A network security team needs to implement a highly resilient firewall pair to protect a critical data center segment. They require that if the active firewall fails, the standby firewall takes over with minimal disruption to existing network connections. Which High Availability (HA) configuration mode and associated feature would best achieve this goal?
- AActive/Active HA with packet-based forwarding.
- BActive/Passive HA without session synchronization.
- CVirtual Wire HA with link aggregation.
- DActive/Passive HA with session synchronization.
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: D. Active/Passive HA with session synchronization.
Active/Passive HA provides redundancy with one firewall actively processing traffic and the other in standby. Session synchronization is crucial in this setup to ensure that if the active firewall fails, the standby firewall has the state information for existing connections, allowing it to take over without resetting those sessions, thus minimizing disruption.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Active/Active HA involves both firewalls processing traffic, but typically requires more complex network design and is not the primary mode for minimal disruption upon single firewall failure in a simple failover context.
- B. Without session synchronization, a failover would cause all active connections to drop and require clients to re-establish them, leading to significant disruption.
- C. Virtual Wire HA is an interface mode, not an HA configuration mode, and link aggregation is for interface redundancy, not firewall redundancy with stateful failover.
Active/Passive HA with Session Synchronization
A High Availability configuration where one firewall is active and processes all traffic, while the other is in standby. Session synchronization ensures that connection state information is replicated, allowing for seamless failover.
- One firewall active, one standby.
- Session state is replicated to the standby unit.
- Minimizes disruption during failover by preserving active connections.
Memory trick: Active/Passive: One's the boss, the other's ready for the toss, sessions synced so no loss!