Fortinet 5003 - Manual (Page 80)

FortiSwitch-5003A and 5003 Fabric and Base Backplane Communications Guide
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Base backplane data configurations FortiGate-5140 and 5050 base backplane communication
Connecting FortiGate boards to the network
By installing one or two FortiSwitch boards per chassis, you can connect
FortiGate boards to the network or Internet through their base backplane
interfaces.
There are several ways you can connect FortiGate boards to the network,
depending on your available hardware and other goals such as hardware
redundancy.
• The most basic way to connect FortiGate boards to the network through the
base backplane is to connect one of the FortiSwitch front panel base or ZRE
interfaces to the network.
• By installing a second FortiSwitch board per chassis, you can provide a
redundant network connection.
• By connecting front panel base or ZRE interfaces of other chassis FortiSwitch
boards to the front panel base or ZRE interface of the FortiSwitch board
connected to the network, you can provide a shared network.
Configure FortiGate boards to communicate with the network through the base
backplane interfaces as you would other interfaces.