Cisco Secure Firewall Services Module (FWSM)

Chapter 1 Types of Firewalls

By definition, a firewall is a single device used to enforce security policies within a network or between networks by controlling traffic flows.

The Firewall Services Module (FWSM) is a very capable device that can be used to enforce those security policies. The FWSM was developed as a module or blade that resides in either a Catalyst 6500 series chassis or a 7600 series router chassis. The “tight” integration with a chassis offers increased flexibility, especially with network virtualization and the incredible throughput that is not only available today but will increase significantly with the introduction of the 4.x code train.

The look and feel of the FWSM is similar to that of the PIX and ASA. These products ...