Generation One ION devices use the control port to exchange HA heartbeat and manage the controller traffic between the active and the standby device. With the introduction of used-for-HA (referred to as Used-for-Control in earlier release) as a port type, the NextGen ION devices such as the ION 1200-S, ION 3200, ION 5200, ION 9200 do not need a dedicated controller port for the management services.

The used-for-HA interface allows you to exchange HA heartbeat and connect the standby device to the controller through the active ION device. You can use the control interface to send management traffic like App Probe, NTP, SNMP, RADIUS, and IPFIX.

Support for used-for-HA capability is extended on the main interface on all routed ports. This capability was available on SVI and sub-interfaces in the previous release. Used for HA is supported on all the ION devices.