PA-7500 Series Firewall Management Processing Card (MPC)
Table of Contents
PA-7500 Series Firewall Management Processing Card (MPC)
Learn about the PA-7500 Series Firewall Management Processing Card.
The Management Processing Card (MPC) provides the firewall with a management interface,
first packet processing, logging interfaces, and inter-chassis HSCI ports. The MPC must
be installed in slot 5 of the chassis.
The following image shows the PA-7500 MPC and the table below describes each
labeled component.
Item | Component | Description |
|---|---|---|
1 | LED Indicators | Eight LEDs that indicate the status of various hardware
components. For details on the LEDs, see Interpret the PA-7500 Series Firewall Interface Card LEDs |
2 | USB Port | One USB port that accepts a USB flash drive that contains a
bootstrap bundle (PAN-OS configuration) that enables you to
bootstrap the firewall. Bootstrapping enables you to provision
the firewall with a specific configuration, license it, and make
it operational on the network. |
3 | RJ-45 Console Port | Use the RJ-45 console port to connect a management computer to
the firewall using a 9-pin serial-to-RJ-45 cable and terminal
emulation software. The console port has a baud rate of 115,200
8-N-1. The console connection provides access to firewall boot messages,
the Maintenance Recovery Tool (MRT), and the command line
interface (CLI). |
4 | Micro USB Console Port | Use the Micro USB console port to connect a management computer
to the firewall using a standard Type-A USB-to-micro USB cable
and terminal emulation software. The console port has a baud
rate of 115,200 8-N-1. The console connection provides access to firewall boot messages,
the Maintenance Recovery Tool (MRT), and the command line
interface (CLI). |
5 | Management Ports | Two SFP/SFP+/SFP28 management ports providing 1Gbps/10Gbps/25Gbps
connectivity that are used to access the management interface.
MGT-1 and MGT-2 are bundled by default as a single logical
interface called bond0 . The two bonded
ports provide redundancy, which enables the management interface
to remain active if one interface goes down.To manage the firewall, change your management computer IP
address to 192.168.1.2, connect an SFP+ cable from your computer
to one of the MGT ports and browse to https:// 192.168.1.1. The
default login name is admin and the default password is
admin. |
6 | HSCI-A and HSCI-B (High Speed Chassis Interconnect) Ports | QSFP-DD interfaces used to connect two PA-7500 Series firewalls
for a high availability (HA) configuration. Each port offers
100Gbps or 400Gbps connectivity and is used for HA1 control and
HA2 data links in an active/passive configuration. When in
active/active mode, the port is also used for HA3 packet
forwarding for asymmetrically routed sessions that require Layer
7 inspection for App-ID™ and Content‑ID™. In a typical installation, HSCI-A on the first firewall connects
directly to HSCI-A on the second firewall and HSCI-B on the
first firewall connects to HSCI-B on the second firewall. The
purpose of HSCI-B is to increase the bandwidth for HA2/HA3
processing. This provides full 100-400Gbps transfer rates. In
the software, both ports (HSCI-A and HSCI-B) are treated as one
HA interface. The lower port, HSCI-B, may be harder to
access if HSCI-A has an installed optic. |
7 | Logging Ports | Two QSFP28 logging ports that offer 40Gbps or 100Gbps
connectivity and are used as log interfaces. If both ports are
up, LOG-1 becomes the active interface and LOG-2 becomes the
standby interface. You must Configure Log
Forwarding to forward logs from the log interface to
one or more log collectors. If the log interface is not
configured, the management interface is used to forward logs
instead. |
8 | Logging Drive Covers | Secure the two logging drives in the MPC. By default, the MPC
does not have a logging drive installed. For information about
installing a logging drive, see Replace a PA-7500 Series Firewall Logging Drive. |