Configuration Guide User guide

1650 FastIron Configuration Guide
53-1002494-02
VRRP and VRRP-E overview
NOTE
You can use a Brocade Layer 3 switch configured for VRRP with another Brocade Layer 3 switch or
a third-party router that is also configured for VRRP. However, you can use a Brocade Layer 3 switch
configured for VRRP-E only with another Brocade Layer 3 switch that also is configured for VRRP-E.
NOTE
The maximum number of supported VRRP or VRRP-E router instances is 254 for IPv4 environments.
The maximum number of supported VRRP or VRRP-E router instances is 128 for IPv6 environments.
For a summary of how these two router redundancy protocols differ, refer to “Comparison of VRRP
and VRRP-E” on page 1658.
VRRP and VRRP-E overview
The following sections describe VRRP and VRRP-E. The protocols both provide redundant paths for
IP addresses. However, the protocols differ in a few important ways. For clarity, each protocol is
described separately.
VRRP overview
Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP) 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 184.
FIGURE 184 Switch 1 is the Host1 default gateway but is a single point of failure
Host1
Default Gateway
192.53.5.1
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
Switch 2