Cisco® announces the end-of-sale and end-of life dates for the Cisco PIX Security Appliance Software v6.2. The last day to order the affected product(s) is July 28, 2008. Customers with active service contracts will continue to receive support from the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) as shown in Table 1 of the EoL bulletin. Table 1 describes the end-of-life milestones, definitions, and dates for the affected product(s). Table 2 lists the product part numbers affected by this announcement. For customers with active and paid service and support contracts, support will be available until the termination date of the contract, even if this date exceeds the Last Date of Support shown in Table 1.
Cisco PIX Security Appliance customers are encouraged to migrate to Cisco ASA 5500 Series Adaptive Security Appliances. Built on the same software foundation as Cisco PIX Security Appliances, the Cisco ASA 5500 Series offers more robust firewall and IPsec VPN capabilities, as well as many additional benefits, including:
• Significantly better performance and scalability
• A modular design that allows you to add features such as intrusion prevention (IPS), anti-virus, anti-spam, anti-phishing, and URL filtering.
Migration to the Cisco ASA 5500 Series is straightforward. Customers can take advantage of their knowledge and investment in Cisco PIX Security Appliances, because there are essentially no changes in user interface, operations, or training.
Table 1. End-of-Life Milestones and Dates for the Cisco PIX Security Appliance Software v6.2
Milestone
Definition
Date
End-of-Life Announcement Date
The date the document that announces the end of sale and end of life of a product is distributed to the general public.
January 28, 2008
End-of-Sale Date
The last date to order the product through Cisco point-of-sale mechanisms. The product is no longer for sale after this date.
July 28, 2008
Last Ship Date: OS SW
The last-possible ship date that can be requested of Cisco and/or its contract manufacturers. Actual ship date is dependent on lead time.
October 26, 2008
End of SW Maintenance Releases Date: OS SW
The last date that Cisco Engineering may release any final software maintenance releases or bug fixes. After this date, Cisco Engineering will no longer develop, repair, maintain, or test the product software.
July 28, 2009
End of New Service Attachment Date: OS SW
For equipment and software that is not covered by a service-and-support contract, this is the last date to order a new service-and-support contract or add the equipment and/or software to an existing service-and-support contract.
July 28, 2009
End of Service Contract Renewal Date: OS SW
The last date to extend or renew a service contract for the product.
October 23, 2012
Last Date of Support
The last date to receive service and support for the product. After this date, all support services for the product are unavailable, and the product becomes obsolete.
July 27, 2013
HW = Hardware
OS SW = Operating System Software
App. SW = Application Software
Table 2. Product Part Numbers Affected by This Announcement
End-of-Sale Product Part Number
Product Description
Replacement Product Part Number
Replacement Product Description
SF-PIX-501-6.2
PIX v6.2 Software for the PIX 501 Chassis
SF-ASA5505-7.2-K8
ASA 5505 Series Software v7.2
SF-PIX-506-6.2
PIX v6.2 Software for the PIX 506E Chassis
SF-ASA5505-7.2-K8
ASA 5505 Series Software v7.2
SF-PIX-6.2
PIX v6.2 Software for the PIX 515E, 525 and 535 Chassis
SF-ASA-7.0-K8
ASA 5500 Series Software v7.0
SF-PIX-6.2-EAL4
PIX v6.2(2) Software, EAL4 evaluated, for PIX Chassis
SF-ASA-7.0-K8
ASA 5500 Series Software v7.0
SF-PIX501-6.2-EAL4
PIX v6.2(2) Software, EAL4 evaluated, for PIX 501 Chassis
SF-ASA5505-7.2-K8
ASA 5505 Series Software v7.2
SF-PIX506-6.2-EAL4
PIX v6.2(2) Software, EAL4 evaluated, for PIX 506E Chassis
SF-ASA5505-7.2-K8
ASA 5505 Series Software v7.2
Product Migration Options
Cisco PIX Security Appliance customers running version 6.2 software are encouraged to migrate to Cisco ASA 5500 Adaptive Security Appliances running either version 7.0 or version 7.2 software. These software releases have introduced nearly 100 new features combined, including innovations in the areas of more granular policies via the new Modular Policy Framework, advanced application-layer firewall inspection services, high availability, network integration, and remote management. A feature comparison summary is shown below. For more information, please review the release notes for each specific software release.
Table 3. Product Comparisons
Feature
Cisco PIX Security Appliance Software v6.2
Cisco ASA 5500 Adaptive Security Appliance Software v7.0 or v7.2
Software Release Designator
General Deployment (GD)
v7.0 - General Deployment (GD) / v7.2 - Early Deployment (ED)
Common Criteria Evaluated
Common Criteria EAL4
v7.0 - Common Criteria EAL4 / v7.2 - Common Criteria EAL4+ (In Progress)
FIPS 140 Validated
FIPS 140-2, Level 2
FIPS 140-2, Level 2
Modular Policy Framework (MPF)
Not Supported
Supported
Layer 2 Transparent Firewall
Not Supported
Supported
Virtual Firewall
Not Supported
Supported (Not Supported on Cisco ASA 5505, or Cisco ASA 5510 with Base License)
Advanced Application Layer Firewall Inspection Services for HTTP, FTP, SMTP, and More
Limited
Supported
Instant Messaging and Peer-to-Peer Firewall Services
Not Supported
Supported
Direct Integration with Kerberos, Microsoft Active Directory, LDAP, and RSA SecureID
Not Supported
Supported
Active/Active Stateful Failover
Not Supported
Supported (Not Supported on Cisco ASA 5505, or Cisco ASA 5510 with Base License)
Stateful VPN Failover
Not Supported
Supported (Not Supported on Cisco ASA 5505, or Cisco ASA 5510 with Base License)
IPv6 Networking Support
Not Supported
Supported
Multicast Routing
Not Supported
Supported
SSHv2 and SCP Support
Not Supported
Supported
Dedicated Out-of-band Management Interface Support
Not Supported
Supported
Support for Multiple Configurations Stored in System Flash
Not Supported
Supported
Scheduled System Reloads
Not Supported
Supported
Next-Generation Graphical User Interface via Cisco Adaptive Security Device Manager
Not Supported
Supported
Customers can use the Cisco Technology Migration Plan (TMP) to trade in products and receive credit toward the purchase of new Cisco equipment. For more information about Cisco TMP, go to http://www.cisco.com/go/tradein/. The Cisco TMP application requires all users to have a Cisco.com user ID.
Customers may be able to continue to purchase the Cisco PIX Security Appliance Software v6.2 through the Cisco Certified Refurbished Equipment program. Refurbished units may be available in limited supply for sale in certain countries on a first-come, first-served basis until the Last Date of Support has been reached. For information about the Cisco Certified Refurbished Equipment program, go to http://www.cisco.com/go/eos
For More Information
For more information about the Cisco ASA 5500 Adaptive Security Appliance Software v7.0 or v7.2, visit http://www.cisco.com/go/asa, or contact your local account representative.
