When high traffic from Palo Alto Networks NGFWs to Active Directory servers causes performance issues, optimizing the way NGFWs gather user-to-IP mappings is critical. Palo Alto Networks offers multiple ways to collect user identity information, andCloud Identity Engineprovides a solution that reduces the load on AD servers while still ensuring efficient and accurate mapping.
Option A (Correct):Cloud Identity Engineallows NGFWs to gather user-to-IP mappings directly from Active Directory authentication logs or other identity sources without placing heavy traffic on the AD servers. By leveraging this feature, the NGFW can offload authentication-related tasks and efficiently identify users without overloading AD servers. This solution is scalable and minimizes the overhead typically caused by frequent User-ID queries to AD servers.
Option B:UsingGlobalProtect Windows SSOto gather user information can add complexity and is not the most efficient solution for this problem. It requires all users to install GlobalProtect agents, which may not be feasible in all environments and can introduce operational challenges.
Option C:Data redistributioninvolves redistributing user-to-IP mappings from one NGFW (hub) to other NGFWs (spokes). While this can reduce the number of queries sent to AD servers, it assumes the mappings are already being collected from AD servers by the hub, which means the performance issue on the AD servers would persist.
Option D:UsingGlobalProtect agentsto gather user information is a valid method for environments where GlobalProtect is already deployed, but it is not the most efficient or straightforward solution for the given problem. It also introduces dependencies on agent deployment, configuration, and management.
How to Implement Cloud Identity Engine for User-ID Mapping:
EnableCloud Identity Enginefrom the Palo Alto Networks console.
Integrate the Cloud Identity Engine with the AD servers to allow it to retrieve authentication logs directly.
Configure the NGFWs to use the Cloud Identity Engine for User-ID mappings instead of querying the AD servers directly.
Monitor performance to ensure the AD servers are no longer overloaded, and mappings are being retrieved efficiently.
References:
Cloud Identity Engine Overview: https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/cloud-identity
User-ID Best Practices: https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com
