Configuring High Availability
The first task in setting up HA after initial setup is configuring the High Availability > Settings page on the Primary SonicWALL security appliance. Once you configure HA on the Primary SonicWALL security appliance, it communicates the settings to the Backup SonicWALL security appliance.
To configure HA on the Primary SonicWALL, perform the following steps:
1.Navigate to the High Availability > Settings page.
2.Select the Enable High Availability checkbox.
3.Under SonicWALL Address Settings, type in the serial number for the Backup SonicWALL appliance.
You can find the serial number on the back of the SonicWALL security appliance, or in the System > Status screen of the backup unit. The serial number for the Primary SonicWALL is automatically populated.
4.Click Apply to retain these settings.
Configuring Advanced HA Settings
1.Navigate to the High Availability > Advanced page.
2.To configure Stateful HA, select Enable Stateful Synchronization. A dialog box is displayed with recommended settings for the Heartbeat Interval and Probe Interval fields. The settings it shows are minimum recommended values. Lower values may cause unnecessary failovers, especially when the SonicWALL is under a heavy load. You can use higher values if your SonicWALL handles a lot of network traffic. Click OK.
Tip: Preempt mode is automatically disabled after enabling Stateful Synchronization. This is because preempt mode can be
3.To backup the firmware and settings when you upgrade the firmware version, select Generate/Overwrite Backup Firmware and Settings When Upgrading Firmware.
4.Select the Enable Virtual MAC checkbox. Virtual MAC allows the Primary and Backup appliances to share a single MAC address. This greatly simplifies the process of updating network ARP tables and caches when a failover occurs. Only the WAN switch that the two appliances are connected to needs to be notified. All outside devices will continue to route to the single shared MAC address.