PIX 515E discards

[jlixfeld]

I installed a new monitoring package which monitors, among other things discards on interfaces. It's notified me of excessive discards on my PIX interfaces; inside, outside and DMZ - some as high as 5%.

What is the source of discards? Is a discard when the PIX drops a packet that doesn't match the device's security policy?

[jlixfeld]

Nobody? Nothing?

[Jon Marshall]

Hi

A discard can occur for quite a few reasons but basically you are correct in the way you describe it, ie. a packet that does not conform to the security policy of the firewall, whether that be the explicit access-lists in use or implicit rules of the pix such as the way it handles fragmentation.

Hope this has answered your question

Jon