Cisco Firepower / Secure Firewall: Complete Guide
·2 min read·324 words
Cisco Secure Firewall (formerly Firepower) is Cisco's NGFW portfolio, originating from its 2013 acquisition of Sourcefire. It is based on Snort 3 for IPS and integrates with Cisco SecureX and Umbrella. The portfolio ranges from the 1010 (SOHO) to the 9300 (hyperscale data center). Complete 2026 guide.
Portfolio
- Firepower 1010: 1 Gbps firewall, SMBs with 10-50 users — €1,490 excl. VAT
- Firepower 1120/1140: 2-4.5 Gbps — €3,490-5,890 excl. VAT
- Firepower 1150: 8 Gbps — €8,900 excl. VAT
- Firepower 2100: 25-65 Gbps, mid-market — €15,000-35,000 excl. VAT
- Firepower 3100: 45-95 Gbps — €38,000-72,000 excl. VAT
- Firepower 4100: 120-200 Gbps, data center — €95,000-180,000 excl. VAT
- Firepower 9300: chassis, 1.2 Tbps — €350,000+ excl. VAT
Architecture
- ASA core (stateful firewall) + Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) for NGFW capabilities
- Management: FMC (Firepower Management Center) for multiple firewalls
- FDM (Firepower Device Manager) for a single firewall through an embedded GUI
- SSM (Smart Software Manager) for licensing
Licenses
- Base: stateful firewall, routing, and IPsec VPN
- Threat (Snort 3 IPS): €890-25,000 excl. VAT/year, depending on the model
- Malware (AMP + sandboxing): 20-30% more than Threat
- URL Filtering: additional 20-30%
- Threat + Malware + URL bundle: €1,290-32,000 excl. VAT/year
Snort 3: The Firepower IPS
Since FTD 7.0 (2021), Snort 3 has replaced Snort 2, delivering:
- 3× higher performance (native multithreading)
- New, more readable rule language
- Talos Threat Intelligence integration
- IPS signatures updated every 15 minutes
Cisco Ecosystem Integration
- Cisco SecureX: XDR with correlation across firewalls + Umbrella + Secure Endpoint
- Cisco ISE: 802.1X NAC with policy deployment to FTD
- Cisco Umbrella: upstream DNS security
- Cisco SecureX Threat Response: centralized investigation
Competitor Comparison
- Equivalent FortiGate: 20-30% less expensive, with comparable performance and unified FortiOS
- Equivalent Palo Alto PA: similar pricing, with superior App-ID/WildFire capabilities
- Check Point: direct competitor with mature R81 orchestration
Order from OPTINOC
Complete range of new Cisco Secure Firewall products (1010-3100) with preactivated Threat/Malware/URL licenses. FMC or FDM. SecureX integration. Quote for SMB and mid-market requirements within 2 hours.