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PCNSA Practice Question: Which THREE of the following are valid features…
Which THREE of the following are valid features of Palo Alto Networks active/passive HA?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse active/passive with active/active HA, assuming that both devices share traffic or that the passive device does not participate in monitoring, when in fact active/passive strictly uses one device for forwarding and the other for standby with full monitoring capabilities.
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
✓
Session synchronization from active to passive.
In Palo Alto Networks active/passive HA, session state information is synchronized from the active firewall to the passive firewall. This ensures that when a failover occurs, the passive device can take over with minimal disruption, maintaining existing sessions without requiring clients to re-establish connections.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Session synchronization from active to passive.
Why this is correct
Sessions are synced so failover is seamless.
- ✗
Prevention of link monitoring on passive device.
Why it's wrong here
Link monitoring can be configured on passive as well.
- ✓
Stateful failover of sessions.
Why this is correct
Existing sessions continue after failover due to session sync.
- ✓
Automatic synchronization of configuration changes.
Why this is correct
Config changes on active are synced to passive.
- ✗
Load sharing of traffic between both devices.
Why it's wrong here
Load sharing is a characteristic of active/active, not active/passive.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PCNSA 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 PCNSA exam.