Cisco Content Security Management Appliance Data Sheet

Centralize management and reporting functions across multiple Cisco^® Email Security Appliances (ESAs) and Cisco Web Security Appliances (WSAs) with the Cisco Content Security Management Appliance (SMA). The integration of Cisco SMA with Cisco ESAs and WSAs simplifies the planning and administration of email and web security, improves compliance monitoring, makes possible a consistent enforcement of acceptable-use policies, and enhances threat protection.

Organizations must often coordinate the management and administration of multiple appliances across geographically dispersed teams with a limited staff and budget. Built on a robust platform optimized for reporting and tracking, the Cisco SMA delivers high performance and scalability plus industry-leading protection and control for long-term investment value.

Features and benefits

Features and benefits of the Cisco SMA are discussed in the following sections and described in more detail in Table 1.

Simplified administration and planning

Using the Cisco SMA’s easy-to-use intuitive interface, network managers can publish policy settings and configuration changes from a single console to multiple Cisco ESAs and WSAs. Alternatively, organizations can dedicate specific appliances to individual applications for high-volume deployments.

In addition, network managers can be notified when security appliances exceed their recommended capacity. The Cisco SMA reports the number of transactions per second and the system’s latency, response time, and proxy buffer memory. This information enables network managers to determine when they need to reconfigure the system or install additional appliances.

Improved compliance monitoring and enforcement

Centralized reporting and tracking help determine which users are in violation of acceptable use policies, identify policy infractions across any department or site, and monitor the use of Web 2.0 applications such as Facebook and YouTube as well as visits to URLs in specific categories such as “gambling” or “sports.”

By centralizing the management of multiple appliances, administrators can enforce consistent acceptable use policies across the organization.

Enhanced threat protection

The Cisco SMA delivers a comprehensive view of an organization’s security operations, providing better threat intelligence, defense, and remediation. Important features include the centralized management of email spam quarantine, comprehensive threat monitoring across multiple web security gateways, web reputation scoring, and botnet detection. The Cisco SMA’s reporting capabilities can also be used to help administrators identify and address activities involving Data Loss Prevention (DLP).

High performance and scalability

The Cisco SMA has two proprietary databases optimized for reporting and tracking, rather than a single generic database. Appropriate computations are applied to each query for the rapid generation of real-time reports.

Built on the high-performance Cisco AsyncOS^® operating system, the Cisco SMA provides industry-leading scalability to meet the demands of small, medium-sized, and large enterprises as well as service providers.

Flexible deployment with the cisco content security management virtual appliance

The Cisco Content Security Management Virtual Appliance (SMAV) significantly lowers the cost of managing email and web security, especially in highly distributed networks. Your network manager can create instances where and when they are needed, using your existing network infrastructure. The Cisco SMAV is a software version of the Cisco SMA and runs on top of a VMware ESXi hypervisor and Cisco Unified Computing System^™ (Cisco UCS^®) servers. You will receive an unlimited number of Cisco SMAV instances with the purchase of a SMA software license for any of the Cisco Email or Web Security software bundles.

With the Cisco SMAV, you can respond instantly to increasing traffic growth with simplified capacity planning. You don’t need to buy and ship appliances, so you can support new business opportunities without adding complexity to a data center or having to hire additional staff.

Table 1.             Features and benefits of the Cisco SMA and SMAV

Product specifications

Cisco SMAs are built to meet the requirements of organizations of different sizes and to complement all Cisco ESAs and Cisco WSAs. Table 2 presents the performance specifications, Table 3 presents the hardware specifications, and Table 4 presents the ordering information for the Cisco SMA.

Table 2.         Cisco SMA performance specifications

Table 3.         Cisco SMA hardware specifications

Table 4.         Cisco SMAV

Table 5.             Ordering information for the Cisco SMA

Why Cisco?

Security is more critical to your network than ever before. As threats and risks persist, along with concerns about confidentiality and control, security is necessary for providing business continuity, protecting valuable information, and maintaining brand reputation. Cisco security solutions embedded into the fabric of your network enable you to connect to the right information with a high degree of security without disrupting your business. No organization understands network security like Cisco. Our market leadership, industry-leading threat protection and prevention, innovative products, and longevity make us the right vendor to serve your security needs.

Cisco environmental sustainability

Information about Cisco’s environmental sustainability policies and initiatives for our products, solutions, operations, and extended operations or supply chain is provided in the “Environment Sustainability” section of Cisco’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report.

Reference links to information about key environmental sustainability topics (mentioned in the “Environment Sustainability” section of the CSR Report) are provided in the following table:

Cisco makes the packaging data available for informational purposes only. It may not reflect the most current legal developments, and Cisco does not represent, warrant, or guarantee that it is complete, accurate, or up to date. This information is subject to change without notice.

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Flexible payment solutions to help you achieve your objectives

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For more information

For more information about the Cisco Content Security Management Appliances, visit https://www.cisco.com/go/sma or contact your local account representative.

The best way to understand the benefits of the Cisco Content Security Management Appliances is to participate in the Try before You Buy program. To receive a fully functional evaluation appliance to test in your network, free for 45 days, visit https://www.cisco.com/go/sma.