faces are switched virtual interfaces (SVIs), the FWSM is not limited to physical connections like an appliance is. There can be hundreds of interfaces on an FWSM, each corresponding to a VLAN in the switch. The FWSM is also capable of over 4 Gbps of throughput, as compared with 1.7 Gbps on the PIX 535. Architecture The FWSM supports multiple contexts, which allows for virtual firewalls that can serve different functions, be supported by different parties, or both. One example where this might be useful would be for a service provider who wishes to provide individual firewalls to customers while having only a single physical device. The FWSM is a separate device in the chassis. To administer the FWSM, you must first connect to it. Here, I'm connecting to an FWSM in slot 8: Switch-IOS# session slot 8 proc 1 The default escape character is Ctrl-^, then X. You can also type 'exit' at the remote prompt to end the session Trying 127.0.0.71 User Access Verification Password: Type help or '?' for a list of available commands. Switch-IOS-FWSM > en Password: Switch-IOS-FWSM # If the FWSM is running in single-context mode, you will be able to run all PIX commands as if you were in any other PIX firewall. If the FWSM is running in multiple- context mode, you will be in the system context and will need to change to the proper context to make your changes. This is done with the changeto context command: Switch-IOS-FWSM# sho context Context Name Class Interfaces admin default disk:/admin.cfg *EComm default vlan20,30 disk:/Ecomm.cfg Switch-IOS-FWSM# changeto context EComm Switch-I0S-FWSM/EComm# At this point, you will be in the EComm context, and assuming you're used to PIX firewalls, everything should look very familiar: Switch-I0S-FWSM/EComm# sho int Interface Vlan20 "outside", is up, line protocol is up MAC address 0008.4cff.b403, MTU 1500 IP address 10.1.1.1, subnet mask 255.255.255.0 Received 90083941155 packets, 6909049206185 bytes Transmitted 3710031826 packets, 1371444635 bytes Dropped 156162887 packets Interface Vlan30