Installation guide

Adding Physical Interfaces for Master Engines

Master Engines can have two types of Physical Interfaces: interfaces for the Master Engine’s

own communications, and interfaces that are used by the Virtual IPS engines hosted on the

Master Engine. Physical Interfaces that are used for the Master Engine’s own communications

must be defined as Normal Interfaces. Physical Interfaces that are used for hosted Virtual IPS

communications must be defined as Capture or Inline Interfaces.

You must define at least one Physical Interface for the Master Engine’s own communications. It

is recommended to define at least two Physical Interfaces for the Master Engine:

• An interface used for communications between the Management Server and the Firewall/VPN

engine.

• An interface for the heartbeat communications between the cluster nodes. The heartbeat

traffic is critical to the functioning of the cluster, so it is highly recommended to have a

dedicated heartbeat interface.

 To add a Physical Interface to a Master Engine

1. Switch to the Interfaces tab of the Master Engine Properties.

2. Right-click the empty space and select New Physical Interface. The Physical Interface

Properties dialog opens.

3. (Interface for Master Engine communications only) Define the Physical Interface properties

as explained in the table below.

Table 7.1 Physical Interface Properties for Master Engine Communications - General Tab

Options Explanation

Interface ID

The Interface ID automatically maps to a Physical Interface of the same number

during the initial configuration of the engine, but the mapping can be changed as

necessary through the engine’s command line interface.

Type Select Normal Interface as the Interface Type for Master Engine communications.

MTU

(Optional)

The MTU (maximum transmission unit) size on the connected link. Either enter a

value between 400-65535 or select a common MTU value from the list.

The default value (also the maximum standard MTU in Ethernet) is 1500. Do not

set a value larger than the standard MTU unless you know that all the devices

along the communications path support it.