
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Dual rear USB 2.0 ports for external flash configuration backup, firmware upgrades and log offloading
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Environmental compliance: 0°C to +40°C operating temperature, 10%–90% non-condensing humidity, altitude up to 3050m; UL 60950-1, CE, FCC Class A, FIPS 140-2 Level 1 certified
Rear Panel Fixed Port Layout
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8 × Built-in 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet Auto-MDI/MDIX RJ45 Copper Ports (GigabitEthernet0/0 – 0/7)
Native copper Gigabit ports to deploy independent Inside trusted LAN, Outside untrusted WAN and multiple isolated DMZ server zones without extra I/O modules
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2 × SFP+ 10 Gigabit Fiber Slots (GigabitEthernet0/8, 0/9)
Supports SFP+ transceivers for long-distance 10G backbone interconnections between datacenters or upstream carrier peering links
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1 × Dedicated 10/100 Fast Ethernet Out-of-Band Management Port (Management0/0)
Fully segregated management interface isolated from production data plane traffic for secure device administration, independent of routed security VLANs
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RJ45 RS-232 Serial Console Port
Out-of-band CLI management at default 9600 baud for initial bootstrap, password recovery and offline bulk configuration editing
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DB-15 Dedicated Inter-Chassis Stateful Failover Serial Port
Used for real-time session synchronization between redundant ASA5585-X chassis pairs to retain active VPN/NAT/UC sessions during sub-second traffic failover
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Dual IEC AC power input sockets for hot-swappable redundant power supply units
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Two rear USB 2.0 storage ports for external flash archival and OS image deployment
Supported Optional Half-Width Matching SSP Expansion Blades
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FirePOWER SSP-20: Integrated next-generation NGIPS, AVC application control, malware protection, URL filtering threat defense, NGIPS throughput up to 3.5 GbpsCisco
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CX SSP-20: Unified content security (cloud web filtering, anti-spam, antivirus, user-based content control, maximum 7,500 licensed users)
Core Performance & K9 Security Plus Full License Capabilities
Throughput & Connection Benchmarks (SSP-20 Blade)
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Maximum cleartext stateful firewall throughput: 10 Gbps real-world HTTP traffic, 20 Gbps jumbo frame throughput
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Maximum concurrent TCP/UDP connection table entries: 2,000,000
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Maximum new connections per second: 75,000
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Maximum 64-byte packet forwarding rate: 3,000,000 packets per second
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IPsec VPN throughput (hardware-accelerated full 3DES/AES): Up to 2 Gbps
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NGIPS throughput with FirePOWER SSP-20 blade: Up to 3.5 Gbps
K9 Unrestricted License Exclusive Advantages vs ASA5585-X-SSP20-K8 Base DES License
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Encryption suite: Full native DES, 3DES-168, AES-128/AES-192/AES-256 strong enterprise crypto (K8 locked to DES weak encryption only)
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Simultaneous IPsec IKEv1/IKEv2 tunnels (site-to-site + remote access): Max 10,000 permanent peers (hard cap on K8)
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Logical routed VLAN interfaces: Up to 1024 separate security zones (identical hardware VLAN limit across K8/K9)
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TLS proxy sessions for encrypted SIP/SCCP unified communications inspection: Unlimited chassis-wide capacity (1000 hard cap on K8 base license)
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High Availability: Supports both stateless Active/Standby and load-balanced Active/Active multi-context failover (K8 limited to Active/Standby redundant pairs only)
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Multi-context virtual firewalls: Up to 250 independent isolated virtual security contexts (completely disabled on K8 DES license)
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Native multi-chassis firewall/VPN clustering and load balancing fully enabled for distributed WAN hub aggregation
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AnyConnect Premium SSL/DTLS remote access peers: 10,000 permanent factory licensed concurrent sessions (major upgrade over SSP-10’s 5,000 SSL peer limit)Cisco
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Internal LAN host capacity: Unlimited, no hard-coded user count throttling
Full Integrated Security & Networking Feature Suite (ASA OS 8.x / 9.1 Final Supported Release)
1. Stateful Adaptive Security Algorithm Firewall
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Wire-speed full stateful packet inspection tracking all TCP/UDP connection states to eliminate stateless filter bypass attacks
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Object-group based inbound/outbound ACLs for granular multi-zone traffic permission/denial rule management
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Multi-vector enterprise-grade DoS/DDoS mitigation: SYN flood protection, port scan detection, full TCP normalization, malformed packet filtering, IP spoof suppression
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Layer 7 fixup protocol inspection engines for FTP, H.323, SIP, SCCP Skinny, RTSP, NetBIOS to preserve NAT traversal for VoIP and multimedia workloads
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Native Transparent Layer 2 firewall mode for inline datacenter security deployment without network re-addressing
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Third-party URL web content filtering integration (expandable via optional CX SSP blade)
2. Standards-Based Multi-Protocol VPN Suite
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Site-to-site LAN-to-LAN IPsec tunnels for secure inter-datacenter private backbone connectivity over public internet
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Remote access IPsec VPN for legacy Cisco VPN Client software teleworker tunnels
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Clientless SSL VPN + AnyConnect Premium SSL/DTLS remote access for browser/software-based global mobile workforce connectivity (10,000 permanent concurrent sessions)
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Dual IKEv1/IKEv2 key exchange protocol support, full X.509 digital certificate enrollment via SCEP for scalable multi-site enterprise deployments
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GRE tunnel encapsulation for routed non-IPsec traffic across VPN fabrics
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Dedicated on-board hardware crypto acceleration to eliminate CPU bottlenecks for 10,000 concurrent IPsec tunnels
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Native multi-chassis VPN clustering and load balancing for distributed regional remote access hub deployments
3. Broadband & Datacenter Routing / NAT Services
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Static one-to-one NAT, dynamic NAT pools, PAT port address translation for multi-tenant public IP sharing
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Native PPPoE client for large-scale broadband ISP aggregation deployments
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Local DHCP server supporting up to 4096 internal IP address leases for wired LAN endpoints
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Static routing, policy-based routing (PBR), BGP, OSPF, EIGRP dynamic interior/exterior routing protocol support
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Dual-stack native IPv4 protocol stack, limited partial IPv6 functionality on ASA OS 9.1
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Local persistent DNS caching to reduce external DNS lookup latency and bandwidth consumption
4. Threat Defense & Unified Security Stack
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Base built-in signature-based IDS engine; advanced next-generation IPS functionality requires matching optional FirePOWER SSP-20 blade with full malware/attack signature databases
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Automatic dynamic host blacklisting to quarantine malicious source IP addresses after detected security breaches
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Unicast Reverse Path Forwarding (URPF) strict/loose anti-spoof filtering to block forged source IP traffic in multi-tenant environments
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Persistent local flash event logging + remote Syslog export to centralized SIEM platforms for regulatory compliance audit trails
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Encrypted administrative access only: SSHv2 remote CLI, HTTPS ASDM web GUI, encrypted SNMPv3 secure device monitoring
5. AAA Access Control & Audit Logging
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Complete AAA authentication, authorization and accounting via external RADIUS and TACACS+ servers for multi-tenant segregated administrative access control
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Local user credential database for standalone device emergency administrative login
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Comprehensive logging architecture supporting buffered flash storage, USB flash log offloading and remote Syslog archival
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SNMPv3 secure monitoring for real-time device health, throughput utilization, PSU/fan fault and VPN tunnel status alert reporting
6. Application-Aware Hierarchical QoS & Bandwidth Management
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Four-level priority queuing to prioritize real-time voice/video unified communications over recreational streaming, SaaS and P2P file-sharing traffic
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Per-port bandwidth shaping and policing on all Gigabit copper/10GE fiber WAN/LAN/DMZ interfaces to eliminate congestion across multi-tenant segments
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DSCP marking preservation across IPsec and SSL VPN tunnels for consistent enterprise end-to-end QoS policy enforcement
Management & Configuration Tools
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ASA CLI Console: Full IOS-style command-line interface via serial console or encrypted SSHv2 remote access for bulk scripting and advanced troubleshooting
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Adaptive Security Device Manager (ASDM): Embedded HTTPS graphical web GUI for single-chassis visual configuration, real-time traffic utilization dashboards and security event reporting
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Cisco Security Manager (CSM): Centralized enterprise policy management platform for bulk multi-ASA deployment orchestration, mass firmware upgrades and cross-device compliance audit reporting
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TFTP + USB flash dual methods for OS firmware and full configuration backup/restore; offline config editing supported
Key Differentiators vs Related ASA 5585-X SKUs
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vs ASA5585-X-SSP20-K8 Base DES License:
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Full unrestricted 3DES/AES strong encryption suite (K8 locked to DES weak encryption only)
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10,000 IPsec VPN peers / unlimited TLS proxy sessions vs K8’s 5,000 VPN / 1000 TLS hard cap
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Enables up to 250 multi-context virtual firewalls and Active/Active load-balanced failover (K8 lacks both core carrier-grade features)
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vs ASA5585-X-SSP10-K9 Entry Model: Dual-core SSP-20 processors (single core on SSP-10), 12 GB memory (6 GB on SSP-10), double 2,000,000 concurrent sessions, 10 Gbps firewall throughput (4 Gbps on SSP-10), 10,000 built-in SSL VPN peers (5,000 on SSP-10)
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vs ASA5585-X-SSP40-K9 High-End Model: Lower 10 Gbps throughput (20 Gbps on SSP-40), dual processors vs quad-processor architecture, smaller flash memory capacity
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vs Legacy ASA5580-20B/40B-K9: Compact 2RU chassis with native integrated 10GE SFP+ ports (ASA5580 requires separate I/O expansion cards), dual SSP modular slots for integrated FirePOWER IPS blades, unified ASA/FirePOWER coexistence architecture
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vs Fixed-port ASA5550-K8/K9: Modular dual-blade expandable chassis with native 10GE fiber ports, higher 10 Gbps throughput and 2 million concurrent sessions, support for integrated FirePOWER threat defense blades
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vs Discontinued PIX-535: Modern unified ASA OS architecture, native IPv6 support, ASDM graphical GUI, AnyConnect SSL VPN capability, modular IPS expansion and flexible multi-context virtual segmentation
Typical Historical Deployment Scenarios
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Large enterprise headquarters core gigabit/10GE internet edge firewall with isolated multi-context DMZ zones for web, email, database and cloud application servers, supporting 10,000 concurrent remote AnyConnect SSL VPN teleworkers
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Tier-2 service provider central office backbone security gateway aggregating thousands of wholesale enterprise IPsec VPN customer tunnels
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Medium MSP multi-tenant colocation boundary security appliance with independent multi-context virtual firewall segmentation for segregated customer network traffic
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Active/Active redundant chassis pair for load-balanced multi-tenant remote access SSL VPN services and zero-traffic-loss mission-critical disaster recovery business continuity
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High-fidelity legacy network lab training platform for carrier-grade ASA OS stateful firewall, optional FirePOWER next-gen IPS, multi-context virtual firewalls and high-density 10GE datacenter security architecture learning
3. E-commerce Short Marketing Description
Cisco ASA5585-X-SSP20-K9 Mid-High Tier Modular 2RU Rack-Mount Gigabit Adaptive Security Appliance, legacy ASA 5500-X series unrestricted K9 chassis with eight built-in 10/100/1000 Gigabit copper ports, two native SFP+ 10GE fiber uplinks, dedicated Fast Ethernet out-of-band management port and one empty half-width SSP expansion slot for FirePOWER IPS/CX unified content security blades, running ASA OS 8.x / final supported ASA OS 9.1 firmware. Factory bundled permanent 10,000 AnyConnect Premium SSL/DTLS VPN peer license plus full Security Plus unrestricted feature set: full DES/3DES/AES strong encryption, unlimited internal host capacity, stateful SPI firewall, IPsec site-to-site/remote access VPN, optional hardware inline NGIPS, NAT/PAT, PPPoE broadband aggregation, VoIP unified communications TLS proxy inspection, multi-context virtual firewalls and dual Active/Standby/Active/Active stateful failover with native chassis clustering. Up to 10 Gbps real-world firewall throughput, 2,000,000 concurrent TCP/UDP sessions, 10,000 simultaneous IPsec tunnels and 10,000 dedicated SSL VPN users, managed via serial CLI, embedded ASDM web GUI and Cisco Security Manager. Obsolete end-of-support modular datacenter NGFW for large enterprise headquarters, tier-2 ISP central office PoPs and large-scale remote SSL VPN aggregation deployments.
4. Product Catalog Keyword Tags
Cisco, ASA5585-X-SSP20-K9, ASA 5500-X Series Mid-High Tier Security Plus Adaptive Security Appliance, Legacy Modular Next-Generation Stateful Inspection Firewall, 2RU 19-inch Rack-Mount Chassis, Dual Hot-Swappable Redundant AC Power Supplies, 8 × 10/100/1000 Gigabit Copper Auto-MDI/MDIX Ports, 2 × SFP+ 10GE Fiber Uplink Slots, Dedicated FastEthernet Out-of-Band Management 0/0 Port, Dual Half-Width Non-Hot-Swap SSP Expansion Slots, Pre-Loaded Dual-Core SSP-20 Firewall Blade, Optional Matching FirePOWER SSP-20 NGIPS / CX SSP-20 Content Security Blades, Dual USB 2.0 Storage Ports, RJ45 Serial Out-of-Band Console Port, DB-15 Inter-Chassis Stateful Failover Serial Port, 12288 MB DDR2 SDRAM, 16 GB Compact Flash Storage, Cisco Adaptive Security Algorithm ASA, ASA OS 8.x / 9.1 Final Supported Firmware, Stateful Packet Inspection SPI, 10 Gbps Max Real-World HTTP Firewall Throughput, 20 Gbps Jumbo Frame Throughput, 2 Gbps Hardware-Accelerated 3DES/AES VPN Throughput, IPsec IKEv1/IKEv2 DMVPN FlexVPN Site-to-Site & AnyConnect SSL/DTLS Remote Access VPN, Permanent Factory 10,000 AnyConnect Premium SSL VPN Peer License, Full DES/3DES-AES Unrestricted Strong Encryption Suite, Optional FirePOWER SSP-20 Next-Generation Inline NGIPS Intrusion Prevention System, CX SSP Unified Web Filter/Anti-Spam/Anti-Virus Content Security, NAT PAT Static Dynamic Address Translation, PPPoE DSL Broadband Aggregation Client, VoIP H.323 SIP SCCP Skinny Fixup Protocol Inspection, Transparent Layer 2 Firewall Mode, Multi-Context Virtual Firewall Segmentation (Up to 250 Independent Contexts), Active/Standby & Active/Active Load-Balanced Stateful Failover Redundancy, Native Multi-Chassis Firewall/VPN Clustering & Load Balancing, 1024 Logical Routed VLAN Maximum (Security Plus License), 10,000 Max Simultaneous IPsec VPN Peers, Unlimited TLS Proxy UC Sessions, 2,000,000 Concurrent TCP/UDP Connections, ASDM Adaptive Security Device Manager Embedded Web GUI, Cisco Security Manager CSM Centralized Enterprise Policy Orchestration, Syslog SNMPv3 Secure Monitoring, Dual-Stack IPv4 / Limited IPv6 Native Support, Application-Aware Hierarchical QoS Scheduling, NEBS Level 3 FIPS 140-2 Level 1 Telecom Certified, End-of-Sale Aug 25 2017 End-of-Support Aug 31 2022 Obsolete Legacy Hardware, Security Plus K9 Unrestricted Upgrade Over ASA5585-X-SSP20-K8 DES Base License, Predecessor to Firepower 4100/9300 Next-Generation Firewall Series, Large Enterprise Multi-Datacenter Core Internet Edge Security Gateway, Tier-2 Service Provider Backbone PoP Multi-Tenant Boundary Firewall, Large-Scale 10,000-Session AnyConnect SSL VPN Aggregation Hub
Naming Rule Explanation
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ASA: Adaptive Security Appliance, Cisco post-PIX unified firewall product family integrating stateful firewall, VPN and optional next-generation IPS threat defense services
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5585-X: Modular 2RU datacenter-focused chassis model within the legacy ASA 5500-X next-generation firewall series, supporting dual interchangeable SSP processing blades for scalable performance
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SSP20: SSP-20 security services processor blade identifier, mid-high performance dual-core firewall blade with 12 GB memory and 10 Gbps stateful throughput
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K9: Premium unrestricted Security Plus license identifier unlocking full 3DES/AES strong encryption, unlimited TLS proxy sessions, maximum multi-context virtual firewalls and Active/Active load-balanced failover; contrasted with K8 base DES-only restricted license
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Hardware Distinction Note: The ASA5585-X-SSP20-K9 uses a dual-slot modular chassis design supporting mixed firewall + FirePOWER IPS blade deployments, a key difference from fixed-port ASA 5500 series hardware. The platform is fully obsolete with no official Cisco firmware updates, vulnerability patches or TAC technical support available today.
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