Active-Active Failover is a high-availability configuration where multiple systems or devices are set up to share the load and provide redundancy. In this setup, all nodes are active and handle traffic simultaneously, ensuring that if one node fails, the others can continue to manage the workload without interruption. This approach maximizes resource utilization and minimizes downtime.
Key Characteristics of Active-Active Failover
Load Balancing: In an active-active configuration, traffic is distributed across all active nodes, which helps in balancing the load and improving performance. Each node handles a portion of the traffic, and if one node fails, the remaining nodes take over its load seamlessly[1][2][4].
Redundancy: Active-active failover provides redundancy by having multiple nodes ready to take over in case of a failure. This ensures continuous availability and reliability of the service[2][4].
Multiple Context Mode: For systems like Cisco ASA, active-active failover is only available in multiple context mode. This means the system is divided into multiple virtual devices (contexts), each operating independently with its own security policies and interfaces[2][6].
Failover Groups: In configurations like Cisco ASA, contexts are assigned to failover groups. Each group has a primary and secondary role, and the failover status (active or standby) is determined by these roles. This setup allows for efficient failover and load sharing[2].
Session State Maintenance: In some systems, session state information is continuously synchronized across all active nodes. This ensures that ongoing sessions are not disrupted during a failover event[4].
High Availability: Active-active failover is designed to provide high availability by ensuring that all resources are available most of the time. If a resource becomes unavailable, the system detects it and stops using it, rerouting traffic to the remaining healthy nodes[9][10].
Benefits of Active-Active Failover
Improved Resource Utilization: Unlike active-passive configurations where standby resources remain idle, active-active setups utilize all available resources, leading to better performance and efficiency[1][4].
Minimized Downtime: By having multiple active nodes, the system can handle failures without significant downtime, ensuring continuous service availability[2][4].
Scalability: Active-active configurations can easily scale by adding more nodes to the cluster, which help...
