If there are several Internet connections, the “Connection Failover” option becomes available in the Server settings. This option allows automatic switching of the UserGate Server to an alternative Internet connection if there is no connection at the primary channel.

To use the “Connection Failover” option you should specify the following: the primary Internet connection, one or several reserve connection channels and a list of “control hosts” IP addresses (Fig.2). UserGate will carry out the check-up of control hosts availability by sending ICMP echo-requests (the ping command). The request period is 30 seconds by default, which can be changed manually. The Timeout parameter enables you to specify the respond time. If several “control hosts” are specified in “Connection Failover”, the UserGate Server will check these hosts in sequence. A lack of response from all specified “control hosts” will be interpreted by the UserGate Server as the primary Internet connection failure. Therefore, it is recommended to specify several of the most stable Internet hosts as “control hosts”.

Figure 2. Connection Failover settings..

As a reserve connection UserGate Server can use either an Ethernet connection (dedicated channel, WAN interface) or a Dial-Up (VPN) connection (PPP interface). Network Address Translation (NAT) rules with an automatic outgoing WAN interface selection use reserve connections automatically.

After reserve Internet connection switching, UserGate Server regularly checks the primary channel availability and, if possible, switches users back to the primary Internet connection.