RFC 3768 (rfc3768) - Page 1 of 27
Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP)
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
Network Working Group R. Hinden, Ed.
Request for Comments: 3768 Nokia
Obsoletes: 2338 April 2004
Category: Standards Track
Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP)
Status of this Memo
This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2004). All Rights Reserved.
Abstract
This memo defines the Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP).
VRRP specifies an election protocol that dynamically assigns
responsibility for a virtual router to one of the VRRP routers on a
LAN. The VRRP router controlling the IP address(es) associated with
a virtual router is called the Master, and forwards packets sent to
these IP addresses. The election process provides dynamic fail over
in the forwarding responsibility should the Master become
unavailable. This allows any of the virtual router IP addresses on
the LAN to be used as the default first hop router by end-hosts. The
advantage gained from using VRRP is a higher availability default
path without requiring configuration of dynamic routing or router
discovery protocols on every end-host.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.1. Contributors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2. Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.3. Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2. Required Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.1. IP Address Backup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.2. Preferred Path Indication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.3. Minimization of Unnecessary Service Disruptions . . . . 5
2.4. Efficient Operation over Extended LANs. . . . . . . . . 6
3. VRRP Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4. Sample Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Hinden Standards Track