FortiGate-7060E fast path architecture

The FortiGate-7060E chassis schematic below shows the communication channels between chassis components including the management modules (MGMT), the FIM modules (called FIM1 and FIM2) and the FPM modules (FPM3, FPM4, FPM5, and FPM6).

By default, MGMT2 is the active management module and MGMT1 is inactive. The active management module always has the Intelligent Platform Management Bus (IPMB) address 0x20 and the inactive management module always has the IPMB address 0x22.

The active management module communicates with all modules in the chassis over the base backplane. Each module, including the management modules has a Shelf Management Controller (SMC). These SMCs support IPMB communication between the active management module and the FIM and FPM modules for storing and sharing sensor data that the management module uses to control chassis cooling and power distribution. The base backplane also supports serial communications to allow console access from the management module to all modules, and 1Gbps Ethernet communication for management and heartbeat communication between modules.

FIM1 and FIM2 (IPMB addresses 0x82 and 0x84) are the FIM modules in slots 1 and 2. The interfaces of these modules connect the chassis to data networks and can be used for Ethernet management access to chassis components. The FIM modules include DP2 processors that distribute sessions over the Integrated Switch Fabric (ISF) to the NP6 processors in the FPM modules. Data sessions are communicated to the FPM modules over the 80Gbps chassis fabric backplane.

FPM03, FPM04, FPM05, and FPM06 (IPMB addresses 0x86, 0x88, 0x8A, and 0x8C) are the FPM processor modules in slots 3 to 6. These worker modules process sessions distributed to them by the FIM modules. FPM modules include NP6 processors to offload sessions from the FPM CPU and CP9 processors that accelerate content processing.