Brocade FastIron Ethernet Switch Layer 3 Routing Configuration Guide - Manual (Page 586)

Overview
This chapter describes how to configure Brocade Layer 3 switch with the following router redundancy
protocols:
• Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP) - The standard router redundancy protocol described
in RFC 2338. The FastIron devices support VRRP version 2 (v2) and VRRP version 3 (v3). VRRP
v2 supports the IPv4 environment, and VRRP v3 supports the IPv4 and IPv6 environments.
Configuring VRRPv3 for IPv4 enables the code for a version compatible with RFC 5798. VRRPv3
has no authentication mechanism and the advertisement interval uses different metrics and range.
• VRRP Extended (VRRP-E) - An enhanced version of VRRP that overcomes limitations in the
standard protocol. The FastIron devices support VRRP-E v2 and VRRP-E v3. VRRP-E v2 supports
the IPv4 environment, and VRRP-E v3 supports the IPv6 environment.
NOTE
VRRP and VRRP-E are separate protocols. You cannot use them together.
NOTE
You can use a Brocade Layer 3 switch configured for VRRP with another Brocade device or a third-
party router that is also configured for VRRP. However, you can use a Brocade device 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 255 for IPv4 environments.
The maximum number of supported VRRP or VRRP-E router instances is 128 for IPv6 environments.
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.
Overview
586 FastIron Ethernet Switch Layer 3 Routing Configuration Guide
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