hardware failover

This document provides a step-by-step example for configuring this feature for SonicOS Enhanced 2.5.0.5 through 3.0.

SonicOS Enhanced 2.5 included significant changes to the method for Hardware Failover (HF). Please review the

applicable SonicOS Enhanced Administration Guide for a full explanation of functionality and requirements.

SonicWALL Hardware Failover provides firewall redundancy. When the primary loses functionality or connectivity, the

backup unit assumes the active role. If preempt is enabled, the role will fail back to the primary unit. The Primary and

Backup SonicWALL devices are currently only capable of performing active/passive Hardware Failover – active/active

failover is not supported at present. Session state is not currently synchronized between the Primary and Backup

SonicWALL security appliances. If a failover occurs, any session that had been active at the time of failover needs to be

renegotiated.

Hardware Failover can be configured with only 1 Public WAN IP address (Virtual IP only) or 3 IP addresses (Virtual IP,

Primary management IP and Backup management IP). Using 3 WAN addresses allows management access to either

Primary or Backup unit whether they are the active unit or not. This can assist in some remote troubleshooting scenarios.

If only 1 public IP is defined, the management interface of the unit running in idle mode will not be accessible via the WAN

interface. The scenario in this document uses 3 WAN IP addresses (Virtual IP and Management IPs), but notes for using

1 WAN IP is included.

Scenario: PRO2040 HF Pair running SonicOS 2.5.0.5e or 3.0.0.8e.

The Primary and Backup SonicWALLs are connected with a crossover cable to a designated interface (X3 for 2040, X5

for 3060, 4060, and 5060) to create the Hardware Failover Link. All synchronization information and the HF heartbeat are

passed through this Hardware Failover Link

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