Protect your network from interruption, An Inline Lifeline for Growing Networks

Problem: Inline Tool Risk

Neworks face a continualusly evolving barrage of security threats. By deploying inline security tools you create a line of defense, but these tools can also result in single points of failure. In the event that your inline tool becomes unavailable due to a failure, reboot or maintenance it can bring down the network link, compromising network uptime and business continuity.

Solution ByPass Switch:

A Bypass Tap is designed to avoid the "single point of failure". with your inline security tools.  The bypass switch is deployed in front of your IPS or next generation firewall (NGFW) and in the event that an active tool fails, either due to a hardware malfunction, power loss, or software problem, a Bypass TAP will keep the link flowing, while a redundant path can be activated. This way it acts as a fail-safe link point of access, for inline network monitoring.

Advantages of Using an External Bypass Switch:

• Keeps network traffic flowing when the inline appliance fails.
• Allows the in-line appliance to be removed or serviced without impacting network fraffic. For example, an IPS can be take offline for upgrades, maintenance or troubleshooting.
• In-line appliance can be moved from one network segment to another without impacting network traffic.

HeartBeat

A ByPass Switch or TAP monitors the health of the active, in-line appliance by sending heartbeats to the in-line security appliances. As long as the in-band security appliane is on-line, the heartbeat packets will be returned to the switch/TAP, and the link traffic will continue to flow through the in-line security appliance.

If the heartbeat packets are not returned to the TAP (indicating that the in-line security appliance has gone off-line), the TAP will automatically bypass the in-band security appliance and keep the link traffic flowing. The TAP also removes the heartbeat packets before sending the network traffic back onto the critical link.

How a ByPass Switch Works