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R6100 AUTO BYPASS SWITCH Page 7of 27
In a typical IPS environment, the NETWORK port on the R6100 would be connected to an unused port on the
edge router/switch as noted in the example configuration in figure 1 above. To provide auto bypass switching,
the R6100 can be configured to use the firewall’s IP and MAC addresses for the monitor IP address and
monitor MAC address parameters. With this configuration, if the R6100 detects a problem thru the normal path
and the IPS to the firewall, it will automatically switch to the bypass path. The auto recovery switching
function is typically not used in this type of application, and would normally be disabled. This approach allows
the network security manager to verify that when a problem occurs in the normal path thru the IPS (causing the
R6100 to switch to the bypass path), that anyproblems related to the IPS and the normal path are resolved
before the IPS is reconnected to the network. Once these problems have been resolved, the network security
manager can then issue a “set system B” command to the R6100 to switch back to the normal path.
In a typical failover environment, the NETWORK port on the R6100 would be connected to a layer 2 switch or
HUB as described in the example configuration in figure 2 above. To provide auto failover/recovery, the R6100
can be configured to use the IP and MAC addresses of a device on the “normal” network for the monitor IP
address and monitor MAC address parameters. With this configuration, the auto bypass switching function will
cause the R6100 to automatically switch to the failover network if it detects a problem thru the normal path to
the device being monitored. And if the auto recovery switching function is enabled, it will cause the R6100 to
automatically switch back from the failover network connection to the normal network connection once the
normal network operation is restored (the R6100 is able to PING the device again on the normal network path).
When using the auto bypass and auto recovery features, the monitorip address and monitormac address
parameters can be configured to monitor connectivity to any device within, or outside of the user’s network
environment. The monitormac address has two modes of operation–it can be manually configured, or it can be
set to automatic mode. For automatic mode, simply set the monitormac address parameter to 00 00 00 00 00 00.
Then set the monitorip address parameter to the IP address of the device you want to PING in order to monitor
the normal network path connections. The R6100 will issue an ARP request to the gateway router to get the
appropriate MAC address it needs to use in the PING packet. Alternately, you can manually enter the
appropriate MAC address. If monitoring connectivity to a device on the same subnet as the R6100’s internal
Ethernet node, set the R6100’s monitorip address and monitormac address parameters to the IP address and
MAC address of the device being monitored. If monitoring connectivity to a device on a different
subnet/network than the R6100’s internal Ethernet node, set the R6100’s monitormac address parameter to the
MAC address of the gateway router on the R6100’s subnet, and set the monitorip address parameter to the IP
address of the device being monitored. This allows the PING packet issued by the R6100 to be routed through
the gateway router to the target device on a different subnet/network.
4.7 Once you have configured the TCP/IP parameters, you may also want to configure the R6100’s access control
related parameters. The R6100 has an internal http server that provides access to its command interface via any
web browser. This internal http server can be enabled or disabled. If enabled, a password can also be set, its
TCP/IP port number can be configured, and an inactivity timeout can be configured to prevent unauthorized
access. The R6100 also provides telnet access, and SNMP access to its command interface. These interfaces
also have additional configuration parameters to restrict unauthorized access. See section 7 for a complete
description of theses access control related commands.
4.8 After setting up the system and configuring the auto switching features, remote access features, and TCP/IP
parameters for your application, you need to save the configuration in non-volatile memory by using the SAVE
command. After saving new parameters, it is recommended that you cycle power or use the RESET command
to reboot the R6100 to insure that the newly saved parameters are activated.
5. Operation
Whenever the R6100 Auto Bypass Switch is powered OFF, or if power fails, the non-latching relays in the R6100 will
be in the “BYPASS or A” to “COMMON or C” connection state, connecting the devices/networks attached to the
BYPASS (A) ports to the COMMON (C) ports of both sets of A/B switching elements within the R6100. When power
is applied to the R6100, the appropriate power supply status indicators (PS1 and/or PS2) will light and the BYPASS
(A) LED indicator on the front of the unit will also light to show that the non-latching relays in the R6100 are in the