PIX 515.. tips/tricks/suggestions??

[hicculus]

I will be installing a PIX 515R Firewall in the near future. I'm trying to find out as much as possible about it before doing so. It will be running on WIN 2000.
-How technical is the installation?
-How long does a typical install take?
-Is the documentation thorough? If not, where is a good place to look for help?

Any suggestions/tips/tricks etc. would be much appreciated. Anything is better than nothing.

Thanks!

 

[sh0x]

The PIX firewall is a device, not a software package that you install on Windows 2000. If you're not familiar with the PIX interface, the initial setup maybe complicated for you. However, the PIX is very easy to setup and can provide outbound internet access with about 6 commands. Cisco's website has this thoroughly documented.

 

[PeterS]

I went through the same thing recently.
The OS of the machine(s) connected to it really doesn't matter--you control the firewall using terminal emulation software (in the case of Win 2K the easy choice is of course Hyperterminal) through the serial port. A dumb ASCII terminal would work as well as anything else for the initial configuration.
Installation was not particularly difficult; the syntax of some of the commands is a bit counter-intuitive but the manual is good. The time consuming part of the install is making sure your access-list does what you REALLY want--if your needs are simple and you have a good working knowledge of TCP/IP you should be able to get everything set up in a few hours. The more you know about TCP/IP the easier it will be--If all you know about TCP/IP is how to spell it you'll want to get help from someone with a good knowledge of the subject.
After our firewall was in place I went to a one-week training session on PIX firewalls--I learned some useful stuff but found that my original setup was perfectly valid for what I was doing, which was comforting.
Make sure you have the latest software in the firewall--ours was shipped with version 4.4 even though 6.1 had been out for a while! Speak firmly to your vendor if necessary--I had to.
I really don't think you'll have any trouble with the setup.

Peter