1. Hardware Installation and Maintenance Guide
  2. Installation
  3. Cabling for HA Deployments

Cabling for HA Deployments

The information and instructions in this section explain how to cable an HA node.

HA Cabling

Category 5 (or higher) shielded Ethernet cables are required for cabling two HA nodes together.

Rear Panel Cabling

You can use one or two connections for HA redundancy support between the two members of an HA node. Using two rear interfaces for sharing redundancy information provides a high level of reliability. As a rule, network management ports should be used in this way:
  • Mgmt0 should be reserved as the boot/maintenance interface.
  • Mgmt1 and Mgmt2 are available for sharing HA information.

Management network ports feature automatic crossover negotiation so that a crossover cable is not necessary for HA cabling.

  1. Insert one end of an Ethernet cable into either Mgmt1 or Mgmt2 on the rear panel of the Acme Packet 4900 A. The release tab on the RJ45 jack clicks into place when you insert it properly.
  2. Insert the other end of the Ethernet cable into the corresponding management interface on the rear panel of the Acme Packet 4900 B. The release tab on the RJ45 jack clicks into place when you insert it properly. If you use Mgmt1 on Acme Packet 4900 A, then you will connect it to Mgmt1 on Acme Packet 4900 B.
  3. Refer to the configuration procedures located in the High Availability chapter of the Configuration Guide.

Dual Rear Interface Support

To cable Acme Packet 4900s in an HA configuration using dual rear interface support:
  1. Insert one end of an Ethernet cable into Mgmt1 on the rear panel of Acme Packet 4900 A. The release tab on the RJ45 jack clicks into place when you insert it properly.
  2. Insert the other end of the cable into the Mgmt1 port on the rear panel of Acme Packet 4900 B.
  3. Insert one end of a second Ethernet cable into Mgmt2 on the rear panel of Acme Packet 4900 A.
  4. Insert the other end of the cable into Mgmt2 on the rear panel of Acme Packet 4900 B.
  5. Refer to the configuration procedures located in the HA Nodes chapter of the Configuration Guide.

Media Cabling for HA Nodes

Media cabling in an HA node depends on network topology. After a switchover between the two Acme Packet 4900s in an HA node, the standby system sends out an ARP message using a configured virtual MAC address, establishing that MAC on another physical port on the same Ethernet switch.