Paloalto Networks Updated PCNSE Exam Questions and Answers by kobi

https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/pan-os/10-1/pan-os-admin/virtual-systems/communication-between-virtual-systems/inter-vsys-traffic-that-remains-within-the-firewall/external-zone

In a High Availability (HA) setup with Palo Alto Networks firewalls, the synchronization of IPsec tunnel Security Associations (SAs) is an important aspect to ensure seamless failover and continued secure communication. Specifically, for Phase 2 SAs, they are synchronized over the HA2 links. The HA2 link is dedicated to synchronizing sessions, forwarding tables, IPSec SA, ARP tables, and other critical information between the active and passive firewalls in an HA pair. This ensures that the passive unit can immediately take over in case the active unit fails, without the need for re-establishing IPsec tunnels, thereby maintaining secure communications without interruption. It's important to note that Phase 1 SAs, which are responsible for establishing the secure tunnel itself, are not synchronized between the HA pair, as these need to be re-established upon failover to ensure secure key exchange.

https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/pan-os/10-2/pan-os-admin/high-availability/ha-concepts/ha-timers

Using Policy Optimizer to migrate to application-based rules, adding the container application (Option D) ensures future-proofing. Container apps (e.g., "web-browsing") include child apps (e.g., specific web services) as signatures evolve, maintaining rule accuracy without over-matching unrelated traffic.