[c-nsp] FWSM Throughput

[Justin M. Streiner]

On Thu, 16 Feb 2012, Andrew Miehs wrote:

> Just a quick question - the FWSM for the 6500 is rated at a throughput 
> of 5.5Gbps.
>
> Does this mean a total of 5.5Gbps (my preference) or 11Gbps (5.5 each direction)?
> It would also be great if anyone has a cisco link for this.

5.5 Gb/s full duplex, which you could interpret as 11 Gb/s aggregate, but 
that really wouldn't be correct.  The connectivity between the FWSM and 
the backplane is essentially a 6-way gigabit etherchannel.

FWSM data sheet:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/modules/ps2706/ps4452/product_data_sheet0900aecd803e69c3.html

Truth be told, with the newer ASA service module being available, I 
wouldn't be at all surprised to see Cisco announce the FWSM for 
end-of-sale in the near future.  I haven't had the chance to put on 
through its paces, but the only major caveats I see are that you need a 
6500-E chassis (non-E won't work), at least a Sup720/3B, and at least 
12.2(33)SXJ software.  There are a lot of gotchas with the FWSM that would 
make them less than ideal for a new deployment (<10Gb/s throughput, poor 
IPv6 performance, ACL/memory partition limits that are not always well 
documented and fun to deal with at 3 AM, etc).

ASA Services Module data sheet:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/modules/ps2706/ps11621/data_sheet_c78-672507.html

jms