What occurs if the heartbeat interface fails in an HA setup?

In a High Availability (HA) setup, the heartbeat interface is critical for maintaining communication between the primary and secondary devices. If the heartbeat interface fails, the primary member of the HA cluster becomes unaware of the operational status of the secondary member due to the loss of connectivity through the heartbeat link.

As a result, the primary device may conclude that the secondary device is no longer functioning, leading it to operate independently. This situation can result in the primary device being isolated. Essentially, the primary member will not recognize that the secondary member is still active, which can lead to potential network issues, such as split-brain scenarios, where both devices may attempt to handle traffic independently.

It's crucial for HA systems to have a reliable heartbeat mechanism to prevent such isolation scenarios, ensuring they can remain in sync and provide seamless failover capabilities if necessary.