Technology: Advanced Performance
All reportsNetwork testing Standards, analysis and transparency
SE LABS tested the performance of the Cisco Secure Firewall 4225. We assessed its ability to operate under a variety of network loads, including a range of well-established but synthetic sets of traffic. We also used a more realistic mix of protocols.
This test is based on available standards of testing, including the methodology provided by the Internet Engineering Task Force. The results indicate how effectively the product was at handling network traffic in different circumstances, using the configuration specified.
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This test was conducted using recommendations made by the Internet Engineering Task Force for testing the performance of network security devices. Devices such as next-generation firewalls, intrusion detection and protection systems and unified threat management devices. At a minimum it should show, in a transparent and repeatable way, how the device under test handles network traffic of different types and in different scenarios.
On its own, the raw data is useful for comparing products with a view to choosing which is most suitable for your organisation.
We also ran an extended set of tests to see how a device would behave in a more realistic, production environment. This involved using a mixture of network traffic protocols and testing individual types of application traffic with the Cisco Secure Firewall 4225.
Cisco Secure Firewall 4225 performance test results
At SE Labs we don’t just publish raw figures, though. We use our knowledge and expertise to analyse that information to help add useful colour to the results.
The goal is to give a real-world opinion as to which figures are most important. We want to highlight where optimum performances are achieved and to explain why some details are more significant than others.
For example, a device might achieve an apparently strong performance when handling Voice over IP, but in real-life the human ear might struggle with sub-par connection quality. Conversely, what may seem like poor performance on paper might not be noticeable to users in a real deployment.
Testing standards and configurations
We have followed the available testing standards. This means you can verify our figures with reports generated by other test labs. It also gives you confidence that the testing was conducted correctly, while also being completely transparent about the configuration used. This configuration might not be the one you experience out of the box. Or might not be suitable for your own deployment. We’ve included configuration details so you can make a fully informed decision when comparing products and reports. See our full network performance testing methodology for more details.
