Ha Overview - Fortinet FortiGate FortiGate-5001 Administration Manual

HA
HA

HA overview

90
Note: You should select the language that the management computer operating system uses.
To modify the dead gateway detection settings
Modify dead gateway detection to control how the FortiGate unit confirms connectivity
with a ping server added to an interface configuration. For information about adding a
ping server to an interface, see
1 Go to System > Config > Options.
2 For Detection Interval, type a number in seconds to specify how often the FortiGate
unit tests the connection to the ping target.
3 For Fail-over Detection, type a number of times that the connection test fails before
the FortiGate unit assumes that the gateway is no longer functioning.
4 Select Apply.
Go to System > Config > HA to configure the FortiGate unit for High Availability (HA)
mode operation.
• HA overview
• HA configuration
• Configuring an HA cluster
• Managing an HA cluster
FortiGate HA consists of two or more FortiGate units operating as an HA cluster. To
the network, the HA cluster appears to function as a single FortiGate unit, processing
network traffic and providing normal security services such as firewalling, VPN, IPS,
virus scanning, web filtering, and spam filtering services.
Inside the cluster the individual FortiGate units are called cluster units. These cluster
units share state and configuration information. If one cluster unit fails, the other units
in the cluster automatically replace that unit, taking over the work that the failed unit
was doing. The cluster continues to process network traffic and provide normal
FortiGate services with virtually no interruption.
Every cluster contains one primary cluster unit (also called primary units) and one or
more subordinate cluster units (also called subordinate units). The primary unit
controls how the cluster operates. The roles that the primary and subordinate units
play in the cluster depend on the mode in which the cluster operates. See
on page 91.
The ability of an HA cluster to continue providing firewall services after a failure, is
called failover. FortiGate HA failover means that your network does not have to rely on
one FortiGate unit to continue functioning. You can install additional units and form an
HA cluster. Other units in the cluster will take over if one of the units fails.
"To add a ping server to an interface" on page
01-28008-0013-20050204
System Config
64.
"HA modes"
Fortinet Inc.