Where Can I Find a Complete Reference for ASA 5505 Product IDs?

[ltampkins]

I've spent way too much time exploring the Internet looking for a definitive reference to pin down and completely explain all of the Cisco product ID mumbo jumbo . . . specifically for the ASA 5505 security device.  In general I'd like to have this information for all things Cisco.  It is driving me crazy not to know this information IN TOTAL.  Yes, there's bits and pieces out there, but no offical guide or reference that details everything.  This is what I want to see. 

For example:  for the ASA5505 there's . . . ASA5505-50-BUN-K9, ASA5505-SEC-BUN-K9, ASA5505-UL-BUN-K9, etc.

What is the "BUN", "K9", "SEC", etc.  Not just what does it stand for (we can deduce that), but where did this come from and how can I quickly reference a new acronym which may show up in completely differnce Cisco device.  Also, specifically for the ASA 5500 line, I want to see a COMPLETE list of ALL of these IDs and want a legend to reference each part.  This is critical in my opinion for a project manager to make an informed decision about hardware.  Cisco documentation is grossly lacking for this (or at least I'm unable to find it).  The closest I've come was to discovery this whole notion of the Unique Device Identifier (UDI) which is the Cisco' product identification standard for labeling hardware products. 

This is explained some here . . .

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/products_identification_standard.html

It's a good start but, it only creates more questions.  Where can I find ALL the PIDs and what does each acronym stands for?  What about the VIDs? . . . Where is a list of these what does each section mean?.  Why in the world is there no single source where all of this is pinned down.  With all of the mind-numbing Cisco documentation out there loaded with cryptic details about things many of us will never care to know . . . why not put out this much needed, practical reference of Product IDs which would have a wide appeal and could be useful to everyone from product specialist to system engineers?  It would make researching Cisco solutions to new projects exponentially less painful to know very quickly exactly what we're looking at when we encounter all of this product "code."

Am I the only one who feels this way?  I'm thinking not.  What say you?  Am I missing something?

LT

[Jouni Forss]

Hi,

I personally just requested from our Cisco reseller a list of all the ASA related products and prices and he provided them neatly presented in an Excel document. (All the IDs for different device models and their licenses and who knows what else. Seemed a pretty complete list to me)

I would imagine you should be able to get the same from some source.

Sadly, I dont personally handle ordering network devices for us so I am not sure if its same for any bigger Cisco reseller. Is the document made perhaps by the reseller in question or from Cisco. I am a bit ignorant about the whole subject. I stick to configuring and not dealing with anything else

- Jouni

[Marvin Rhoads]

There is no such published reference guide. The closest thing would be the global price list but it's generally not distributed. (What Jouni mentioned was probably an extract of that very large document.)

Due to the broad range of products (and associated bundles and services), Cisco uses online configuration and ordering tools (Cisco Commerce Workspace or CCW) internally and with its partners. The information in it is very dynamic and can change day to day as the tens of thousands of products Cisco offers are introduced, deprecated (i.e., Approaching or at End of Sales), offered in different promotional bundles, etc.

When a Cisco salesperson or partner solution advisor talks with a customer, they take the customer's input and build equipment, software and services configuration sets supporting the proposal. CCW will validate the required items are ordered and generate a configuration set that has not only the product IDs (PIDs, generally referred to as SKUs or Stock Keeping Units in this context) but also the plain language descriptions of what each PID means.

They should be conveying that information to you (or any customer they are engaged with) to enable you to make the informed decision you mention.