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FortiGate-5020 base backplane communication HA configurations
FortiSwitch-5003A and 5003 Fabric and Base Backplane Communications Guide
01-30000-85717-20081205 81
FortiGate-5020 base backplane
communication
The FortiGate-5020 chassis has two base backplane Ethernet channels.
FortiGate modules installed in each slot can directly connect to the other slot
through either channel.
Because of the base backplane’s topology, connecting FortiGate modules to each
other through the base backplane does not require any additional hardware (that
is, FortiSwitch modules are not required). Modules connect to each other directly
through the base backplane as soon as they are installed.
The FortiGate-5020 base backplane can only be used to connect FortiGate
modules located in the same chassis. You cannot link the base backplanes of
multiple chassis to form inter-chassis HA clusters, and you cannot connect
FortiGate modules to the network through their base backplane interfaces.
Instead, inter-chassis HA or network traffic must pass through a FortiGate module
front panel interface. In these cases, additional hardware, such as an external
switch or Ethernet cables, may be required.
This section includes the following topics:
• HA configurations
• Inter-chassis HA configurations
• Network configurations
HA configurations
For a single FortiGate-5020 chassis, configuring HA between two FortiGate
modules through their base backplane interfaces is identical to configuring HA
between their front panel interfaces, except that their base backplane interfaces
are used. No additional hardware or cabling is required.
Because there are two available base backplane interfaces, you can configure
heartbeat interface failover to maintain communications through the base
backplane in the event of interface failure. For example, if you have a
FortiGate-5001SX cluster, you could configure the cluster to use port10 as the
primary heartbeat interface, and port9 as a backup if port10 fails.
Heartbeat interface failover order is contingent on heartbeat interface Priority
and/or position in the Heartbeat Interface list. For details, see “Slot position and
HA heartbeat interface precedence” on page 77.
Note: For enhanced reliability, connect and configure heartbeat failover to one or more
non-base backplane interfaces.