HSRP is Cisco's
standard method of providing high network availability by providing first-hop
redundancy for IP hosts on an IEEE 802 LAN configured with a default gateway IP
address. HSRP routes IP traffic without relying on the availability of any
single router. It enables a set of router interfaces to work together to
present the appearance of a single virtual router or default gateway to the
hosts on a LAN. When HSRP is configured on a network or segment, it provides a
virtual Media Access Control (MAC) address and an IP address that is shared
among a group of configured routers. HSRP allows two or more HSRP-configured
routers to use the MAC address and IP network address of a virtual router. The
virtual router does not exist; it represents the common target for routers that
are configured to provide backup to each other. One of the routers is selected
to be the active router and another to be the standby router, which assumes
control of the group MAC address and IP address should the designated active
router fail.
 Note |
Routers in an HSRP
group can be any router interface that supports HSRP, including routed ports
and switch virtual interfaces (SVIs).
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HSRP provides high
network availability by providing redundancy for IP traffic from hosts on
networks. In a group of router interfaces, the active router is the router of
choice for routing packets; the standby router is the router that takes over
the routing duties when an active router fails or when preset conditions are
met.
HSRP is useful for
hosts that do not support a router discovery protocol and cannot switch to a
new router when their selected router reloads or loses power. When HSRP is
configured on a network segment, it provides a virtual MAC address and an IP
address that is shared among router interfaces in a group of router interfaces
running HSRP. The router selected by the protocol to be the active router
receives and routes packets destined for the group's MAC address. For n routers
running HSRP, there are n +1 IP and MAC addresses assigned.
HSRP detects when the
designated active router fails, and a selected standby router assumes control
of the Hot Standby group's MAC and IP addresses. A new standby router is also
selected at that time. Devices running HSRP send and receive multicast
UDP-based hello packets to detect router failure and to designate active and
standby routers. When HSRP is configured on an interface, Internet Control
Message Protocol (ICMP) redirect messages are automatically enabled for the
interface.
You can configure
multiple Hot Standby groups among switches and switch stacks that are operating
in Layer 3 to make more use of the redundant routers. To do so, specify a group
number for each Hot Standby command group you configure for an interface. For
example, you might configure an interface on switch 1 as an active router and
one on switch 2 as a standby router and also configure another interface on
switch 2 as an active router with another interface on switch 1 as its standby
router.
The following figure
shows a segment of a network configured for HSRP. Each router is configured
with the MAC address and IP network address of the virtual router. Instead of
configuring hosts on the network with the IP address of Router A, you configure
them with the IP address of the virtual router as their default router. When
Host C sends packets to Host B, it sends them to the MAC address of the virtual
router. If for any reason, Router A stops transferring packets, Router B
responds to the virtual IP address and virtual MAC address and becomes the
active router, assuming the active router duties. Host C continues to use the
IP address of the virtual router to address packets destined for Host B, which
Router B now receives and sends to Host B. Until Router A resumes operation,
HSRP allows Router B to provide uninterrupted service to users on Host C's
segment that need to communicate with users on Host B's segment and also
continues to perform its normal function of handling packets between the Host A
segment and Host B.
Figure 1. Typical HSRP
Configuration
You can configure
multiple Hot Standby groups among switches and switch stacks that are operating
in Layer 3 to make more use of the redundant routers. To do so, specify a group
number for each Hot Standby command group you configure for an interface. For
example, you might configure an interface on switch 1 as an active router and
one on switch 2 as a standby router and also configure another interface on
switch 2 as an active router with another interface on switch 1 as its standby
router.