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Redundant Sensors on a single path

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Trellix IPS is engineered to seamlessly slip onto networks within existing networks and between redundant paths. This simplifies implementing a Sensor HA pair in complicated environments. However, introducing a Sensor HA pair in a network with a single path requires additional effort.

A pair of Sensors can run in parallel on a network as shown in the following figure.

GUID-9516951A-B33E-4E37-9B56-880B6E9E4C3C-low.png

Here, a pair of Sensors are "sandwiched" between a pair of switches and STP is used to control the failover process. However, this causes one Sensor to be redundant, unless a fail-over occurs. This in turn complicates the Layer 2 infrastructure and causes a latency of 12 to 50 seconds due to the STP convergence.

Instead, consider the configuration in the below figure for a single path:

Stack configuration
Stack Configuration


Note

To view the list of failover ports used for each Sensor model refer to HA pair cable connections. If you are using stacked Sensors, the failover port is G1/1.

These Sensors are configured to run inline, failopen, and function as a HA pair.

The advantages of this redundant configuration over others on a network with a single path are as follows:

  • There is no dependency on Layer 2 or Layer 3 topologies for Sensor redundancy.

  • If one Sensor fails, it fails open, and the other Sensor continues to scan with no interruption.

  • Because they are configured as a HA pair, state will be maintained.

The disadvantages of this redundant configuration are as follows:

  • Duplicate alerts are generated for UDP and ICMP attacks.

  • Latency is induced as the packets traverse across two Sensors instead of one.