Fortinet FortiGate-5000 User Guide

By default a FortiGate-5000 HA cluster uses Port 9 and Port 10 for heartbeat 
communication. Port 9 and Port 10 are not visible on the FortiGate-5000 faceplate or 
on the web-based manager, but they are visible on the CLI. You can use the CLI to 
view and change the heartbeat priority configuration for Port 9 and Port 10. You can 
use the web-based manager or the CLI to set the heartbeat priority for other 
interfaces.

Change the heartbeat device priorities as required to control the interface that is used 
for heartbeat traffic and the interface to which heartbeat traffic reverts if the interface 
with the highest heartbeat priority fails or is disconnected.

Setting the heartbeat priority for more interfaces increases the reliability of the cluster. 
To optimize bandwidth use, you can route most heartbeat traffic to interfaces that 
handle less network traffic. You can also create a failover path by setting heartbeat 
priorities so that you can control the order in which interfaces are used for heartbeat 
traffic.

You do not need to assign IP addresses to heartbeat device interfaces for them to be 
able to process heartbeat packets. The cluster assigns virtual IP addresses to the 
heartbeat device interfaces. The primary cluster unit heartbeat device interface is 
assigned the IP address 10.0.0.1 and the subordinate unit heartbeat device interface 
is assigned the IP address 10.0.0.2. A third cluster unit would be assigned the IP 
address 10.0.0.3 and so on.

For best results, isolate each heartbeat device on its own network. Heartbeat packets 
contain sensitive information about the cluster configuration. Also, heartbeat packets 
may use a considerable amount of network bandwidth and it is preferable to isolate 
this traffic from your user networks. The extra bandwidth used by heartbeat packets 
could also reduce the capacity of the interface to process network traffic.

For most FortiGate models if you do not change the heartbeat device configuration, 
you would isolate the HA interfaces of all of the cluster units by connecting them all to 
the same switch. If the cluster consists of two FortiGate units you can connect the 
heartbeat device interfaces directly using a crossover cable.

HA heartbeat and data traffic are supported on the same FortiGate interface. In 
NAT/Route mode, if you decide to use the heartbeat device interfaces for processing 
network traffic or for a management connection, you can assign the interface any IP 
address. This IP address does not affect the heartbeat traffic.

In Transparent mode, you can connect the interface to your network and enable 
management access. You would then establish a management connection to the 
interface using the Transparent mode management IP address.

FortiGate-5000

Port 9

50

Port 10

100