Palo Alto Networks (PANW) Certified Network Security Administrator (PCNSA) Practice Exam

Which High Availability (HA) mode best supports an environment requiring asymmetric routing?

1. Active-Passive mode

2. Active-Active mode

3. Passive mode

4. Failover mode

The correct answer is: Active-Active mode

Active-Active mode is the best choice for environments that require asymmetric routing. In this configuration, both firewalls actively handle traffic simultaneously, allowing them to balance the load and improve resource utilization. This mode facilitates high availability while enabling the routing of packets over multiple paths. In scenarios involving asymmetric routing, packets may take different paths to their destination and return via another route. Active-Active configurations support this by allowing both firewalls to process traffic simultaneously, ensuring seamless communication and allowing for failover without disrupting the ongoing sessions or creating single points of failure. This is critical in dynamic network environments where traffic patterns may change frequently, requiring adaptability to varied routing paths while ensuring the reliability and performance of network connections. Meanwhile, the other modes, such as Active-Passive, do not allow for this level of traffic distribution, as one firewall is actively processing all traffic while the other remains idle until a failover event occurs. Thus, Active-Active mode is specifically designed to accommodate the complexities of asymmetric routing effectively.