ACE vs CSS

PhilAstbury · ‎07-02-2009

Hi,

My customer has CSS11503's and is looking deploy more LB Services which would probably mean buying more units. I am trying to build up a case for deploying an ACE bundle. Is there anything on CCO that makes a tabular comparison between the products ?

I am pushing ACE as Cisco's Data Center strategic product in this area, but the obvious question from my customer is how come CSS is still out there ?

Gilles Dufour · ‎07-02-2009

CSS is still there because there are still features that only exist in this hardware - like http insert of client certificate information.

But there is no new features coming out for the CSS. It is currently in maintenance mode only. No new development.

Gilles.

PhilAstbury · ‎07-02-2009

Hello, thanks for your response. So it seems like the way to go is ACE.

I see the ACE does SSL offloading - does this come bundled or does an additional license need to be purchased ?

Also - does the ACE have any ability to handle certificates ?

Gilles Dufour · ‎07-02-2009

I believe you get basic SSL functionalities without a license and can upgrade to get more TPS if needed.

What do you mean by handle certificates ?

You can create keys and CSR on ACE itself and have them signed by a CA.

You then have to install the certificate on the ACE itself.

You can also have chaingroup.

You can do client certificate authentication.

Gilles.

mherald · ‎07-16-2009

This is just my $.02

No new features on the CSS, at all. Even the 8.X code is farily old.

The ACE has all the new features and any development.

The ACE doesn't require an additional card / license for SSL. Somewhat easier to confgure the SSL features.

Note the ACE module does not do the HTTP acceleration. The 4710 does.

Hardware wise the 4710 is about comperable to just better than the 11503 in *most* categories, the 11506 has more horsepower on a number of things, but costs near 4 times as much as a 4710.

The ACE comes with 5 contexts + admin, finally you dont have to fool around with the management interface and asymetrical routing. Having a lab ACE is easy, just put it in another context.

The ACE compression and HTTP acceleration are awesome features that are fairly easy to get functional.

Cabling, the CSS uses a lot of fiber (some copper capabilities). The ACE is all copper.