PA-460

PAN-PA-460 PA-460 Next-Generation Firewall

PAN-PA-460 is the standard Palo Alto Networks PA-460 PA-400 Series firewall hardware PID. It provides eight RJ45 10/100/1000 Mbps traffic ports plus a separate 1Gbps management port. It is not the rugged PA-460R variant, a security subscription or a software-only license.

Model-specific processing allocation

Palo Alto Networks' hardware architecture assigns 6 of 8 CPU cores to the PA-460 data plane. Choose this model when the validated design requires the higher processing allocation within the original PA-440/450/460 hardware group. Sizing still depends on enabled subscriptions, decryption, App-ID policy, logging and traffic mix; the core count is not a substitute for a production capacity test. The related PA-450 uses a different processing allocation even though the two appliances share the same visible data-port layout.

PA-460 headroom review

The PA-460 processing allocation should be justified by measured branch-consolidation demand rather than by its position at the top of the original PA-400 range. Build an acceptance profile from simultaneous threat inspection, remote-access VPN, east-west segmentation and log-export workloads. Test failover with the same policy set because an HA partner must carry the surviving load without silently disabling inspection.

For multi-site standardization, document which locations genuinely need PA-460 capacity and which can use a smaller appliance. That prevents a common port layout from obscuring differences in compute allocation and subscription cost.

Power and shipped-hardware boundary

The appliance uses an external adapter that converts 100-240VAC input to 12VDC. Palo Alto Networks lists 32W average and 41W maximum consumption for both PA-450 and PA-460. A second adapter can be installed for load sharing and power redundancy but is purchased separately; the standard parts list includes one firewall and one adapter.

Deployment acceptance

PA-450 and PA-460 first supported PAN-OS 10.1.0 and support active/passive or active/active HA. Record the branch's peak sessions, decryption ratio and enabled security services, then validate them on PA-460-class hardware. Confirm that the quote is PAN-PA-460 and not a PA-450 or rugged PA-450R variant. Verify current PAN-OS support, subscriptions, rack tray, spare adapter, HA cabling and centralized logging before release.

Official evidence: Palo Alto Networks PA-400 model and software overview, official PA-440/450/460 port reference, official model-specific hardware architecture, official power specifications and official shipped-parts list.