Cisco ASA 5000-x Active/Active Failover or Cluster?

[dukenuk96]

Hi all!

I'm in a doubt what to choose for new ASA deployment - Active/Active Failover or Cluster.

I need multiple contexts, NAT, Site-to-Site IPSec, OSPFv2. Actual hardware is dual 5545-x, s/w 9.2(4).

I have read General Guide and understood that in Active/Active I have to maually distribute the contexts between physiclan units, which is not real scalaility option and sometimes maybe inconvinient and even make it impossible to distribute load equally between units. Plus no more than two units per failover pair, and I actually not going to use more.

If anybody had real experience and can say what prons and cons in my situation for Active/Active Failover or Cluster?

Thanks.

[gauraku3]

Hi Duke,

As stated by you that you are going to use more than 2 ASA the option that you are left with is using them in cluster.

Cluster allows us to fully utilize the potential of all ASA.

A must read before you make a decision would be ASA cluster book

Gaurav Kumar CCIE# 49565
Cisco-TAC Engineer

[dukenuk96]

Thanks, Gaurav Kumar, but I wrote that I am "not going to use more" than twa ASAs.

[gauraku3 · Accepted solution]

My apologies Duke I misread that.

Well in that case running Active/Active will help but do keep in mind that you dont utilise the full potential of ASA in that case running cluster will help you do that and if you plan on increasing the number of ASA ever you can always do that with a clutser