Cybersecurity-Practitioner Cybersecurity Fundamentals Practice Question
A security architect is designing high availability (HA) for a pair of Palo Alto Networks firewalls to ensure business continuity during hardware failures. Which HA operational mode ensures that both firewalls actively process traffic and synchronize session tables in real-time?
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
✓
HA Active/Active mode with session synchronization enabled
HA Active/Active mode allows both firewalls to process traffic simultaneously, requiring session synchronization and floating IP addresses.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Cluster mode with dynamic routing ECMP multipath load balancing
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. ECMP balances traffic across multiple paths, which is a routing feature rather than firewall HA clustering mode.
- ✗
Virtual Router redundancy protocol (VRRP) standalone failover groups
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. VRRP provides gateway redundancy for hosts, but does not synchronize firewall state tables like session tables and NAT tables.
- ✗
HA Active/Passive mode with preemption enabled
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. In Active/Passive, only one firewall processes traffic at a time while the standby remains idle.
- ✓
HA Active/Active mode with session synchronization enabled
Why this is correct
Correct. Active/Active mode enables both firewalls to process traffic simultaneously with synchronized session state tables.
About these practice questions
This Cybersecurity-Practitioner question is part of Courseiva's 206-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed August 2026 · checked against the official Palo Alto Networks exam blueprint
This Cybersecurity-Practitioner practice question is part of Courseiva's free Palo Alto Networks 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 Cybersecurity-Practitioner exam.