1102 PowerConnect B-Series FCX Configuration Guide
53-1002266-01
Overview
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Overview of VRRP
VRRP is a protocol that provides redundancy to routers within a LAN.  VRRP allows you to provide 
alternate router paths for a host without changing the IP address or MAC address by which the host 
knows its gateway.  Consider the situation shown in Figure 150.
FIGURE 150  Switch 1 is Host1 default gateway but is a single point of failure
Switch 1 as the host default gateway out of the subnet.  If this interface goes down, Host1 is cut off 
from the rest of the network.  Switch 1 is thus a single point of failure for Host1 access to other 
networks.
If Switch 1 fails, you could configure Host1 to use Switch 2.  Configuring one host with a different 
default gateway might not require too much extra administration.  However, consider a more 
realistic network with dozens or even hundreds of hosts per subnet; reconfiguring the default 
gateways for all the hosts is impractical.  It is much simpler to configure a VRRP virtual router on 
Switch 1 and Switch 2 to provide a redundant path for the hosts. 
Figure 151 shows the same example network shown in Figure 150, but with a VRRP virtual router 
configured on Switch 1 and Switch 2.
Host1
Default Gateway
102.53.5.1
Internet
or
Enterprise Intranet
Internet
or
Enterprise Intranet
e 2/4
e 1/6
192.53.5.1
Switch 1
Switch 2
e 3/2
e 1/5