Methods, apparatuses and systems directed to a network traffic synchronization mechanism facilitating the deployment of network devices in redundant network topologies. In certain embodiments, when a first network device directly receives network traffic, it copies the network traffic and transmits it to at least one partner network device. The partner network device processes the copied network traffic, just as if it had received it directly, but, in one embodiment, discards the traffic before forwarding it on to its destination. In one embodiment, the partner network devices are operative to exchange directly received network traffic. As a result, the present invention provides enhanced reliability and seamless failover. Each unit, for example, is ready at any time to take over for the other unit should a failure occur. As discussed below, the network traffic synchronization mechanism can be applied to a variety of network devices, such as firewalls, gateways, network routers, and bandwidth management devices.
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