What replaces the ASA5545?
The FPR1150 is a direct replacement for a Cisco ASA 5545-X.
The Cisco ASA 5545-X is now End of Life and Cisco Support for the ASA5545 Adaptive Security Appliance will cease in September 2025, Cisco recommends that Customers with ASA5545-X products migrate to the Firepower 1000 series firewalls.
The direct replacement for the ASA5545 would be the FPR1150 which can be configured as an ASA initially and reimaged as an FPR NGFW as required.
Assuming your ASA5545 is running as an ASA then the transition to the FPR1150 should be straightforward.
If, however, you would like to upgrade from the Layer 4 ASA Firewall to a Layer 7 NGFW then Cisco recommend the FPR1150-NGFW-K9.
Layer 4 is the OSI Transport Layer, where TCP and UDP function.
Layer 7 is the OSI Application Layer, where Apps such as Facebook and Linkdin function – if you want to manage these then you need NGFW.
Table of Contents
Replace your ASA5545 with an FPR1150 ASA
| ASA5545 | Max Performance | FRP1010 Models | Max Performance |
|---|---|---|---|
|
ASA5545-X |
FW 3Gpbs |
FPR1150-ASA-K9 |
Statefull FW 7.5Gbps |
Correct as at July 2023 – latest specifications are available on cisco.com
Note that the ASA5545-X refers to the following Cisco ASA 5545 models models running the ASA image without any Firepower FTD enabled or installed.
- ASA5545-K7
- ASA5545-K8
- ASA5545-DC-K8
- ASA5545-K9
The FPR1150-ASA is a direct replacement for the ASA5545 and will provide improved performance plus a path to upgrade beyond access control and traffic filtering.
With very few changes, the configuration from your ASA5545 can be pasted directly into your ASA imaged FPR1150, and the only requirement is for the essential license be available in your Smart Account.
ASA5545 to FPR1150 Requirements
As a minimum the FPR1150 requires an essentials feature license to function with the ASA image.
How to replace your ASA5545 with an FPR1150-ASA
Buy FPR1150-ASA-K9 or FPR1150-ASA-K9-RF
The FPR1150-ASA-K9 is a direct replacement for your ASA5545-X.
Offering up to 7.5Gbps Firewall performance and running the ASA Firewall image it will (mostly) accept your existing ASA Config for a minimum downtime hardware upgrade.
Our FPR1150-ASA-K9 is delivered direct from Cisco, will be fully licensed and eligible for Smart Net support should you require it.
We also offer the FPR1150-ASA-K9-RF from Cisco Refresh and FPR1150-ASA-K9-WS from Cisco Excess, these models will be cheaper but could be in short supply.
FPR1000-ASA FPR1150 Essentials License - required
Your FPR1150 needs to have an essentials license (FPR1000-ASA) available in your Cisco Smart Account to register against the device. We include this with our FPR1150-ASA-K9 products but FPR devices from other suppliers may not have this license so we can obtain it for you and provision it to your Smart Account.
Don’t have a Smart Account? Sign up for one here.
Cisco Smart Net for FPR1150-ASA-K9
FPR1150 Cisco Software Support - optional
Cisco Smart Net is Cisco’s award winning support service.
By adding a support contract to your FPR you will gain access to the latest versions of both the ASA and FTD software images, as well as obtaining direct access to Cisco Engineers to assist in the setup and migration of your ASA.
CON-SNT-FPR1150 FPR1010 Cisco Smart Net - recommended
Cisco Smart Net is Cisco’s award winning support service.
By adding a support contract to your FPR you will gain access to the latest versions of both the ASA and FTD software images, as well as obtaining direct access to Cisco Engineers to assist in the setup and migration of your ASA.
This version of Smart Net adds Next Business Day hardware replacement should your FPR1150 develop a fault.
FPR1K-ENC-K9 Strong Encryption (3DES/AES) License
Insufficient Cisco Firepower 1K Series ASA Strong Encryption (3DES/AES) Licenses
When the Cisco Firepower 1K Series ASA Strong Encryption (3DES/AES) has been applied you may received an “insufficient licenses” message, this denotes that your Smart Account does not have enough FPR1K-ENC-K9 Licenses and they need to be provisioned. The licenses are free but we charge for the admin required to obtain them.
FPR1K-ENC-K9 Strong Encryption (3DES/AES) License
Once the above Essentials License has been registered the Smart Software Manager will also apply the Strong Encryption License – but only if your Smart Account has permission.
If your Smart Account is not authorized for strong encryption you can (subject to Cisco approval) manually add a strong encryption license to your Smart account to enable the 3DES/AES.
FPR1000 Rack Mounted Models
| Features | FPR1120 | FPR1140 | FPR1150 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Throughput |
4.5Gbps |
6Gbps |
7.5Gbs |
|
Connections |
200k |
400k |
600k |
FPR1150 NGFW Differences to FPR1150 ASA
The FPR1150-ASA and the FPR1150-NGFW are essentially the same device, the only difference being the image that the device is currently running.
Loading the NGFW image adds application visibility and control and can be licensed to also provide:
- Next Gen IPS (NGIPS)
- Malware Protection
- URL Filtering