Sophos XGS 4500: Specs, Pricing and Buying Guide

Sophos XGS 4500 buying guide: full specs, pricing, and where it fits

The Sophos XGS 4500 is the top of the 1U rackmount range. It delivers 80 Gbps firewall throughput, 36.5 Gbps IPS, 31.85 Gbps threat protection and 10.6 Gbps of TLS inspection, with 17 million concurrent connections, 75.55 Gbps of IPsec VPN and four SFP+ 10 Gigabit ports built in. It is the largest appliance that fits in a single rack unit before moving to the 2U 5500.

This guide leads with the datasheet, then shows the whole 1U range so you can see what you gain over a 4300, and where the 2U 5500 starts to make more sense.

Sophos XGS 4500 full specifications

Sophos-published figures. Treat throughput as vendor-measured under set conditions and size to your real traffic.

Performance

Interfaces and hardware

Where the XGS 4500 sits in the range

Every 1U rackmount model, with the 4500 highlighted. Prices are on each product page.

Every model links to its product page, where the current price is shown. If the next model up is worth the difference for your site, buy that one instead. Size on the TLS column rather than firewall throughput, since almost all web traffic is encrypted.

Reading that table, and the honest part

The 4500 tops the 1U range, but it is a modest step above the 4300, not a leap:

Compare that with the 3300 to 4300 step, where threat protection and TLS inspection both more than doubled. The 4500 buys roughly a quarter to a third more capacity, not a different class of appliance.

So the useful question is not "4300 or 4500" in isolation. It is whether you are close enough to the 4300 ceiling that the extra headroom matters, and whether the 2U XGS 5500 is the better answer instead. The 5500 jumps to 46 Gbps threat protection and 32.4 million concurrent connections, nearly double the 4500 on connections.

When the 4500 is the right call

• You need the top of 1U specifically. Rack space is constrained and 2U is not available.
• VPN concurrency is your constraint. 75.55 Gbps IPsec is a meaningful gain for a hub site terminating many tunnels.
• You are close to the 4300 ceiling today and buying a three or five-year term, so the headroom has to last.

When to look elsewhere

• If connection count is the constraint, go 2U. The 4500 adds only 2 per cent over the 4300 on concurrent connections. The 5500 nearly doubles it.
• If the 4300 has headroom, buy the 4300. A 22 per cent gain rarely justifies the difference when you are not near the ceiling.

Flexi Port expansion

One Flexi Port bay, taking any module rated for XGS rackmount models, including the 4 port 10GbE SFP+ module and the PoE module. With four 10G ports already on board, the bay is usually spent on PoE or extra copper.

How to buy

At this size almost everyone quotes rather than buying online. Ask us and we will price the 4300, the 4500 and the 5500 together, because the right answer at this tier is clearer when you see all three.

Standard or Xstream Protection?

Xstream adds TLS 1.3 inspection, cloud sandboxing and the advanced IPS. A 4500 is 10.6 Gbps of TLS inspection capacity, and buying it without Xstream means paying for capability you will not use. Standard covers the base firewall plus SD-WAN and ZTNA, and rarely makes sense on this model.

Get a Sophos XGS 4500 quote from Nuformat

Nuformat is a Sophos partner serving Canada and the United States. Tell us your user count, internet speed, VPN tunnel count and which services you plan to run. We will confirm whether the 4500 is right, or tell you a 4300 will do or a 5500 is the better buy. Contact Nuformat for a quote.

Frequently asked questions

What are the Sophos XGS 4500 specifications?

The XGS 4500 delivers 80 Gbps firewall throughput, 36.5 Gbps IPS, 31.85 Gbps threat protection and 10.6 Gbps TLS inspection, with 17,000,000 concurrent connections and 75.55 Gbps IPsec VPN. Fixed ports are 4 x GE copper, 4 x 2.5 GE copper and 4 x SFP+ 10 GE fibre, plus one Flexi Port bay.

Should I buy the XGS 4500 or the XGS 4300?

The 4500 offers about 22 per cent more threat protection and 33 per cent more TLS inspection than the 4300, but only 2 per cent more concurrent connections. If you have headroom on a 4300 today, buy the 4300. Choose the 4500 if you are close to the 4300 ceiling or if IPsec VPN throughput is your constraint.

Should I buy the XGS 4500 or the XGS 5500?

The 2U XGS 5500 delivers 46 Gbps threat protection against 31.85, and 32.4 million concurrent connections against 17 million, so it nearly doubles connection capacity. If connection count rather than raw throughput is your constraint, the 5500 is the better answer. Choose the 4500 if rack space limits you to 1U.

Does the Sophos XGS 4500 have 10 Gigabit ports built in?

Yes. Four SFP+ 10 Gigabit fibre ports are fixed on the appliance, so no Flexi Port module is needed to get 10G. The expansion bay remains free for PoE or additional copper.

What does the Sophos XGS 4500 cost?

Current pricing for the appliance and each subscription term is on its product page, which always reflects the live figure. Monthly licensing and Hardware as a Service are quoted rather than listed at this size, so ask us and we will give you all three so you can compare.

How many users does the XGS 4500 support?

Sophos does not publish user counts per model, so we do not quote them. Sizing depends on your internet speed, how many services you enable, how many VPN tunnels you terminate and how much traffic you inspect. Send us those and we will size it against the Sophos sizing tool.