Utilizing the Path Feature (Static Routes)

Usage

The User-Defined Path is a new feature that can be used in conjunction with Static Routes to define and test paths used for the associated static route. A remote host or hosts are defined for a path to test (ping) and the static route is added or removed from the routing table based on the whether the path is passing or failing the test.

By default, static routes will be removed from the routing table if the specified local WAN link experiences an outage. The benefit of specifying a path is testing the remote site's availability and using that information to automatically switch over to an alternate path if an issue occurs on the preferred path.

Configuration

One of the most common implementations of the path feature is connecting multiple sites over a MPLS network. This scenario is used as the example in this article.

Log into the Ecessa appliance's web interface and go to the Static Route page. Click on the link "Configure User-Defined Paths" to access the path configuration page.

For this example, a path will be created to test the remote host of 192.168.125.10. 

The static route is then associated with the path. If the remote node is unavailable over the WAN line, the traffic is re-routed to use WAN Virtualization (Channel Bonding) instead.

The Path status can be viewed by clicking on "View Outbound" located in the top toolbar.