What is the purpose of “Active/Passive Failover” in Firebox redundancy?

The concept of "Active/Passive Failover" in Firebox redundancy primarily aims to ensure high availability and reliability in network operations. In an Active/Passive setup, one Firebox (the active unit) handles all the traffic while the second Firebox (the passive unit) remains on standby. This standby unit is constantly monitored and updated with the current state of the active unit, allowing it to take over seamlessly in the event of a failure.

When the active Firebox experiences a malfunction or needs maintenance, the passive unit can immediately jump into action, providing backup and enabling continuous network operations without significant downtime. This setup is crucial for organizations that require uninterrupted service and want to mitigate the risks of hardware failure impacting their network.

The other options, while relevant in networking and security contexts, do not specifically relate to the primary function of Active/Passive Failover. Maintaining continuous traffic without interruptions is a result of the failover system, rather than its defined purpose. Load distribution pertains more to Active/Active configurations, where both units share the load. Finally, encryption of data in transit is a separate concern from the redundancy approach provided by Active/Passive Failover.