About High Availability; Initial Ha Setup - SonicWALL TZ 210 Series Getting Started Manual

TZ_210_GSG.book Page 46 Friday, November 14, 2008 10:29 AM

About High Availability

In this scenario, one SonicWALL TZ 210 series appliance
operates as the Primary gateway device and the other acts as
the Backup. Once configured for High Availability, the Backup
SonicWALL contains a real-time mirrored configuration of the
Primary SonicWALL via an Ethernet link between the
designated HA interfaces on each appliance.
During normal operation, the Primary SonicWALL is in Active
mode and the Backup SonicWALL is in Idle mode. If the
Primary device loses connectivity, the Backup SonicWALL
transitions to Active mode and assumes the configuration and
role of the Primary gateway device. This automatic failover
ensures a reliable connection between the protected network
and the Internet.
After a failover to the Backup appliance, all the pre-existing
network connections must be re-established, including the VPN
tunnels that must be re-negotiated.
Page 46 Configuring High Availability

Initial HA Setup

Before you begin the configuration of HA on the Primary
SonicWALL security appliance, perform the following setup:
1. On the back panel of the Backup SonicWALL security
appliance, locate the serial number and write the number
down. You need to enter this number in the High
Availability > Settings page.
2. Verify that the Primary SonicWALL appliance is registered
and licensed for SonicOS Enhanced and the desired
SonicWALL security services.
3. Associate the two SonicWALL appliances as HA Primary
and HA Secondary on MySonicWALL, for license
synchronization.
4. Make sure the Primary SonicWALL and Backup
SonicWALL security appliances' LAN, WAN and other
interfaces are properly configured for failover.
5. Connect the X6 ports on the Primary SonicWALL and
Backup SonicWALL appliances with a CAT 5 Ethernet
cable. The Primary and Backup SonicWALL security
appliances must have a dedicated connection.
6. Power up the Primary SonicWALL security appliance, and
then power up the Backup SonicWALL security appliance.
7. Do not make any configuration changes to the Primary's
X6 interface; the High Availability configuration in an
upcoming step takes care of this issue.