Ace redundancy with different software licences

[Muhammed AKYUZ]

Hi,

We have 4710 with ACE-4710-1F-K9.

1G Bundle: Includes ACE 4710 Hardware, 1 Gbps  Throughput, 5,000 SSL TPS, 500 Mbps Compression, 5 Virtual Devices, 50  Application Acceleration Connection License, Embedded Device Manager

We have another 4710 with ACE-4710-2F-K9.

2G Bundle: Includes ACE 4710 Hardware, 2 Gbps  Throughput, 7,500 SSL TPS, 1Gbps Compression, 5 Virtual Devices, 50  Application Acceleration Connection License, Embedded Device Manager

Is that possible to make redundancy (FT GROUP) with 2 devices has different software bundles?

[chrhiggi]

Hello-

When you initially setup the ACE's in an FT pair, they initially figure out who is master based on priority, then they check if the licenses that they each have installed are the same.  If there is a mismatch, FT will continue to check the configuration and will eventually go into a "standby warm" state.  It will not config-sync the startup or running configurations until you install the correct license and toggle config sync.

This is what yo uwould see:

ACE-A/Admin# show ft group 1 status

FT Group                     : 1
Configured Status            : in-service
Maintenance mode             : MAINT_MODE_OFF
My State                     : FSM_FT_STATE_ACTIVE
Peer State                   : FSM_FT_STATE_STANDBY_WARM
Peer Id                      : 1
No. of Contexts              : 1
Running cfg sync status      : Detected license mismatch with peer, disabling running-config auto sync
Startup cfg sync status      : Detected license mismatch with peer, disabling running-config auto sync

If you disable config sync, it will still stay in a warm state and ignore the license mismatch:

ACE-A/Admin# show ft group 1 status

FT Group                     : 1
Configured Status            : in-service
Maintenance mode             : MAINT_MODE_OFF
My State                     : FSM_FT_STATE_ACTIVE
Peer State                   : FSM_FT_STATE_STANDBY_WARM
Peer Id                      : 1
No. of Contexts              : 1
Running cfg sync status      : Sync disabled by CLI.
Startup cfg sync status      : Sync disabled by CLI.

It is not recommended to run with 2 different licenses because it is possible that you failover and don't have enough resources to carry the traffic that the active was running - however - if you disable configuration sync, it will allow you to do such.

Regards,

Chris Higgins

[Muhammed AKYUZ]

Thanks for the answer Chris..

I just want to know one more thing, if i buy individual license for ACE-4710-1F-K9, will there be problem? or do i have to buy 2G bundle?

ACE-AP-02-LIC

2 Gbps Throughput License

ACE-AP-SSL-7K-K9

SSL 7,500 TPS License

ACE-AP-C-2000-LIC

2 Gbps Compression License

We have 4710 with ACE-4710-1F-K9.

1G  Bundle: Includes ACE 4710 Hardware, 1 Gbps  Throughput, 5,000 SSL TPS,  500 Mbps Compression, 5 Virtual Devices, 50  Application Acceleration  Connection License, Embedded Device Manager

We have another 4710 with ACE-4710-2F-K9.

2G  Bundle: Includes ACE 4710 Hardware, 2 Gbps  Throughput, 7,500 SSL TPS,  1Gbps Compression, 5 Virtual Devices, 50  Application Acceleration  Connection License, Embedded Device Manager

[chrhiggi]

As long as the licenses match via the total for each ACE, you should be ok.

i.e. if they both have 2gb/s, 7500 SSL TPS, 1gb/s Compression, they will sync just fine, it does not matter how you got there.  If one of them has 20 virtual context on top of all that, then it wouldn't match.

There is actually an upgrade package to go from 1f to 2f if you already have the 1f installed (I am just a lowely TAC guy, so I don't know the part numbers for these things, but double check with your SE and he/she should have it handy.)

Regards,

Chris