Is the 506E enough?

[hende10]

My company will be upgrading our data lines to a full T1, and will be hosting our own VPN through Win2K. I have been looking for a firewall and have it narrowed down to either a Cisco PIX 506E or a 515E. I am about ready to pull the trigger on the 506, but I am concerned about throughput. We have an internal email server, but an outside ISP hosts our website. There are about 50 Internet users (moderate surfing time), and will be about 20-25 VPN users (only at most 10 users at once). I would assume with current growth that the above numbers would double in about 4-5 years.

I really think that the 506E would do the job for us, but I don't want to be hit with latency right off the bat, then try to explain why we need an upgrade within a few months. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Also, are there any other concerns I should factor in before I buy something?

Thanks,

hende10

 

[gbiello]

If you only have 50 internet users and email, the 506e should be fine. The downside however is the VPN. If you decide the performance on the 506e is not good enough, you can't upgrade. The 515 will allow you to add the VPN accelerator card. Based on this I'm leaing toward the 515.

-gbiello

 

[hende10]

Thanks for the quick reply.

From what I have read, the 506e would get approx. 8 Mbps throughput, while the 515e would get about 11 (without VAC). I can live with the 8 mbps, especially since a lot of users will be dialing in through a standard phone line, and the VPN use will be just to access shared folders and email (not PIX to PIX or for branch offices). But how many users (VPN + Internet + email) does it take to slow down the 506 to 1-2 mbps? Is it going to be that way out of the box, or just in high traffic times? I am trying to get some ideas to justify the price of the 515, especially with the VAC.

Thanks.

hende10