How to enable "not used" interfaces on ASA 5520 8.3(2)

[joerggrau]

I have a pair of brand new 5520s I am in the middle of commisioning.  After carving out all the DMZs etc I needed I realized that I really neede another physical NIC, not just another VLAN off a configured nic.  When running a sh ver I see hte following:

0: Ext: GigabitEthernet0/0  : address is xxxx.xxxx.xxxx, irq 9
1: Ext: GigabitEthernet0/1  : address is xxxx.xxxx.xxxx, irq 9
2: Ext: GigabitEthernet0/2  : address is xxxx.xxxx.xxxx, irq 9
3: Ext: GigabitEthernet0/3  : address is xxxx.xxxx.xxxx, irq 9
4: Ext: Management0/0       : address is xxxx.xxxx.xxxx, irq 11
5: Int: Not used            : irq 11
6: Int: Not used            : irq 5

I am running 8.3(2).  How can I turn these "Not used" interfaces into useable ones?

Thanks

Joerg

[mirober2]

Hi Joerg,

The 5520 only has the 4 physical interfaces you see there (4 GigabitEthernet interfaces and a management interface). The "not used" interfaces you see there are just internal references, not actual physical ports as you'll see when you look at the chassis itself.

If you need more physical interfaces and subinterfaces won't do the trick, you can look at the 4GE SSM expansion card, which would add 4 additional gig ports:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps9320/index.html

Otherwise, you would need a different model or additional firewall to achieve your design.

Hope that helps.

-Mike

[joerggrau]

I guess that is the drawback of configuring remotely located hardware...

Thanks Mike.

Joerg