NSE7 Troubleshooting and Diagnostics Practice Question
A network administrator is troubleshooting a split-brain scenario in an HA cluster. Which TWO conditions can cause split-brain? (Choose two.)
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Loss of heartbeat link between HA members
Options A and D are correct. Loss of HA heartbeat communication (A) causes both units to think they are primary. Mismatched HA configuration (D) can also cause split-brain. Option B causes failover but not split-brain. Option C is irrelevant.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Loss of heartbeat link between HA members
Why this is correct
Loss of the heartbeat link severs the dedicated HA communication path, so each FortiGate independently concludes the peer has failed and transitions to primary. Both devices then hold the same IP addresses and MAC addresses, producing the duplicate-active condition the stem describes. This satisfies the split-brain cause directly.
- ✗
One unit has a higher priority
Why it's wrong here
Priority determines which unit becomes primary, not whether heartbeats are exchanged; split-brain arises from lost heartbeat links or monitor failures, so unequal priority merely decides the winner once both units are already active. Priority is genuinely configured to control primary election in a healthy cluster.
- ✗
Firmware version mismatch
Why it's wrong here
Firmware version mismatch between cluster members prevents proper HA state synchronisation but does not itself cause both nodes to claim active status simultaneously. Version consistency is required for supported clustering, yet split-brain stems from heartbeat or connectivity failures, not image differences.
- ✓
Mismatched HA configuration (e.g., different HA mode)
Why this is correct
Mismatched HA configuration directly breaks the heartbeat and election agreement between peers, so each device believes it is primary. Different HA modes (active-passive versus active-active) prevent consistent state synchronisation, satisfying the stem's split-brain condition where both nodes simultaneously assume the primary role.
- ✗
Session pickup is disabled
Why it's wrong here
Session pickup governs whether TCP sessions survive failover to the new primary; it has no role in detecting peer availability, so disabling it cannot partition the cluster. It is correctly configured when uninterrupted session continuity across a failover is required.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This NSE7 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Fortinet certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the NSE7 exam.