For creating a stack of NS9600 Sensors, you need to take the following factors into consideration:
Ensure that you have the required QSFP28 Direct Attach Copper (DAC) cables to create the stack
For standalone stack, ports G0/3 and G0/4 can be used as monitoring ports.
For NS9600 stack licensing, you can combine multiple licenses of different capacity to achieve the throughput required and assign them to the stack. For example, the throughput requirement of NS9600 stack (2-node) is 120 Gbps. While assigning licenses, you can import and assign any combination of licenses (20 + 40 + 60 Gbps) or, (60 + 60 Gbps) to achieve the throughput requirement of 120 Gbps. refer to the table below NS9600 Sensor stack and licensing requirements:
License SKU
Throughput
No of Sensors
Throughput required
NS96X20ECE-AT
MSP-NS96-20-OT
20 Gbps
1 * 2 NS9600 Sensors
120 Gbps
NS96X40ECE-AT
MSP-NS96-40-OT
40 Gbps
NS96X60ECE-AT
MSP-NS96-60-OT
60 Gbps
Unsupported features list:
Suricata Snort engine
SSL resumption for stack
Configure packet capture settings in span port
Import and export Sensor configuration
Allocating interfaces at child domain
Considerations for failover in stacked Sensors
While configuring failover for a stack, you need to take the following factors into consideration:
Both the stacks must be identical to each other with identical connections, network modules, and capacity.
Port G0/3 is used for failover. G0/4 is unusable.
The supported DAC cable length for the failover is 1 meter. It is recommended that the stack configuration is installed within one rack. If the stack is configured in multiple racks, you will need to use the QSFP28 fiber transceiver modules.
Ensure you have the correct license to configure failover for a stack. The licenses required are as follows:
License SKU
Throughput
No of Sensors
Throughput required
FO96X20ECE-AT
MSP-NS96FO20-OT
20 Gbps
2 * 2 NS9600 Sensors
120 Gbps
(per stack)
FO96X40ECE-AT
MSP-NS96FO40-OT
40 Gbps
FO96X60ECE-AT
MSP-NS96FO60-OT
60 Gbps
For more information on NS9600 licensing, see Management of NS9600 Sensor licenses.
Note
In the event of node failure in a stack, the remaining nodes will continue to function and a fault is generated in Manager → Troubleshooting → Logs → System Faults.