ECMP Settings

Network > Virtual Routers > Router Settings > ECMP

Use the following fields to configure Equal-Cost Multiple Path settings.

ECMP Settings	Description
Enable	Enable ECMP. Enabling, disabling, or changing ECMP on an existing virtual router causes the system to restart the virtual router, which might cause existing sessions to be terminated.
Symmetric Return	(`Optional`) Select Symmetric Return to cause return packets to egress out the same interface on which the associated ingress packets arrived. That is, the firewall will use the ingress interface on which to send return packets, rather than use the ECMP interface, so the Symmetric Return setting overrides load balancing. This behavior occurs only for traffic flows from the server to the client.
Max Path	Select the maximum number of equal-cost paths: (2, 3, or 4) to a destination network that can be copied from the RIB to the FIB. Default is 2.
Method	Choose one of the following ECMP load-balancing algorithms to use on the virtual router. ECMP load balancing is done at the session level, not at the packet level. This means that the firewall (ECMP) chooses an equal-cost path at the start of a new session, not each time a packet is received. IP Modulo —By default, the virtual router load balances sessions using this option, which uses a hash of the source and destination IP addresses in the packet header to determine which ECMP route to use. IP Hash —There are two IP hash methods that determine which ECMP route to use: If you select IP Hash , by default the firewall uses a hash of the source and destination IP addresses. Alternatively, you can select Use Source Address Only (available in PAN-OS 8.0.3 and later releases). This IP hash method ensures that all sessions belonging to the same source IP address always take the same path. Optionally select Use Source/Destination Ports to include the ports in either hash calculation. You can also enter a Hash Seed value (an integer) to further randomize load balancing. Weighted Round Robin —This algorithm can be used to take into consideration different link capacities and speeds. Upon choosing this algorithm, the Interface window opens. Click Add and select an Interface to be included in the weighted round robin group. For each interface, enter the Weight to be used for that interface. Weight defaults to 100; range is 1-255. The higher the weight for a specific equal-cost path, the more often that equal-cost path will be selected for a new session. A higher speed link should be given a higher weight than a slower link, so that more of the ECMP traffic goes over the faster link. Click Add again to add another interface and weight. Balanced Round Robin —Distributes incoming ECMP sessions equally across links.