Using Fail-Open Hardware - McAfee IIP-M80K-ISAA - Network Security Platform M-8000 Product Manual

McAfee® IntruShield® IPS 4.1
M-8000 Sensor Product Guide

Using Fail-Open hardware

The standard
minimizes the potential risks of in-line IntruShield sensor failure on critical network
links. Both Copper and Optical versions of the Kit are available for 1 Gigabit ports. A
10 Gigabit Optical Kit is also available for the 10 Gigabit ports.
The Monitoring ports on IntruShield sensors fail closed; thus, if the sensor is deployed
in-line, a hardware failure results in network downtime. Fail-open operation for the
Monitoring ports requires the use of the optional external Bypass Switch provided in
the Kit.
With the Bypass Switch in place, normal sensor operation supplies power to the
switch via a control cable. While the sensor is operating, the switch is "on" and routes
all traffic directly through the sensor. When the sensor fails, the switch automatically
shifts to a bypass state: in-line traffic continues to flow through the network link, but is
no longer routed through the sensor. Once the sensor resumes normal operation, the
switch returns to the "on" state, once again enabling in-line monitoring.
Caution 1:
either side of the sensor for a brief moment and requires the renegotiation of the
network link between the two peer devices connected to the sensor. Depending on
the network equipment, this disruption introduced by the renegotiation of the link
layer between the two peer devices may range from a couple of seconds to more
than a minute with certain vendors' devices.
Caution 2:
sensor and each of the peer devices are renegotiated to place the sensor back in
in-line mode. This outage, again, varies depending on the device, and can range
from a few seconds to more than a minute.
Installation and troubleshooting instructions for the Kit can be found in the Quick
Guide that accompanies the kit. For example, for more information on the Optical kit,
see the standard
Gigabit Fail-Open Kit and the
Note that sensor outage breaks the link connecting the devices on
A very brief link disruption may also occur while the links between the
Gigabit Optical Fail-Open Bypass Kit Guide.
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Attaching Cables to the M-8000
Using Fail-Open hardware
10 Gigabit Fail-Open Kit (sold separately)