Hardware_Failover_haAdvancedConfig1
The High Availability > Advanced page provides the ability to fine-tune the High Availability configuration as well as synchronize setting and firmware among the High Availability devices. The High Availability > Advanced page is identical for both Active/Standby and Active/Active configurations. The Heartbeat Interval and Failover Trigger Level settings on the High Availability > Advanced page apply to both the SVRRP heartbeats (Active/Active Clustering heartbeat) and HA heartbeats.
Other settings on High Availability > Advanced page apply only to the HA pairs within the Cluster Nodes.
Note For more information on High Availability, see High Availability Overview and Active/Idle and Active/Active DPI HA Prerequisites.
To configure the settings on the High Availability > Advanced page, perform the following steps:
Step 1 Login as an administrator to the SonicOS management interface on the Master Node, that is, on the Virtual Group1 IP address (on X0 or another interface with HTTP management enabled).
Step 2 In the left navigation pane, navigate to High Availability > Advanced.
Step 3 Optionally adjust the Heartbeat Interval to control how often the units in the Active/Active cluster communicate. The default is 1,000 milliseconds, the minimum supported value is 1,000 milliseconds. You can use higher values if your deployment handles a lot of network traffic. This setting applies to all units in the Active/Active cluster.
Step 4 Set the Failover Trigger Level to the number of heartbeats that can be missed before failing over. The default is 5, the minimum is 4, and the maximum is 99. If the Failover Trigger Level is set to 5 and the Heartbeat Interval is set to 1000 milliseconds, it will take 5 seconds without a heartbeat before a failover is triggered. This setting applies to all units in the Active/Active cluster.
Step 5 Set the Probe Interval to the interval in seconds between probes sent to specified IP addresses to monitor that the network critical path is still reachable. This is used in logical monitoring for the local HA pair. SonicWALL recommends that you set the interval for at least 5 seconds. The default is 20 seconds, and the allowed range is 5 to 255 seconds. You can set the Probe IP Address(es) on the High Availability > Monitoring screen. See High Availability > Monitoring.
Step 6 Set the Probe Count to the number of consecutive probes before SonicOS concludes that the network critical path is unavailable or the probe target is unreachable. This is used in logical monitoring for the local HA pair. The default is 3, and the allowed range is 3 to 10.
Step 7 Set the Election Delay Time to the number of seconds allowed for internal processing between the two units in the local HA pair before one of them takes the Primary role. The default is 3 seconds, the minimum is 3 seconds, and the maximum is 255 seconds.
Step 8 Set the Dynamic Route Hold-Down Time to the number of seconds the newly-active appliance keeps the dynamic routes it had previously learned in its route table. This setting is used when a failover occurs on a High Availability pair that is using either RIP or OSPF dynamic routing. During this time, the newly-active appliance relearns the dynamic routes in the network. When the Dynamic Route Hold-Down Time duration expires, SonicOS deletes the old routes and implements the new routes it has learned from RIP or OSPF. The default value is 45 seconds, the minimum is 0 seconds, and the maximum is 1200 seconds (20 minutes). In large or complex networks, a larger value may improve network stability during a failover.
Note The Dynamic Route Hold-Down Time setting is displayed only when the Advanced Routing option is selected on the Network > Routing page.
Step 9 Select the Include Certificates/Keys checkbox to have the appliances synchronize all certificates and keys within the HA pair.
Step 10 (Optional) Click the Synchronize Settings button. This action synchronizes the SonicOS preference settings between your primary and secondary HA units.
Step 11 (Optional) Click the Synchronize Firmware button. This action synchronizes the firmware version between your primary and secondary HA units.
Step 12 (Optional) Click the Force Failover button. This action attempts an Active/Idle HA failover to the secondary unit. Use this action to test the HA failover functionality is working properly.
Step 13 When finished with all High Availability configuration, click Accept. All settings will be synchronized to the other units in the cluster.