Which two statements accurately describe cloud-native load balancing with Palo Alto Networks VM-Series firewalls and/or Cloud NGFW in public cloud environments? (Choose two.)

Which two statements accurately describe cloud-native load balancing with Palo Alto Networks VM-Series firewalls and/or Cloud NGFW in public cloud environments? (Choose two.)

A. Cloud NGFW’s distributed architecture model requires deployment of a single centralized firewall and will force all traffic to the firewall across pre-built VPN tunnels.

B. VM-Series firewall deployments in the public cloud will require the deployment of a cloud-native load balancer if high availability (HA) or redundancy is needed.

C. Cloud NGFW in AWS or Azure has load balancing built into the underlying solution and does not require the deployment of a separate load balancer.

D. VM-Series firewall load balancing is automated and is handled by the internal mechanics of the NGFW software without the need for a load balancer.

Answer: B, C

Explanation:

Cloud-native load balancing with Palo Alto Networks firewalls in public clouds involves understanding the distinct approaches for VM-Series and Cloud NGFW:

A. Cloud NGFW’s distributed architecture model requires deployment of a single centralized firewall and will force all traffic to the firewall across pre-built VPN tunnels: This is incorrect. Cloud NGFW uses a distributed architecture where traffic is steered to the nearest Cloud NGFW instance, often using Gateway Load Balancers (GWLBs) or similar services. It does not rely on a single centralized firewall or force all traffic through VPN tunnels.

B. VM-Series firewall deployments in the public cloud will require the deployment of a cloud-native load balancer if high availability (HA) or redundancy is needed: This is correct. VM-Series firewalls, when deployed for HA or redundancy, require a cloud-native load balancer (e.g., AWS ALB/NLB/GWLB, Azure Load Balancer) to distribute traffic across the active firewall instances. This ensures that if one firewall fails, traffic is automatically directed to a healthy instance.

C. Cloud NGFW in AWS or Azure has load balancing built into the underlying solution and does not require the deployment of a separate load balancer: This is also correct. Cloud NGFW integrates with cloud-native load balancing services (e.g., Gateway Load Balancer in AWS) as part of its architecture. This provides automatic scaling and high availability without requiring you to manage a separate load balancer.

D. VM-Series firewall load balancing is automated and is handled by the internal mechanics of the NGFW software without the need for a load balancer: This is incorrect. VM-Series firewalls do not have built-in load balancing capabilities for HA. A cloud-native load balancer is essential for distributing traffic and ensuring redundancy.

Reference: Cloud NGFW documentation: Look for sections on architecture, traffic steering, and integration with cloud-native load balancing services (like AWS Gateway Load Balancer).

VM-Series deployment guides for each cloud provider: These guides explain how to deploy VM-Series firewalls for HA using cloud-native load balancers.

These resources confirm that VM-Series requires external load balancers for HA, while Cloud NGFW has load balancing integrated into its design.