| 8.2 |  | The Cisco PIX Security Appliance |
| 8.2.2 |  | The Finesse Operating System |

| Finesse Operating System Finesse is the Cisco proprietary real-time operating system that runs directly on the hardware of the PIX Security Appliance. It is a non-UNIX, non-Windows NT, and IOS-like operating system. Finesse, which is a true microkernel, provides the following benefits:

- Software reusability
- Source-code portability
- Increased product quality
- Decreased testing
- Shorter time to market
- Increased return on investment for users of Cisco products

Use of Finesse eliminates the risks associated with general-purpose operating systems . It enables the PIX Security Appliance to deliver outstanding performance with up to 1,000,000 simultaneous connections depending on the model. This number is significantly greater than any software-based firewall.