Logical Device Application Instances: Container and Native
Application instances run in the following deployment types:
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Native instance—A native instance uses all of the resources (CPU, RAM, and disk space) of the security module/engine, so you can only install one native instance.
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Container instance—A container instance uses a subset of resources of the security module/engine, so you can install multiple container instances. Multi-instance capability is only supported for the Firewall Threat Defense using Firewall Management Center; it is not supported for the ASA or the Firewall Threat Defense using Firewall Device Manager.
Multi-instance capability is similar to ASA multiple context mode, although the implementation is different. Multiple context mode partitions a single application instance, while multi-instance capability allows independent container instances. Container instances allow hard resource separation, separate configuration management, separate reloads, separate software updates, and full Firewall Threat Defense feature support. Multiple context mode, due to shared resources, supports more contexts on a given platform. Multiple context mode is not available on the Firewall Threat Defense.
For the Firepower 9300, you can use a native instance on some modules, and container instances on the other module(s).