Secure Firewall 4200 Series Datasheet: Up to 140 Gbps NGFW
Platform Scope and Deployment Roles
The Cisco Secure Firewall 4200 Series comprises the 4215, 4225, and 4245 appliances for large enterprises, datacenters, and service providers. All three use a 1RU chassis with fixed interfaces, two network-module bays, dual management interfaces, and two SSDs for event storage and malware analysis.
Deployment options include firewall and dedicated intrusion prevention system (IPS) modes. Inline sets and passive interfaces support Q-in-Q traffic with up to two 802.1Q headers per packet. Cryptographic acceleration supports SSL and VPN decryption.
The platform supports SD-WAN functions through on-demand tunnels and dynamic application path selection across multiple WAN interfaces. Other capabilities include the multithreaded Snort 3 engine, AI/ML-assisted anomaly detection and policy optimization, and natural-language assistance for troubleshooting and configuration.
The primary presales decision is the software image: Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) or ASA. Their performance figures, connection limits, virtualization models, and management systems differ. An ASA firewall throughput rating must not be used to size an FTD inspection deployment.
Appliance and Module Identification Matrix
The appliance identifiers are 4215, 4225, and 4245; the NEBS operating specification also uses “FPR 4215.” Orderable appliance, module, transceiver, service, and license part numbers are not specified. No separate compact-appliance models are identified.
Appliance Matrix
| Model identifier | Chassis and fixed connectivity | Module bays | FTD FW + AVC + IPS | ASA stateful firewall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4215 | 1RU; 8 x 1/10/25G SFP28 | 2 | 65 Gbps | 90 Gbps |
| 4225 | 1RU; 8 x 1/10/25G SFP28 | 2 | 80 Gbps | 95 Gbps |
| 4245 | 1RU; 8 x 1/10/25G SFP28 | 2 | 140 Gbps | 180 Gbps |
The model overview labels the onboard interfaces as eight SFP+ ports. The detailed hardware specification identifies them as eight 1/10/25G SFP28 ports. Interface planning should retain that distinction rather than treating the overview as a complete connectivity specification.
Complete Network-Module Matrix
| Module description | Ports per module | Interface speeds | Media or form factor | Fail-to-wire |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copper FTW module | 8 | 1 Gbps | Copper | Yes |
| SFP+ module | 8 | 1/10 Gbps | SFP+ | Not specified |
| SFP28 module | 8 | 1/10/25 Gbps | SFP28 | Not specified |
| Quad SFP+ module | 4 | 40 Gbps | QSFP+ | Not specified |
| Quad SFP28 module | 4 | 40/100/200 Gbps | QSFP28 designation | Not specified |
| 100G module | 2 | 100 Gbps | QSFP SFP28 designation | Not specified |
| 400G module | 2 | 400 Gbps | QSFP DD | Not specified |
| 10G SR fiber FTW module | 6 | 10 Gbps | SR fiber | Yes |
| 10G LR fiber FTW module | 6 | 10 Gbps | LR fiber | Yes |
| 25G LR fiber FTW module | 6 | 25 Gbps | LR fiber | Yes |
| 25G SR fiber FTW module | 6 | 25 Gbps | SR fiber | Yes |
Copper FTW ports not configured for fail-to-wire operation can function as regular 1G copper ports. Module descriptions are not substitutes for orderable SKUs in a bill of materials.
FTD Performance and Sizing
| FTD metric | 4215 | 4225 | 4245 |
|---|---|---|---|
| FW + AVC, 1024-byte traffic | 65 Gbps | 80 Gbps | 140 Gbps |
| FW + AVC + IPS, 1024-byte traffic | 65 Gbps | 80 Gbps | 140 Gbps |
| NGIPS, 1024-byte traffic | 65 Gbps | 80 Gbps | 140 Gbps |
| Concurrent sessions with AVC | 15 million | 30 million | 60 million |
| New connections/second with AVC | 350,000 | 600,000 | 800,000 |
| TLS hardware decryption | 20 Gbps | 30 Gbps | 45 Gbps |
| IPsec VPN, 1024-byte TCP with Fastpath | 45 Gbps | 80 Gbps | 140 Gbps |
| Multi-instance limit | 10 | 15 | 34 |
| Maximum VPN peers | 20,000 | 25,000 | 30,000 |
The TLS measurement uses 50% TLS 1.2 traffic with AES256-SHA and RSA 2048B keys. It is not an unrestricted throughput guarantee across cipher suites, TLS versions, or encrypted traffic percentages.
Performance varies with enabled features, protocol mix, packet sizes, and software releases. The equal FW + AVC and FW + AVC + IPS results apply to the stated test profile; they do not establish that IPS processing has no cost under every workload.
Presales Selection Rules
- 4215: Evaluate for requirements within 65 Gbps inspected throughput, 15 million AVC sessions, 350,000 new connections/second, and 10 instances. Its stated TLS figure is 20 Gbps.
- 4225: Evaluate when session scale, connection establishment, decryption, or instance count exceeds the 4215 envelope. Its limits increase to 30 million sessions, 600,000 new connections/second, 30 Gbps TLS, and 15 instances.
- 4245: Evaluate for the highest listed inspection and virtualization requirements: 140 Gbps inspected throughput, 60 million sessions, 800,000 new connections/second, and 34 instances.
Size independently against bandwidth, concurrent sessions, connection rate, TLS load, VPN traffic, peer count, and instance count. Passing one dimension does not establish platform suitability.
For acceptance testing, reproduce the intended inspection policy, application distribution, packet-size characteristics, and encryption profile. Define project-specific growth and failure-state capacity requirements rather than assigning an unsupported universal headroom percentage.
ASA Performance and Deployment Differences
| ASA metric | 4215 | 4225 | 4245 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stateful firewall throughput | 90 Gbps | 95 Gbps | 180 Gbps |
| Multiprotocol firewall throughput | 65 Gbps | 85 Gbps | 100 Gbps |
| Concurrent firewall connections | 40 million | 90 million | 180 million |
| New connections/second | 1.4 million | 1.7 million | 2.0 million |
| Maximum IPsec VPN throughput | 50 Gbps | 60 Gbps | 70 Gbps |
| Maximum VPN peers | 20,000 | 25,000 | 30,000 |
| Included security contexts | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Maximum security contexts | 250 | 250 | 250 |
| Cluster size | 16 | 16 | 16 |
The headline stateful firewall test uses 1500-byte UDP traffic under ideal conditions. The multiprotocol profile primarily comprises TCP-based applications and protocols, including HTTP, SMTP, FTP, IMAPv4, BitTorrent, and DNS.
ASA IPsec results use a 450-byte UDP LAN-to-LAN test. They are not directly comparable with FTD’s 1024-byte TCP Fastpath results.
For mixed application environments, include the multiprotocol rating in the sizing assessment. In particular, the 4245’s 180 Gbps headline firewall figure and 100 Gbps multiprotocol figure describe different workloads.
ASA supports active/active and active/standby high availability, clustering, and VPN load balancing. Its security contexts must remain distinct from FTD multi-instance capacity in technical proposals and licensing discussions.
Security Services and Management
FTD includes Application Visibility and Control supporting more than 4,000 applications, plus geolocation, users, and websites. OpenAppID support for custom, open-source application detectors is standard.
Cisco Security Intelligence provides IP, URL, and DNS threat intelligence. Available security functions include:
- Cisco Secure IPS, including passive endpoint and infrastructure detection for threat correlation and indicators of compromise.
- Cisco Malware Defense for malware detection, blocking, tracking, analysis, and containment.
- Optional integrated threat correlation with Cisco Secure Endpoint.
- Cisco Secure Malware Analytics.
- URL filtering covering more than 120 categories and more than 280 million categorized URLs.
Automated threat-feed and IPS-signature updates use Cisco Talos Collective Security Intelligence. An open API supports third-party integrations; Snort and OpenAppID provide community resources.
FTD centralized configuration, logging, monitoring, and reporting use Firewall Management Center or cloud-based Cisco Defense Orchestrator. ASA uses Cisco Security Manager or Cisco Defense Orchestrator; Adaptive Security Device Manager provides local, web-based management for smaller deployments.
Available capabilities should not be represented as included subscriptions. License SKUs, subscription terms, and management-platform sizing are not specified.
Availability, Clustering, and Interface Engineering
FTD supports active/standby operation and active/active operation through clustering, with up to 16 chassis. The physical resilience features include dual management interfaces, 1+1 power-supply redundancy, and three field-replaceable dual-fan modules.
Cluster-node count does not establish guaranteed linear throughput scaling. Capacity planning should define the surviving-node requirement and validate the proposed traffic distribution and failure behavior.
Each chassis provides:
- Eight fixed 1/10/25G SFP28 interfaces.
- Two integrated 1/10/25G SFP28 management interfaces.
- Two network-module bays.
- One RJ-45 console port.
- One USB 2.0 port.
- Two 1.8 TB storage devices.
Listed maximum interface configurations are:
| Interface type | Listed maximum |
|---|---|
| 1G SFP | 24, using fixed ports and two modules |
| 10G SFP+ | 24 |
| 25G SFP28 | 8 with two modules |
| 40G QSFP+ | 8 with two modules |
| 100G QSFP28 | 8 with two modules |
| 400G QSFP DD | 4 with two modules |
These counts exclude breakout capability. The listed 25G maximum does not align directly with the fixed-port and eight-port SFP28 module descriptions; resolve the required configuration before committing to port quantities.
A 400G interface is a connectivity option, not a 400 Gbps inspection rating. Optical reach, supported transceiver SKUs, breakout combinations, and PoE capability or budgets are not specified.
Electrical and Power Planning
| Electrical characteristic | 4215 | 4225 | 4245 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supported AC input | 100-120 or 200-240 VAC | 100-120 or 200-240 VAC | 200-240 VAC only |
| Maximum AC input power | 770W | 870W | 1380W |
| Power redundancy | 1+1 | 1+1 | 1+1 |
The common supply configuration lists dual supplies rated at 1900W for 220 AC and 1200W for 110 AC. The 4245 nevertheless requires high-line input; the common supply-rating entry does not authorize low-line operation for that appliance.
Other electrical specifications are 50/60 Hz nominal frequency, greater than 90% Platinum efficiency, and a listed maximum input current of 14A at 100 VAC or 200 VAC. Dual power supplies are hot-swappable.
Distinguish supply output ratings from appliance maximum input power when planning electrical capacity. Rack designs should account for the selected model, input voltage, power redundancy, and upstream distribution requirements.
Environmental, Physical, and Reliability Specifications
| Parameter | Specification |
|---|---|
| Dimensions, H x W x D | 1.73 x 16.89 x 32.0 inches |
| Metric dimensions | 4.39 x 42.9 x 81.28 cm |
| Form factor | 1RU |
| Rack support | Four-post EIA-310-D; mounting rails included |
| General operating temperature | 32 to 104 F; 0 to 40 C |
| Nonoperating temperature | -40 to 149 F; -40 to 65 C |
| Operating humidity | 5-95%, noncondensing |
| Nonoperating humidity | 5-95%, noncondensing |
| General maximum operating altitude | 10,000 ft |
| Maximum nonoperating altitude | 40,000 ft |
| Typical sound pressure | <=78 dBA |
| Maximum sound pressure | <=84 dBA |
| Fans | Three dual-fan FRU modules; two fans per module |
| MTBF | Not specified |
Installation Weight
| Model | With two supplies, two modules, three fan modules | Without supplies, modules, or fans |
|---|---|---|
| 4215 | 43 lb / 19.5 kg | 33 lb / 15 kg |
| 4225 | 43 lb / 19.5 kg | 33 lb / 15 kg |
| 4245 | 46 lb / 20.8 kg | 36 lb / 16.3 kg |
The 32-inch chassis depth requires rack-depth and cable-clearance planning despite the 1RU height. Acoustic specifications should be included in site suitability reviews. The operating-temperature entries include a sea-level qualification for the 4245; no general altitude-derating curve is specified.
FPR 4215 NEBS Operating Envelope
NEBS operation is identified only for FPR 4215:
- Operating altitude: 0-13,000 ft, stated as 3960 m.
- Long-term operation through 6,000 ft: 0-45 C.
- Long-term operation from 6,000 to 13,000 ft: 0-35 C.
- Short-term operation through 6,000 ft: -5 to 50 C.
Do not extend this envelope to the 4225 or 4245. Short-term duration and repetition limits are not specified.
Regulatory and Assurance Requirements
Trust Anchor Technologies provide supply-chain and software-image assurance.
Safety listings include UL 62368-1, CAN/CSA-C22.2 No. 62368-1, EN 62368-1, IEC 62368-1, IEC 60950-1, AS/NZS 62368-1, and GB4943. CE compliance references directives 2004/108/EC and 2006/108/EC.
Class A emissions listings include FCC 47CFR15, AS/NZS CISPR 32, EN55032/CISPR 32, ICES-003, VCCI, KS C 9832, and CNS-13438. Additional listings address power-line harmonics and voltage fluctuations.
Immunity specifications cover electrostatic discharge, radiated disturbances, electrical fast transients, surge, conducted disturbances, and voltage interruptions. Telecommunications EMC includes EN 300 386. Procurement compliance reviews should match each required standard explicitly rather than treating these listings as a universal certification.
Warranty, Service, and Procurement Requirements
Warranty duration, hardware replacement timing, advance-replacement eligibility, technical-support coverage, and service-level commitments are not specified. No service contract SKUs or software-support entitlements are identified.
The stated hardware serviceability features are hot-swappable dual power supplies and field-replaceable fan modules. These characteristics do not establish replacement delivery times or on-site service coverage.
A procurement package should require explicit confirmation of:
- Appliance, network-module, and transceiver ordering identifiers.
- FTD or ASA software selection and associated entitlements.
- Security subscriptions and centralized management requirements.
- Warranty term, replacement process, and support hours.
- Replacement response commitments and any on-site coverage.
- Software update access and subscription renewal terms.
Cisco Capital offers payment solutions in more than 100 countries for hardware, software, services, and complementary third-party equipment. Financing arrangements should be evaluated separately from technical support, warranty, and operational acceptance requirements.