Out of band access of Cisco ASA5505

[ahmad82pkn]

Hi Team, Can i access Cisco ASA 5505 Remotely Via Modem?  l mean out of band management of Cisco ASA 5505? is that possible??

[sean_evershed]

Hi,

Do you mean connecting a dial up modem directly to the ASA? If so this is not possible.

If you had a spare router however you could set up a terminal server for out of band management.

If say for example you lost IP connectivity to the ASA you could telnet to the terminal server. From this device you can then access the ASA via the console cable connected to this router.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk801/tk36/technologies_configuration_example09186a008014f8e7.shtml

[ahmad82pkn]

i just found this Cisco document that says its possible for 5500 series, any thoughts?

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6120/products_tech_note09186a00807955c1.shtml

[sean_evershed]

Good spot.

It depends on your security policies and requirements.

You can secure access to the terminal server so that only certain staff can access this device. This in turn limits the people who can access your ASA. You can also log who accessed the device and when and what they did when they connected to the ASA.

However by connecting a modem directly to the ASA you have none of these security features available.

For a large organisation I think this would be something you would only use as a temporary measure to fix a short term problem rather than leave in place permanently.