Firewall appliance Cisco Secure Firewall 220 Threat Defense, compact network security appliance

Cisco Secure Firewall 220 Appliance with Threat Defense is a compact next-generation firewall designed for perimeter protection and threat inspection in small to medium branch offices and distributed sites. It runs Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) to combine stateful firewalling with intrusion prevention, application visibility and control, URL filtering, encrypted traffic inspection and IPsec VPN capabilities. The desktop form factor with passive cooling and multiple 1 GbE interfaces enables deployment where space and noise constraints matter, while performance figures for NGFW, IPS and VPN throughput support business-class connectivity and security.

Advantages

The appliance integrates Cisco’s Threat Defense software on dedicated hardware to deliver unified threat prevention and traffic control. With Snort-based intrusion prevention, application visibility, encrypted traffic visibility, and support for URL filtering and user identification, it provides layered inspection without requiring separate devices. Compact passive design, separate management port and a choice of console interfaces simplify installation and administration. Throughput figures for NGFW and IPsec VPN give predictable capacity planning for branch deployments.

Suitable for

• Small to medium branch offices and retail locations
• Distributed enterprise sites requiring centralized policy enforcement
• Remote offices needing IPsec VPN and remote-access security
• Environments where compact, fanless hardware is preferred

Key specifications

• Operating system: Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD)
• Firewall type: Next-generation firewall with integrated IPS/IDS
• Throughput (FW + AVC + IPS): 1.5 Gbps; IPsec VPN throughput: 1.2 Gbps; TLS decryption: 0.7 Gbps
• Concurrent sessions: up to 30,000; new connections per second: 6,000
• Network interfaces: 4 × 1 GbE (1000BASE-T), 1 × 1G SFP, dedicated 1 GbE management port
• Console and USB: RJ-45 and USB Type-C console interfaces; USB Type-A port
• High availability: Active/Standby support
• Form factor: Desktop with optional rack or wall mounting; passive fanless cooling
• Power: External AC adapter, input 100–240 V AC; typical consumption 12.7 W, max 19 W
• VPN capacity: up to 50 VPN peers

How to use

Install the Cisco Secure Firewall 220 on a flat surface or mount it using optional rack or wall brackets according to site requirements. Connect network links to the appropriate 1 GbE or SFP ports and attach the dedicated management port for initial configuration. Power the unit using the supplied external AC adapter. Configure device settings and security policies using Firepower Device Manager (FDM) for local management or Firepower Management Center (FMC) for centralized control; IPsec VPN, access-control rules, intrusion policies and URL filtering can be applied through these management interfaces. Monitor performance and logs via the management tools and adjust policies to match traffic patterns.

Usage recommendations

For predictable performance, enable only the necessary inspection features and estimate throughput headroom when using TLS decryption and combined IPS/AVC functions. Use centralized management (FMC or cloud-based FMC) for multiple distributed sites and keep threat intelligence feeds and signatures up to date. Perform regular backups of configuration and monitor concurrent session and connection rates to ensure the device remains within capacity limits.