R3303-HP HSR6800 Routers High Availability Configuration Guide

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Figure 39 Virtual MAC address assignment
2. When an ARP request arrives, the master (Router A) selects a virtual MAC address based on the
load balancing algorithm to answer the ARP request. In this example, Router A returns the virtual
MAC address of itself in response to the ARP request from Host A. It returns the virtual MAC
address of Router B in response to the ARP request from Host B (see Figure 40).
Figure 40 Answering ARP requests
3. Each host sends packets to the returned MAC address. As shown in Figure 41, Host A sends
packets to Router A and Host B sends packets to Router B.
Host A Host B
Router A
Master
Router B
Backup
Virtual IP: 10.1.1.1/24
Network
Gateway IP: 10.1.1.1/24 Gateway IP: 10.1.1.1/24
Virtual MAC: 000f-e2ff-0011
Virtual MAC: 000f-e2ff-0012
ARP request
Target IP: 10.1.1.1/24
ARP reply
Target MAC: 000f-e2ff-0011
ARP request
Target IP: 10.1.1.1/24
ARP reply
Target MAC: 000f-e2ff-0012