Interface bonding

V20000 and V10000 appliances can bond interfaces for failover or load balancing.

Configuration details are provided below.

Interface bonding is not supported on V5000, X10G, or virtual appliances.
Important: Do not bond interfaces that have different speeds or duplex modes. Doing so can result in performance problems.

V20000 and V10000 with Forcepoint Web Security

Interfaces E1 and E2 can be cabled to your network and then bonded through software settings to a Content Gateway interface, with E1 optionally bonded to P1, and E2 optionally bonded to P2. No other pairing is possible.

Interface bonding provides these alternatives:
  • Active/Standby mode: P1 (or P2) is active, and E1 (or E2) is in standby mode. Only if the primary interface fails would its bonded interface (E1 or E2) become active.
  • Load balancing: If the switch or router that is directly connected to the appliance supports load balancing (etherchannel, trunk group, or similar), then traffic to and from the primary interface can be balanced between the primary interface and its bonded interface (E1 or E2).

You can choose to bond or not bond each Content Gateway interface independently. You do not have to bond at all.

If you do bond an interface, choose one mode for that bonding (either active/standby or load balancing). You do not have to choose the same bonding mode for both interfaces.

Ensure that all interfaces are cabled properly before bonding.

V20000 and V10000 with Forcepoint Email Security only

Interfaces P1 and P2 can be cabled to your network and then bonded through software settings to a Forcepoint Email Security interface, with P1 optionally bonded to E1, and P2 optionally bonded to E2. No other pairing is possible.

Interface bonding provides these alternatives:
  • Active/Standby mode: E1 (or E2) is active, and P1 (or P2) is in standby mode. Only if the primary interface fails would its bonded interface (P1 or P2) become active.
  • Load balancing: If the switch or router that is directly connected to the appliance supports load balancing (etherchannel, trunk group, or similar), then traffic to and from the primary interface can be balanced between the primary interface and its bonded interface (P1 or P2).

You can choose to bond or not bond each Forcepoint Email Security interface independently. You do not have to bond at all.

If you do bond an interface, choose one mode for that bonding (either active/standby or load balancing). You do not have to choose the same bonding mode for both interfaces.

Ensure that all interfaces are cabled properly before bonding.

CLI example:
(config)# set interface bond --mode active-standby