how to understand fortigate firewall ipsecvpn phase2 keylife? keylifeseconds and keylifekbs

FortiGate firewall IPsec VPN Phase 2 key life refers to the duration of time or amount of data that a security association (SA) can remain active before being renegotiated for a new SA.

Keylifeseconds refers to the duration of time for which a security association can remain active before being renegotiated. Once the keylifeseconds timer expires, the security association will be renegotiated and a new key will be generated.

Keylifekbs refers to the amount of data that can be transmitted before the security association is renegotiated. Once the keylifekbs threshold is reached, the security association will be renegotiated and a new key will be generated.

The choice between using keylifeseconds or keylifekbs depends on the expected traffic volume and usage pattern. If the VPN connection is expected to have a lot of traffic, it may be more efficient to use keylifekbs to limit the amount of data transmitted before renegotiating the security association. On the other hand, if the VPN connection is not expected to have a lot of traffic, it may be more appropriate to use keylifeseconds to control the duration of time for which the security association is active.

It’s important to note that the key life settings should be configured to balance security and performance requirements. If the key life settings are too short, the security association will be renegotiated frequently, which may cause interruptions in the VPN connection. If the key life settings are too long, the security of the VPN connection may be compromised.