IPSEC tunnels in IOS router or ASA Appliance

CCDECCDE9 · ‎07-09-2009

Hi

Please can somebody highlight as to why I shall use ASA appliance for VPN tunnels rather than using any Cisco IOS appliance that supports VPN ?which one is preferred and why

Thanks

Collin Clark · ‎07-09-2009

A router uses it's processor to encrypt/decrypt packets which could be detrimental. You can purchase an AIM card which offloads that into hardware. The ASA already has that. Either will work just fine. I usually decide but what else the device will have to do (ie mcast, advanced routing, netflow).

Hope that helps.

srue · ‎07-10-2009

if you need advanced routing or QoS go with a router, otherwise, i prefer the ASA because it's already a hardened device.

also, since you weren't specific, other reasons one might choose a router is that it can do GRE and DMVPN.