Network Implementation Guide › Technical Information › LEDs Show Bypass Status

LEDs Show Bypass Status

LEDs on the back of the NBA indicate the status of the ‘hardware bypass’. The bypass enables the NBA to continue forwarding data packets even if there is a sudden hardware failure or loss of power. The bypass configuration is pre-set and must not be changed.

There is a built-in hardware bypass for each pair of data inspection ports. If a hardware or power failure occurs, the NBA is reduced to a direct physical connection between the network cables attached to each port. The paired ports are:

• Bivio 2000 appliances: s0.e0 and s0.e1.
• Bivio 7000 appliances: s0.e0 and s0.e1; s0.e2 and s0.e3, s0.e4 and s0.e5; s0.e6 and s0.e7.

The bypass status is indicated by LEDs on the back of the NBA. A pair of LEDs is assigned to each pair of data inspection ports. For each pair of LEDs:

• When the top LED is on, the ports are linked.

  If the bottom LED is also on, the bypass is enabled and data will continue to pass through the NBA even if a failure occurs.

  Note: The NBA is pre-configured so that the bypass is always enabled for the data inspection ports and the bottom LED is always on. Do not change this setting.

• When the top LED is off, the ports are in a failed state.

  If the bottom LED is also off, the system has lost power or is rebooting. If the bottom LED is on, the failed state was forced by an administrative command.

On Bivio 2000 appliances, the NBA only uses port pair s0.e0 and s0.e1 for data packets transiting through the device. It does not use port pair s0.e2 and s0.e3 for packets transiting through the device and the LEDs for these ports are not relevant for NBA operations.

On Bivio 7000 appliances, all port pairs are used for data packets transiting through the device. During normal operations, all the hardware bypass LEDs are on.

More information:

Bivio 2000

Bivio 7000