How to set up your FortiWAN
Planning the network topology
Version = Updated version number, State = Slave:
Firmware update succeeds on both units.
Version = Non-updated version number, State = Slave:
Firmware update is aborted by abnormalities. Both units
fail to update. Please perform the HA firmware update again (with [Update Slave] being checked).
Version = Updated version number, State = Incompatible:
The peer unit succeeds in updating, but the local unit
fails. Please perform the single unit firmware update (without [Update Slave] being checked).
Version = Non-updated version number, State = Incompatible:
The local unit succeeds in updating, but the
peer unit fails. Please reboot local unit to switch the master-slave relationship of the two units. Reconnect and login to
Web UI, and perform the single unit firmware update (without [Update Slave] being checked).
Note: If there are abnormal behaviors in the DMZ or public IP servers, go to [System] → [Diagnostic Tools] →[ARP
Enforcement] and execute [Enforce] for troubleshooting. Also notice that if the Ethernet cable for HA between the
master and slave is removed or disconnected.
If abnormal behaviors appear consistently, please remove the network and HA cable, and perform the firmware update
procedure again to both system individually.Then reconnect them to the network as well as the HA deployment.
If repetitive errors occur during the firmware update process, DO NOT ever switch off the device and contact your
dealer for technical support.
HA Fallback to Single Unit Deployment
The steps to fallback to single unit deployment from HA are:
1. Log onto Web UI via Administrator account. Go to [System] → [Summary]and double check and make sure the
peer device is under normal condition (See "
").
2. Turn the Master off if the Master is to be removed. The Slave will take over the network immediately without
impacting services. If the Slave is to be removed, then simply turn the Slave off.
3. Remove the device and the associated cables.
Steps of the Slave Take Over are:
1. In the HA setup, the Master unit is in an active state and serving the network at the meanwhile the Slave unit is
monitoring the Master.
2. In the case of unit failover (Hardware failure, Power failure, HA cable failure, etc), the Slave takes over the network
and beeps once when the switchover is completed. The switchover requires 15 seconds or so since negotiations
for states.
3. The switched Master unit becomes the Slave unit in the HA deployment even it is repaired from failures. You can
power cycle the Master unit to have another switchover to the units.
Long-distance HA deployment
Sometimes the two FortiWAN appliances used to establish HA deployment are apart from each other geographically.
It requires several Ethernet switches or bridges to connect the two appliances across areas or buildings. Since
FortiWAN is designed to join a HA deployment by directly connecting the two RJ-45 ports (HA ports) with a Ethernet
cable, it is supposed that there is not any non-HA Ethernet frames broadcasted between the two appliances. The HA
messages interchanged for availability detection are raw Ethernet frames of EtherType 0x88B6 (LOCAL2), not 0x0800
(IPv4); and the mechanism of FortiWAN's HA deployment is very sensitive to non-HA Ethernet frames. For this reason,
it requires STP and ARP being disabled on the switch (connecting the two FortiWAN units) to avoid misleading the
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FortiWAN Handbook
Fortinet Technologies Inc.
