Specifications

Chapter 6
6-4
5. If you are arming fail-safe, in the Timeout box, type the maximum
time allowed for a loss of network traffic before a fail-over occurs.
6. Click the Apply button.
Toarmordisarmfail-safeonaVLANfromthecommand
line
To look up the names of the existing VLANs, use the bigpipe vlan
command with the show keyword:
b vlan show
To arm fail-safe on a particular VLAN, use the bigpipe vlan command with
the failsafe arm keyword:
b vlan <vlan_name> timeout <seconds>
b vlan <vlan_name> failsafe arm
For example, you have an external VLAN named vlan1 and an internal
VLAN named vlan2. To arm the fail-safe option on both cards with a
timeout of 30 seconds, you need to issue the following commands:
b vlan vlan1 timeout 30
b vlan vlan2 timeout 30
b vlan vlan1 failsafe arm
b vlan vlan2 failsafe arm
To disarm fail-safe on a particular VLAN, use the bigpipe vlan command
with the failsafe arm keyword:
b vlan <vlan_name> failsafe disarm
Mirroring connection information
When the fail-over process puts the active BIG-IP duties onto a standby
unit, the connection capability of your site returns so quickly that you have
little chance to see it. By preparing a redundant system for the possibility of
fail-over, you effectively maintain your site’s reliability and availability in
advance. But fail-over alone is not enough to preserve the connections and
transactions on your servers at the moment of fail-over; they would be
dropped as the active unit goes down unless you have enabled mirroring.
The mirror feature on BIG-IP units is the ongoing communication between
the active and standby units that duplicates the active unit’s real-time
connection information state on the standby unit. If you have enabled
mirroring, fail-over can be so seamless that file transfers can proceed
uninterrupted, customers making orders can complete transactions without
interruption, and your servers can generally continue with whatever they
were doing at the time of fail-over.