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FortiGate SD-WAN lab 3 of 14

SD-WAN rules and steering strategies

Write four SD-WAN rules, one per strategy: manual for the admin PC, best quality for web traffic, lowest cost (SLA) for DNS and maximise bandwidth for file transfers. Then slow ISP-A down with the WAN emulator and prove which link each rule chooses, and why.

Run this lab

It needs Lite: its 5 nodes are set to 5 vCPU and 6,144 MB in total. That fits the free demo too.

In your workspace: Shared, then FortiGate SD-WAN guided labs, then 03 - SD-WAN rules and steering strategies

Try it free for 30 minutesRun it on Lite from £3 a day

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Level
Intermediate
Time
About 75 minutes
Nodes need
5 vCPU, 6,144 MB
Smallest plan
Lite

The scenario

Both of the Leeds depot's lines are now measured by INET_SLA, but every session still follows the implicit rule. The network lead has written down what each kind of traffic should do:

TrafficRequirementStrategy
Anything from PC1 (10.2.10.10)always ISP-A: the managed-service provider only accepts that addressmanual
Web (TCP 80)whichever line has the lowest latency right nowbest quality
DNS (UDP 53)ISP-A, the cheap line, while it meets target 1; otherwise ISP-Blowest cost (SLA)
File transfers to files.example.com (198.51.100.13, TCP 80)both lines together while they meet target 2maximise bandwidth (SLA)

INET_SLA probes 198.51.100.53 every 500 ms. Target 1: latency 100 ms, jitter 50 ms, loss 5%. Target 2: latency 250 ms, jitter 100 ms, loss 10%. ISP-A costs less per gigabyte than ISP-B.

What you’ll practise

  • Explain how SD-WAN rules match traffic top-down and fall back to the implicit rule
  • Configure manual, best quality, lowest cost (SLA) and maximise bandwidth (SLA) rules
  • Use member cost, link-cost-factor and SLA targets in rules
  • Read rule decisions with diagnose sys sdwan service and the policy-route table
  • Predict and prove each rule's choice when one link degrades

The tasks

  1. Start the lab
  2. How rules are matched
  3. Manual and best quality
  4. Lowest cost (SLA) and maximise bandwidth (SLA)
  5. Slow ISP-A down
  6. Watch it in the GUI (optional)

The Lab Tasks pane has the scenario, these tasks, the checks to run, hints and the full solution.

Topology and devices

The network as it opens in EVE-NG, drawn from the lab’s own canvas, and the image each node runs.

Topology of SD-WAN rules and steering strategies5 nodes and 1 network, 6 links. Every link is listed as text below the diagram.BR1WANINETPC1H1LANport3eth0eth0port1eth0eth1eth0port2eth1
5 nodes and 1 network, with the interface names each link uses.
Every link, as text
  • BR1 port1 to WAN eth0
  • WAN eth1 to INET eth0
  • BR1 port2 to INET eth1
  • BR1 port3 to LAN (network)
  • PC1 eth0 to LAN (network)
  • H1 eth0 to LAN (network)
Nodes in SD-WAN rules and steering strategies, with the image each runs and the vCPU and RAM it’s set to
NodeDeviceImage in Add NodeSet to
BR1Fortinet FortiGatefortinet-FGT-v7.0.17.M-build06821 vCPU, 2,048 MB
WANAlpine WAN emulatorclbalpinewanem-alpine-wanem-3-20-31 vCPU, 512 MB
INETEVE-NG GUI server (Docker)eve-gui-server:latest1 vCPU, 1,024 MB
PC1EVE-NG GUI server (Docker)eve-gui-server:latest1 vCPU, 2,048 MB
H1Alpine Linuxclbalpinebase-alpine-base-3-20-31 vCPU, 512 MB

How to open this lab

  1. Sign in to your workspace at lab.cloudlabbox.com.

  2. In File Manager, open Shared, then the folder FortiGate SD-WAN guided labs.

  3. Open 03 - SD-WAN rules and steering strategies and start its nodes, then open Lab Tasks for the scenario and the steps.

The lab is read-only. You can start the nodes and configure the devices, but changes to the topology can’t be saved. To change it, rebuild it in your own folder.

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CloudLabBox is independent of Fortinet. The lab follows exam topics and isn’t vendor training material; vendor names identify the exams and the images in the workspace.