Operation Manual – VRRP 
Quidway S3900 Series Ethernet Switches-Release 1510  Chapter 1  VRRP Configuration
 
Huawei Technologies Proprietary 
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III. Configuring preemptive mode for a switch in a backup group 
As long as a switch in the backup group becomes the master switch, other switches, 
even if they are configured with a higher priority later, do not preempt the master switch 
unless they operate in preemptive mode. The switch operating in preemptive mode will 
become the master switch when it finds its priority is higher than that of the current 
master switch, and the former master switch becomes a backup switch accordingly. 
You can configure an S3900 series switch to operate in preemptive mode. You can also 
set the delay period. A backup switch waits for a period of time (the delay period) before 
becoming a master switch. Setting a delay period aims at:  
In an unstable network, backup switches in a backup group possibly cannot receive 
packets from the master in time due to network congestions even if the master operates 
properly. This causes the master of the backup group being determined frequently. 
With the configuration of delay period, the backup switch will wait for a while if it does 
not receive packets from the master switch in time. A new master is determined only 
after the backup switches do not receive packets from the master switch after the 
specified delay time. 
IV.  Configuring authentication type and authentication key for a switch in a 
backup group 
VRRP provides following authentication types: 
z  simple: Simple character authentication 
z  md5: MD5 authentication 
In a network under possible security threat, the authentication type can be set to 
simple. Then the switch adds the authentication key into the VRRP packets before 
transmitting them. The receiver will compare the authentication key of the packet with 
the locally configured one. If they are the same, the packet will be taken as a true and 
legal one. Otherwise it will be regarded as an illegal packet and be discarded. In this 
case, a simple authentication key should not exceed eight characters. 
In a vulnerable network, the authentication type can be set to md5. The switch then 
uses the authentication type provided by the Authentication Header, and MD5 
algorithm to authenticate the VRRP packets. In this case, you need to set an 
authentication key comprising up to eight characters or a 24-character encrypted 
string. 
Packets that fail to pass the authentication are discarded. The switch then sends trap 
packets to the network management system. 
V. Configuring VRRP timer 
The master switch advertises its normal operation state to the switches within the 
VRRP backup group by sending VRRP packets once in each specified interval 
(determined by the adver-interval argument). If the backup switches do not receive