Best option for cold spare backup/restoration?
Hello,
I'm putting together some internal "help docs" for managing some networks, and got one of the Firewalla Gold Pro units embedded.
Ordered a spare unit to act as a "cold" swap-out in event the original becomes operationally unavailable (for whatever reason).
Having looked at the community posts here on "backup/restore" options, it hasn't been clear on how 'best' to handle a cold spare scenario, but in the event of total unit loss, mentions are that the app retains the core config, but not so clear on whether that can be applied to a 'different' unit?
What is the recommended approach for dealing with a cold spare scenario?
No issue firing it up every now and then to capture any specific updates, but be good to understand what approach is deemed right for this type of scenario.
Looking at the help articles/app, there is plenty for migrating, but not quite the scenario i'm curious over.
Worst case, it's a manual setup, but figured best to ask!
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I think for your scenario, the best option is Migrate data from another box(after installation) (This feature is supported on all Firewalla boxes).
Suppose your box A is paired and running. One day, Box A is down. As long as its paring is still on your phone, and App cache is not cleared, the box configuration will be stored there. Now after you finish pairing the new Box B, just use the Migrate data from another box feature to copy box A's devices, rules, feature settings etc. to Box B.
Please note that the following data will not be restored or migrated:
- OpenVPN VPN Server and DDNS configurations
- Past alarms and network flows
- Data usage, Internet speed, quality test history
- MSP-related configurations (you will need to re-add the restored box to MSP)
- Any private data (containers, privately installed packages)
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Is the migrate option non-destructive?
As in, Box A been running, and is unavailable, unbox Box B and use the 'migrate' option:
- The settings of Box A are respected and retained?
- If Box A is brought back online (gracefully/off main network) will it be recognised as 'Box A' or treated like a whole new system?
I can imagine in that scenario it'd be akin to treating it lije the reverse, i.e. if the goal is only 'one box running/not HA' then Box A (if back operational) goes back into stores, and becomes the new 'cold spare'.
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This particular migrate option is non-destructive.
After migration, Box A's pairing will still be there and configuration will stay unchanged. If box A comes back online, the pairing will still work as it used to be (unless you reset box A). Thus, you can do it like migrating from A to B, then later from B to A.
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Hi IHaveABigNetwork, has your Gold Plus already been configured for your network in the past? It should be OK to leave it as is. If your Pro goes down, you can simply replace it with the Gold Plus and run Migrate data from another box to pull the latest data from your Pro. This can give you the least amount of downtime during the restoration process.
(Our doc team is also working on a guide for cold standby and redundancy best practices.)
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