Which solution supports high availability in routed or transparent mode as well as in northbound and southbound deployments?

Cisco ASDM (Adaptive Security Device Manager) is a graphical management tool, but the question focuses on the FTD capability itself and its management, making FMC the more comprehensive and strategic management platform for HA deployments.

Cisco FTD (Firepower Threat Defense) is the software image that runs on Cisco Firepower Next-Generation Firewall appliances (both physical and virtual) and is managed by Cisco FMC (Firepower Management Center). FTD natively supports high availability (active/standby) for redundancy, operating in both routed (Layer 3) and transparent (Layer 2) modes, accommodating various network deployment orientations like northbound and southbound.

While a physical Firepower NGFW with FMC supports these features, the core capability comes from the FTD software and its management by FMC, making FTD with FMC the more encompassing answer than specifying only the physical appliance.

Similarly, a virtual Firepower NGFW with FMC supports these features, but FTD with FMC covers both physical and virtual deployments, making it the most complete solution mentioned.