• About SonicOS
  • What is SonicOS?
  • Where Do I Find Information About SonicOS?
  • SonicOS Web Interface to Administration Guide Reference
  • Guide Conventions
• Firewall Management Methods
• About the SonicOS Management Interface
  • Logging Into SonicOS
  • Logging Out of SonicOS
  • Contemporary vs Classic Web Interface
  • Global Search
  • Online Help
  • Notification Center
  • SonicOS Guides (Wizards)
    • Public Server Guide
    • VPN Guide
    • Wireless Guide
    • SDWAN Guide
  • SSH Terminal Access
  • About the Top Menu Views
  • About the API and CLI
  • Legal Information
• Features of SonicOS
  • Features Available in Policy Mode
    • About Unified Policies in SonicOS
    • About the Shadow Feature
    • About Action Profiles
  • Features Available on TZ Series, NSa Series, and NSsp Series
    • Switch Management
    • PortShield Groups
    • Access Points Management
    • WWAN and 4G/LTE
    • Storage Device Configuration
  • Features Available on NSv Series
    • Feature Support on NSv Series
    • Changing Between Classic Mode and Policy Mode
      • Choosing the Mode in Fresh Deployments or Upgrades
      • Changing From Classic to Policy Mode
      • Changing From Policy to Classic Mode
  • Features Available on NSsp 15700
    • About Multi-Instance
• SonicWall Support
  • About This Document

About Multi-Instance

SonicOS 7.0 on NSsp 15700 supports the Multi-Instance feature. This feature allows the security appliance to launch multiple instances of SonicOS, each serving as an independent firewall. The Root Instance configures and launches each instance. Once the individual instances are up and running, their X0...X7 interfaces allow access for detailed firewall configuration.

Multi-Instance is configured from the DEVICE | Multi-Instance menu group.

Configuration starts from the Multi-Instance > Settings page:

Each instance’s X0, X1, X2... X7 interfaces are mapped to a VLAN on the NSsp front panel port (X0 to X25) by the Root Instance. Each instance can be configured with up to 8 ports. Each instance port can be mapped to a front panel port and tagged with a VLAN ID.

When you register your NSsp 15700 appliance, a number of instance licenses are automatically created. These licenses are displayed in the Multi-Instance > Instance Licenses page.

You can configure two instances as a High Availability pair: on a single NSsp 15700 and across two NSsp 15700 appliances that are already established as an HA pair.

• On a Single NSsp – Multiple instances within an NSsp can support Stateful HA. This multi-instance HA model exactly mimics the NSv HA model in terms of the behavior and capabilities. Two instances can be paired to form a Stateful HA pair. One of them assumes the role as a Primary active instance and the other as the Secondary standby instance. The active and standby roles can change during an instance's lifetime.
• On an NSsp HA pair – Multiple instances residing on different units of an established NSsp HA pair can support Stateful HA. This requires a physical connection between at least one dedicated physical port on each of the NSsp HA units, to be used for the Multi-instance HA Control interface and HA Data interface.

For more information about enabling and configuring Multi-Instance, refer to the SonicOS 7.0 Multi-Instance Administration Guide and the SonicOS 7.0 Getting Started for the NSsp 15700 guide on the SonicWall technical documentation portal.