Version 7.2  803  Mediant 800B Gateway & E-SBC 
 
User's Manual   41. HA Overview 
41  HA Overview 
The device's High Availability (HA) feature provides 1+1 system redundancy using two  
devices. If failure occurs in the active device, a switchover occurs to the redundant device 
which takes over the call handling process. Thus the continuity of call services is ensured. 
All active calls (signaling and media) are maintained upon switchover.  
 
 
Note:   
•  Only IP calls are maintained during a switchover; PSTN calls are dropped (by 
sending a SIP BYE message to the IP side). This is because only the active 
device is physically connected to the PSTN interfaces (e.g., E1/T1). For more 
information, see Device Switchover upon Failure on page 804. 
•  HA is supported only on the Mediant 800B hardware platform (not Mediant 800). 
 
The figure  below illustrates the Active-Redundant HA devices under normal operation. 
Communication between the two devices is through a Maintenance interface, having a 
unique IP address for each device. The devices have identical software and configuration 
including network interfaces (i.e., OAMP, Control, and Media), and have identical local-port 
cabling of these interfaces.  
 
 
 
41.1  Connectivity and Synchronization between Devices 
In HA mode, the Ethernet connectivity between the two devices is through a special LAN 
interface on each device, referred to as the Maintenance interface. Each device has its 
own Maintenance interface with a unique address, and each device knows the 
Maintenance address of the other. The Maintenance interface can use a dedicated 
Ethernet port group or share the same Ethernet port group with the other network interface 
types (i.e., OAMP, Media, and Control). 
When only one of the devices is operational it is in HA stand-alone state. This means that 
the device has no connectivity to the second device. When the second device is powered 
up, it recognizes the active device through the Maintenance network and acquires the HA 
redundant state. It then begins synchronizing for HA with the active device through the 
Maintenance network. During synchronization, the active device sends the redundant 
device its current configuration settings, including Auxiliary files. The active device also 
sends its software file (.cmp) if the redundant device is running a different software version. 
Once loaded to the redundant device, the redundant device reboots to apply the new 
configuration and/or software. This ensures that the two units are synchronized regarding 
configuration and software.