Alteon Application Switch Operating System Application Guide
High Availability
Document ID: RDWR-ALOS-V2900_AG1302 521
Failover Methods and Configurations
Alteon has the flexibility to implement redundant configurations.
High availability configurations are based on VRRP. VRRP implementation includes proprietary
extensions to accommodate Layer 4 though Layer 7 load balancing features.
This section describes a few of the more useful and easily deployed configurations, including:
• Active-Standby Redundancy, page 521
• Active-Active Redundancy, page 527
• Hot Standby Redundancy, page 535
• Tracking Virtual Routers, page 542
• Service-Based Virtual Router Groups, page 543
Note: The current configurations described in this section are valid without session synchronization.
Active-Standby Redundancy
This section describes the following topics:
• Active-Standby Environments, page 521
• Configuring Active-Standby Redundancy, page 522
Active-Standby Environments
In an active-standby configuration, the active switch supports all traffic or services. The backup
switch acts as a standby for services on the active master switch. If the master switch fails, the
backup switch takes over processing for all services. The backup switch may forward Layer 2 and
Layer 3 traffic, as appropriate.
Radware recommends that you do not allow sharing between the Alteon devices. Without sharing,
only the active Alteon performs load balancing. This is a very robust configuration that does not
require dedicated interswitch links (ISL), or hotstandby settings on ports.
Note: In an active-standby configuration, the same service cannot be active simultaneously on
both devices.