There are several ways a LAN client can determine which router should be the first hop to a particular remote destination. The client can use a dynamic process or static configuration. Examples of dynamic router discovery are as follows:

• Proxy ARP—The client uses Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) to get the destination it wants to reach, and a router will respond to the ARP request with its own MAC address.

• Routing protocol—The client listens to dynamic routing protocol updates (for example, from Routing Information Protocol [RIP]) and forms its own routing table.

• ICMP Router Discovery Protocol (IRDP) client—The client runs an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) router discovery client.

The drawback to dynamic discovery protocols is that they incur some configuration and processing overhead on the LAN client. Also, in the event of a router failure, the process of switching to another router can be slow.

An alternative to dynamic discovery protocols is to statically configure a default router on the client. This approach simplifies client configuration and processing, but creates a single point of failure. If the default gateway fails, the LAN client is limited to communicating only on the local IP network segment and is cut off from the rest of the network.

VRRP can solve the static configuration problem. VRRP enables a group of routers to form a single virtual router . The LAN clients can then be configured with the virtual router as their default gateway. The virtual router, representing a group of routers, is also known as a VRRP group.

VRRP is supported on Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, BVI, and Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, and on MPLS VPNs, VRF-aware MPLS VPNs, and VLANs.

The figure below shows a LAN topology in which VRRP is configured. In this example, Routers A, B, and C are VRRP routers (routers running VRRP) that comprise a virtual router. The IP address of the virtual router is the same as that configured for the Ethernet interface of Router A (10.0.0.1).

Because the virtual router uses the IP address of the physical Ethernet interface of Router A, Router A assumes the role of the virtual primary router and is also known as the IP address owner. As the virtual primary router, Router A controls the IP address of the virtual router and is responsible for forwarding packets sent to this IP address. Clients 1 through 3 are configured with the default gateway IP address of 10.0.0.1.

Routers B and C function as virtual router backups. If the virtual primary router fails, the router configured with the higher priority will become the virtual primary router and provide uninterrupted service for the LAN hosts. When Router A recovers, it becomes the virtual primary router again. For more detail on the roles that VRRP routers play and what happens if the virtual primary router fails, see the VRRP Router Priority and Preemption section.

The figure below shows a LAN topology in which VRRP is configured so that Routers A and B share the traffic to and from clients 1 through 4 and that Routers A and B act as virtual router backups to each other if either router fails.

In this topology, two virtual routers are configured. (For more information, see the Multiple Virtual Router Support section.) For virtual router 1, Router A is the owner of IP address 10.0.0.1 and virtual primary router, and Router B is the virtual router backup to Router A. Clients 1 and 2 are configured with the default gateway IP address of 10.0.0.1.

For virtual router 2, Router B is the owner of IP address 10.0.0.2 and virtual primary router, and Router A is the virtual router backup to Router B. Clients 3 and 4 are configured with the default gateway IP address of 10.0.0.2.

• Router processing capability

• Router memory capability

• Router interface support of multiple MAC addresses

In a topology where multiple virtual routers are configured on a router interface, the interface can act as primary for one virtual router and as a backup for one or more virtual routers.

An important aspect of the VRRP redundancy scheme is VRRP router priority. Priority determines the role that each VRRP router plays and what happens if the virtual primary router fails.

If a VRRP router owns the IP address of the virtual router and the IP address of the physical interface, this router will function as a virtual primary router.

Priority also determines if a VRRP router functions as a virtual router backup and the order of ascendancy to becoming virtual primary router if the virtual primary router fails. You can configure the priority of each virtual router backup with a value of 1 through 254 using the vrrp priority command.

For example, if Router A, the virtual primary router in a LAN topology, fails, an election process takes place to determine if virtual router backups B or C should take over. If Routers B and C are configured with the priorities of 101 and 100, respectively, Router B is elected to become virtual primary router because it has the higher priority. If Routers B and C are both configured with the priority of 100, the virtual router backup with the higher IP address is elected to become the virtual primary router.

By default, a preemptive scheme is enabled whereby a higher priority virtual router backup that becomes available takes over for the virtual router backup that was elected to become virtual primary router. You can disable this preemptive scheme using the no vrrp preempt command. If preemption is disabled, the virtual router backup that is elected to become virtual primary router remains as the primary until the original virtual primary router recovers and becomes the primary again.

The virtual primary router sends VRRP advertisements to other VRRP routers in the same group. The advertisements communicate the priority and state of the virtual primary router. The VRRP advertisements are encapsulated in IP packets and sent to the IP Version 4 multicast address assigned to the VRRP group. The advertisements are sent every second by default; the interval is configurable.

Although the VRRP protocol as per RFC 3768 does not support millisecond timers, Cisco routers allow you to configure millisecond timers. You need to manually configure the millisecond timer values on both the primary and the backup routers. The primary advertisement value displayed in the show vrrp command output on the backup routers is always 1 second because the packets on the backup routers do not accept millisecond values.

You must use millisecond timers where absolutely necessary and with careful consideration and testing. Millisecond values work only under favorable circumstances, and you must be aware that the use of the millisecond timer values restricts VRRP operation to Cisco devices only.

Object tracking is an independent process that manages creating, monitoring, and removing tracked objects such as the state of the line protocol of an interface. Clients such as the Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP), Gateway Load Balancing Protocol (GLBP), and VRRP register their interest with specific tracked objects and act when the state of an object changes.

Each tracked object is identified by a unique number that is specified on the tracking CLI. Client processes such as VRRP use this number to track a specific object.

The tracking process periodically polls the tracked objects and notes any change of value. The changes in the tracked object are communicated to interested client processes, either immediately or after a specified delay. The object values are reported as either up or down.

VRRP object tracking gives VRRP access to all the objects available through the tracking process. The tracking process allows you to track individual objects such as a the state of an interface line protocol, state of an IP route, or the reachability of a route.

VRRP provides an interface to the tracking process. Each VRRP group can track multiple objects that may affect the priority of the VRRP device. You specify the object number to be tracked and VRRP is notified of any change to the object. VRRP increments (or decrements) the priority of the virtual device based on the state of the object being tracked.

The priority of a device can change dynamically if it has been configured for object tracking and the object that is being tracked goes down. The tracking process periodically polls the tracked objects and notes any change of value. The changes in the tracked object are communicated to VRRP, either immediately or after a specified delay. The object values are reported as either up or down. Examples of objects that can be tracked are the line protocol state of an interface or the reachability of an IP route. If the specified object goes down, the VRRP priority is reduced. The VRRP device with the higher priority can now become the virtual primary device if it has the vrrp preempt command configured. See the “VRRP Object Tracking” section for more information on object tracking.

VRRP supports In Service Software Upgrade (ISSU). In Service Software Upgrade (ISSU) allows a high-availability (HA) system to run in stateful switchover (SSO) mode even when different versions of software are running on the active and standby Route Processors (RPs) or line cards.

ISSU provides the ability to upgrade or downgrade from one supported release to another while continuing to forward packets and maintain sessions, thereby reducing planned outage time. The ability to upgrade or downgrade is achieved by running different software versions on the active RP and standby RP for a short period of time to maintain state information between RPs. This feature allows the system to switch over to a secondary RP running upgraded (or downgraded) software and continue forwarding packets without session loss and with minimal or no packet loss. This feature is enabled by default.

For detailed information about ISSU, see the In Service Software Upgrade Process document in the High Availability Configuration Guide.

With the introduction of the VRRP Support for Stateful Switchover feature, VRRP is SSO aware. VRRP can detect when a router is failing over to the secondary RP and continue in its current group state.

SSO functions in networking devices (usually edge devices) that support dual Route Processors (RPs). SSO provides RP redundancy by establishing one of the RPs as the active processor and the other RP as the standby processor. SSO also synchronizes critical state information between the RPs so that network state information is dynamically maintained between RPs.

Prior to being SSO aware, if VRRP was deployed on a router with redundant RPs, a switchover of roles between the active RP and the standby RP would result in the router relinquishing its activity as a VRRP group member and then rejoining the group as if it had been reloaded. The SSO--VRRP feature enables VRRP to continue its activities as a group member during a switchover. VRRP state information between redundant RPs is maintained so that the standby RP can continue the router’s activities within the VRRP during and after a switchover.

This feature is enabled by default. To disable this feature, use the no vrrp sso command in global configuration mode.

For more information, see the Stateful Switchover document.