Cisco ASA 5510 Firewall : Basic Configuration Tutorial
Continuing our series of articles about Cisco ASA 5500 firewalls, I’m offering you here a basic configuration tutorial for the Cisco ASA 5510 security appliance. This device is the second model in the ASA series (ASA 5505, 5510, 5520 etc) and is fairly popular since is intended for small to medium enterprises. Like the smallest ASA 5505 model, the 5510 comes with two license options: The Base license and the Security Plus license. The second one (security plus) provides some performance and hardware enhancements over the base license, such as 130,000 Maximum firewall connections (instead of 50,000), 100 Maximum VLANs (instead of 50), Failover Redundancy, etc. Also, the security plus license enables two of the five firewall network ports to work as 10/100/1000 instead of only 10/100.
Next we will see a simple Internet Access scenario which will help us understand the basic steps needed to setup an ASA 5510. Assume that we are assigned a static public IP address 100.100.100.1 from our ISP. Also, the internal LAN network belongs to subnet 192.168.10.0/24. Interface Ethernet0/0 will be connected on the outside (towards the ISP), and Ethernet0/1 will be connected to the Inside LAN switch.
The firewall will be configured to supply IP addresses dynamically (using DHCP) to the internal hosts. All outbound communication (from inside to outside) will be translated using Port Address Translation (PAT) on the outside public interface. Let’s see a snippet of the required configuration steps for this basic scenario:
Step1: Configure a privileged level password (enable password)
By default there is no password for accessing the ASA firewall, so the first step before doing anything else is to configure a privileged level password, which will be needed to allow subsequent access to the appliance. Configure this under Configuration Mode:
ASA5510(config)# enable password mysecretpassword
Step2: Configure the public outside interface
ASA5510(config)# interface Ethernet0/0
ASA5510(config-if)# nameif outside
ASA5510(config-if)# security-level 0
ASA5510(config-if)# ip address 100.100.100.1 255.255.255.252
ASA5510(config-if)# no shut
Step3: Configure the trusted internal interface
ASA5510(config)# interface Ethernet0/1
ASA5510(config-if)# nameif inside
ASA5510(config-if)# security-level 100
ASA5510(config-if)# ip address 192.168.10.1 255.255.255.0
ASA5510(config-if)# no shut
Step 4: Configure PAT on the outside interface
ASA5510(config)# global (outside) 1 interface
ASA5510(config)# nat (inside) 1 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0
Step 5: Configure Default Route towards the ISP (assume default gateway is 100.100.100.2)
ASA5510(config)# route outside 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 100.100.100.2 1
Step 6: Configure the firewall to assign internal IP and DNS address to hosts using DHCP
ASA5510(config)# dhcpd dns 200.200.200.10
ASA5510(config)# dhcpd address 192.168.10.10-192.168.10.200 inside
ASA5510(config)# dhcpd enable inside
The above basic configuration is just the beginning for making the appliance operational. There are many more configuration features that you need to implement to increase the security of your network, such as Static and Dynamic NAT, Access Control Lists to control traffic flow, DMZ zones, VPN etc.
Step-By-Step Configuration Guide For The Cisco Asa 5505 Firewall
The Cisco ASA 5505 Firewall is the smallest model in the new 5500 Cisco series of hardware appliances. Although this model is suitable for small businesses, branch offices or even home use, its firewall security capabilities are the same as the biggest models (5510, 5520, 5540 etc). The Adaptive Security technology of the ASA firewalls offers solid and reliable firewall protection, advanced application aware security, denial of service attack protection and much more. Moreover, the performance of the ASA 5505 appliance supports 150Mbps firewall throughput and 4000 firewall connections per second, which is more than enough for small networks.
In this article I will explain the basic configuration steps needed to setup a Cisco 5505 ASA firewall for connecting a small network to the Internet. We assume that our ISP has assigned us a static public IP address (e.g 200.200.200.1 as an example) and that our internal network range is 192.168.1.0/24. We will use Port Address Translation (PAT) to translate our internal IP addresses to the public address of the outside interface. The difference of the 5505 model from the bigger ASA models is that it has an 8-port 10/100 switch which acts as Layer 2 only. That is, you can not configure the physical ports as Layer 3 ports, rather you have to create interface Vlans and assign the Layer 2 interfaces in each VLAN. By default, interface Ethernet0/0 is assigned to VLAN 2 and it’s the outside interface (the one which connects to the Internet), and the other 7 interfaces (Ethernet0/1 to 0/7) are assigned by default to VLAN 1 and are used for connecting to the internal network. Let’s see the basic configuration setup of the most important steps that you need to configure.
Step1: Configure the internal interface vlan
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ASA5505(config)# interface Vlan 1
ASA5505(config-if)# nameif inside
ASA5505(config-if)# security-level 100
ASA5505(config-if)# ip address 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0
ASA5505(config-if)# no shut
Step 2: Configure the external interface vlan (connected to Internet)
————————————————————————————-
ASA5505(config)# interface Vlan 2
ASA5505(config-if)# nameif outside
ASA5505(config-if)# security-level 0
ASA5505(config-if)# ip address 200.200.200.1 255.255.255.0
ASA5505(config-if)# no shut
Step 3: Assign Ethernet 0/0 to Vlan 2
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ASA5505(config)# interface Ethernet0/0
ASA5505(config-if)# switchport access vlan 2
ASA5505(config-if)# no shut
Step 4: Enable the rest interfaces with no shut
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ASA5505(config)# interface Ethernet0/1
ASA5505(config-if)# no shut
Do the same for Ethernet0/1 to 0/7.
Step 5: Configure PAT on the outside interface
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ASA5505(config)# global (outside) 1 interface
ASA5505(config)# nat (inside) 1 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0
Step 6: Configure default route towards the ISP (assume default gateway is 200.200.200.2)
—————————————————————————————
ASA5505(config)# route outside 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 200.200.200.2 1
The above steps are the absolutely necessary steps you need to configure for making the appliance operational. Of course there are much more configuration details that you need to implement in order to enhance the security and functionality of your appliance, such as Access Control Lists, Static NAT, DHCP, DMZ zones, authentication etc.
Download the best configuration tutorial for any Cisco ASA 5500 Firewall model Here.
How to improve Operation system speed easily
”Speed up your windows”
These are the 5 tips with which you can “speed up your windows”. By following these simple tips your windows will run faster.
(A) “speed up your windows” by Performing a Boot Defragment
The following is the simple way to ‘’speed up XP startup”: make your system do a boot defragment, which will put all the boot files next to one another on your hard disk. When boot files are in close proximity to one another, your system will start faster.
On most systems, boot defragment should be enabled by default, but it might not be on yours, or it might have been changed inadvertently. To make sure that boot defragment is enabled:
1 Run the Registry Editor
2 Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftDfrgBootOptimizeFunction
3 Set the Enable string value to Y if it is not already set to Y.
4 Exit the Registry
5 Reboot
(B) “speed up your windows” by using a Flash Memory to Boost Performance
This is an other way for your “windows speed up”. To improve performance, you need to install additional RAM memory. It’ll let you boot your OS much quicker and run many applications and access data quicker. There is no easiest and more technically elegant way to do it than use eBoostr.
eBoostr is a little program that lets you improve a performance of any computer, powered by Windows XP in much the same way as Vista’s ReadyBoost. With eBoostr, if you have a flash drive, such as a USB flash thumb drive or an SD card, you can use it to make your computer run better. Simply plug in a flash drive through a USB socket and Windows XP will use eBoostr to utilize the flash memory to improve performance.
The product shows the best results for frequently used applications and data, which becomes a great feature for people who are using office programs, graphics applications or developer tools. It’ll surely attract a special attention of laptop owners as laptop upgrade is usually more complicated and laptop hard drives are by definition slower than those of desktops.
(C) “speed up your windows” by Removing Fonts for Speed
This is the tip number three to ” speed up your windows”.Fonts, especially TrueType fonts, use quite a bit of system resources. For optimal performance, trim your fonts down to just those that you need to use on a daily basis and fonts that applications may require.
1 Open Control Panel
2 Open Fonts folder
Move fonts you don’t need to a temporary directory (e.g. C:FONTBKUP?) just in case you need or want to bring a few of them back. The more fonts you uninstall, the more system resources you will gain.
(D) “speed up your windows” by Optimizing Display Settings
This is tip numer four and important one to “speed up your windows” .Windows XP is a looker. But it costs you system resources that are used to display all the visual items and effects. Windows looks fine if you disable most of the settings and leave the following:
1 Show shadows under menus
2 Show shadows under mouse pointer
3 Show translucent selection rectangle
4 Use drop shadows for icons labels on the desktop
5 Use visual styles on windows and buttons
(E) “speed up your windows” by Detecting and Repair Disk Errors
This is my last tip for you and very important one.Over time, your hard disk develops bad sectors. Bad sectors slow down hard disk performance and sometimes make data writing difficult or even impossible. To detect and repair disk errors, Windows has a built-in tool called the Error Checking utility. It’ll search the hard disk for bad sectors and system errors and repair them for faster performance.
1 Follow Start > My Computer
2 In My Computer right-click the hard disk you want to scan and click Properties
3 Click the Tools tab
4 Click Check Now
5 Select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box
6 Click Start
I hope you like these tips and these will be helpful for you in “speed up your windows”.
Cure Your Windows Xp Slow Startup Problem
Are you running Windows XP and experiencing the slow startup problem? It’s very annoying waiting for your computer to boot or load programs. I used to be able to make a whole pot of coffee while my computer booted. Here’s a few things you can do to speed up the process.
If you have an older computer that tests the memory every time you boot and goes through multiple startup screens there is a way to eliminate that. Restart your computer and enter the bios. Look for boot options and enable quick boot. This will enable you to skip all the unnecessary startup screens and other sequences.
Not all PCs have that option. Next you will want to look at your antivirus program. Going to the options menu and make sure it is not scanning every time you start your computer. If it is disable this option, this can really slow down your boot time.
You’ll also want to do a general cleaning up your hard drive. You can do that by selecting your hard drive and running the disk cleanup. You can also remove any old programs that you no longer use, the less software your PC has to load, the faster it will be. Next you will want to eliminate any startup programs that you do not absolutely need. The problem is Windows XP made this difficult. There really is no easy way to do it. You can download a third-party program like tweak UI. Or most registry repair programs will enable you to remove startup programs safely.
Next you will want to do a full virus scan and also a scan for spyware and ad aware. If you haven’t performed maintenance on your computer for a while you might be shocked at what it finds. All of the above suggestions may help, but in most cases, the biggest problem for slow boot is a corrupted or damaged Registry. You will need a good registry repair program to fix it.
Your computer’s registry contains all the files and settings that your software needs to reference every time it loads. Over time, from uninstalling and installing software your registry collects a lot of orphaned files. These need to be cleaned or repaired. Improper shutdowns, viruses, crashes, improper uninstalls, or spyware will cause your registry to become corrupt or bloated over time.
When you boot your computer, the startup sequence refers to the registry to load software. It may be looking at a corrupted files and software that is no longer working or on your computer. In most cases this is the reason why Windows XP boots
so slow. You should perform regular maintenance on your registry to keep it fully optimized. Doing so is like giving your computer or a tuneup. You will be amazed at the increased performance and speed up your computer.
Resolving Windows 7 Problems Has Never Been So Easy!
Within a very short time of its launch, the Windows 7 operating system has established its safe position in the mind of millions of people in a smart way. Its high quality configuration and usability are the reasons behind its huge popularity; if you are currently using this Operating system then you know the other reasons behind it. While using the OS, have you ever faced any problem regarding its speed? Do you want to gear up the speed of your work? Don’t worry! Here in this article we will give you some valuable tips, which will help you to get rid of the Windows 7 problems in easiest of manner.
• First of all check the configuration of your PC or Laptop. Properly verify whether your system’s configurations meet the minimum criteria of running Windows 7 or not. If you don’t have the required configuration first you need to enhance that in order to run Windows 7 properly.
• If you upgrade you software and hardware
then you will definitely see a number of magical changes in operating the Windows 7. As it is the most recent operating system available in the market, Windows 7 requires supports of latest software and hardware.
• If a less spiffy interface is OK with you then stop using Aero in your Windows 7. You know well that Aero is a wonderful interface that comes with Windows 7. This effect is very attractive, eye-candy and gives lots of special-effects, but it consumes lots of RAM. If you have a large quantity of RAM then it’s ok, but if you don’t have then you are advised to remove this effect you’re your Windows 7.
• You are suggested to clean all your temporary files on a regular basis. Everyday at least once go to “msconfig” and remove all your unnecessary programs from taskbar. This will enhance the operating speed of Windows 7.
• Properly see whether your system has registry problem or not, if you found any kind of registry problem then first resolve it, otherwise the OS problem will not be resolved.
• Uninstall all the programs and software that you do not need. Through this way you will be able to free up hard-disk space, which will help you to run Windows 7 properly.
• Do not install lots of software in your computer that will not help you in future works.
If you follow the aforementioned processes then you will not face any kind of problem while working in Windows 7 platform. If, after following all of them properly, you face any further problem in your OS then do not hesitate to call a remote tech service provider. The Remote computer repair service providers will resolve all kinds of Windows 7 related problems in easiest of manner.
