Fortinet 5103b User Manual

FortiController-5103B

The FortiController-5103B board is an Advanced Telecommunications Computing 
Architecture (ATCA) compliant session-aware load balancing hub/switch board that 
distributes IPv4 TCP and UDP sessions to multiple FortiGate-5000-series boards (called 
workers) over the ATCA chassis fabric backplane. The FortiController-5103B board forms 
a session-aware load balanced cluster with up to 12 FortiGate-5000 boards operating as 
workers and uses FortiASIC DP processors to load balance millions of sessions to the 
cluster, providing 10 Gbps of traffic to each cluster member. Performance of the cluster 
shows linear improvement if more workers are added. 

Clusters can be formed with one or two FortiController-5103B boards and up to 12 
workers. All of the workers must be the same model. Currently FortiGate-5001B, 
FortiGate-5001C, FortiGate-5101C, and FortiGate-5001D models are supported.

The FortiController-5103B board can be installed in any ATCA chassis that can provide 
sufficient power and cooling. Supported FortiGate chassis include the 14-slot 
FortiGate-5140B and the 6-slot FortiGate-5060 chassis. 

You can also install the FortiController-5103B board in a FortiGate-5144C chassis but 
this is not recommended because the 5144C chassis has a 40Gbit fabric backplane while 
the FortiController-5103B only supports 10Gbit fabric backplane connections. Older 
FortiGate-5000 chassis do not supply the power and cooling required for the 
FortiController-5103B board. 

In all ATCA chassis, FortiController-5103B boards are installed in the first and second 
hub/switch slots (usually slots 1 and 2). A single FortiController-5103B board should be 
installed in slot 1 (but you can install it in slot 2). If you add a second board it should be 
installed in slot 2. 

Two FortiController-5103B boards can be installed in an active-passive HA configuration 
that provides session failover protection. Two FortiController-5103B boards can also be 
installed in the same chassis in dual FortiController mode doubling the amount of 
network interfaces. The FortiController-5103B board in slot 1 always becomes the 
primary board and the one in slot 2 becomes the backup.

Base Network

Activity LEDs

Fabric Network

Activity LEDs

Extraction

Lever

Retention

Screw

Extraction

Lever

Retention

Screw

OOS
LED

STA
LED

PWR
LED

ACC
LED

1 to 8 10 Gig 

SFP+ Network

Interfaces

B1 and B2

10 Gig Base Channel

SFP+ Interfaces

(heartbeat and

management)

MGMT

10/100/1000 Copper

Management Interface

RJ-45

Console

IPM

LED

(board

position)