Hardware

I was in San Jose picking up my rack when I noticed that the supplier also sold tons of discontinued cisco hardware. I was peeking around when I saw that they had a Cisco PIX 520. I didn't buy it but to my surprise, it was a firewall that was based off of a standard computer!

So I looked it up and it's true, it uses a standard components and it seems like m0n0wall is a perfect duplicate which I didn't know, it uses a custom OS with own software, two or however many NICs you want and using flash memory for storage. Now I was wondering:
1. Can you use Cisco PIX Firewall Software Version 5.3 which is I think their "OS software update/download" on any old computer?
2. Has anyone ever use the Firewall software that is intended for these systems on regular old computers?
3. Whats the point of having their own systems when anyone could use any old system as a firewall?
4. What does cisco use now for their firewalls?
5. Were these considered their highend firewalls at the time? Are there alternatives? What was this or the alternatives used for?
6. Does m0n0wall compare to the Cisco PIX firewalls or is the Cisco much better?

i found this in hardforum.com

I've used the Cisco Pix series for years at other companies, and have always had great luck. That being said, the network I manage here is running m0n0 happily on a couple of small Soekris boxes (4801s and a 5501). We just ordered another Soekris net4801-60 for VPN deployment at a remote office. That will bring the number of Soekris/m0n0 installations we have up to four.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I like the Pix solution-but since migrating to m0n0 I haven't looked back

I was in San Jose picking up my rack when I noticed that the supplier also sold tons of discontinued cisco hardware. I was peeking around when I saw that they had a Cisco PIX 520. I didn't buy it but to my surprise, it was a firewall that was based off of a standard computer!

So I looked it up and it's true, it uses a standard components

Yes, it does. Other than the flash card, which is proprietary.

and it seems like m0n0wall is a perfect duplicate which I didn't know, it uses a custom OS with own software, two or however many NICs you want and using flash memory for storage. Now I was wondering:
1. Can you use Cisco PIX Firewall Software Version 5.3 which is I think their "OS software update/download" on any old computer?

With the Cisco flash card, you can use any old 440BX Intel motherboard with Intel NIC's as a PIX.

2. Has anyone ever use the Firewall software that is intended for these systems on regular old computers?

I have thrown together a PIX at home to play with using a Cisco flash card and a 440BX board.  It works.

3. Whats the point of having their own systems when anyone could use any old system as a firewall?

Not exactly true, you have to have the proprietary Cisco flash card. Plus to get access to downloads and support you have to have a SmartNet contract, and you need a valid serial number for that. Nobody should use a FrankenPIX (as one website used to call them, might still be out there) in a real production environment.

4. What does cisco use now for their firewalls?

The PIX line still uses standard x86 hardware, though that line is being deprecated for the ASA platform. I'm not sure offhand what hardware the ASA platform uses.

5. Were these considered their highend firewalls at the time? Are there alternatives? What was this or the alternatives used for?

The 520 was a mid-range firewall about 10 years ago. That's a very old model, it won't run the latest software. 515E, 525 and 535 are the current models.

6. Does m0n0wall compare to the Cisco PIX firewalls or is the Cisco much better?

I've worked extensively with PIX firewalls for several years longer than m0n0wall (and I've been around here for 3-4 years). The PIX OS that runs on the 520 is 5.x or 6.x. 6.x is better than 5.x, but they're both an absolute nightmare to configure and maintain compared to m0n0wall.

PIX OS 7.x is much more comparable to m0n0wall from a management perspective, but it's FAR buggier than m0n0wall. The first releases ~2.5 years ago of 7.x were a buggy mess, even today there are some unbelievable bugs still remaining in the user interface.

The PIX can do some things m0n0wall can't, and vice versa. Really depends on what exactly you need. By and large, they're pretty similar.