The Lazy Networker

Gateway redundancy protocols provide high availability and fault tolerance for network gateways by allowing multiple routers to share a virtual IP address. If the active gateway fails, another router in the group takes over, ensuring seamless connectivity for clients.

The three main gateway redundancy protocols are:

1. HSRP (Hot Standby Router Protocol) – Cisco proprietary
2. VRRP (Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol) – Open standard
3. GLBP (Gateway Load Balancing Protocol) – Cisco proprietary with load balancing

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1. Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP)

Overview

• Developed by Cisco.
• Uses Active/Standby model, where the active router forwards traffic and the standby takes over upon failure.
• Uses multicast address 224.0.0.2 and UDP port 1985.
• Supports preemption (forcing a higher-priority router to become active).

Basic HSRP Configuration

RouterA(config)# interface GigabitEthernet0/1
RouterA(config-if)# ip address 192.168.1.2 255.255.255.0
RouterA(config-if)# standby 1 ip 192.168.1.1
RouterA(config-if)# standby 1 priority 110
RouterA(config-if)# standby 1 preempt
RouterA(config-if)# standby 1 authentication md5 key-string MyKey

• standby 1 ip 192.168.1.1 → Defines virtual IP.
• standby 1 priority 110 → Higher priority means it becomes active first.
• standby 1 preempt → Allows preemption if a higher priority router is available.
• standby 1 authentication → Adds security.

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2. Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP)

Overview

• Open standard protocol (RFC 5798).
• Works similarly to HSRP but is vendor-neutral.
• Uses multicast address 224.0.0.18 and protocol number 112.
• Supports preemption by default.

Basic VRRP Configuration

RouterA(config)# interface GigabitEthernet0/1
RouterA(config-if)# ip address 192.168.1.2 255.255.255.0
RouterA(config-if)# vrrp 1 ip 192.168.1.1
RouterA(config-if)# vrrp 1 priority 110
RouterA(config-if)# vrrp 1 preempt

• vrrp 1 ip 192.168.1.1 → Defines virtual IP.
• vrrp 1 priority 110 → Higher priority makes this router the master.
• vrrp 1 preempt → Allows higher priority routers to take over automatically.

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3. Gateway Load Balancing Protocol (GLBP)

Overview

• Cisco proprietary.
• Supports load balancing among multiple gateways.
• Uses multicast address 224.0.0.102 and UDP port 3222.
• Elects an Active Virtual Gateway (AVG) that assigns virtual MAC addresses to different routers.

Basic GLBP Configuration

RouterA(config)# interface GigabitEthernet0/1
RouterA(config-if)# ip address 192.168.1.2 255.255.255.0
RouterA(config-if)# glbp 1 ip 192.168.1.1
RouterA(config-if)# glbp 1 priority 110
RouterA(config-if)# glbp 1 preempt
RouterA(config-if)# glbp 1 load-balancing round-robin

• glbp 1 ip 192.168.1.1 → Defines virtual IP.
• glbp 1 priority 110 → Higher priority makes this router the AVG.
• glbp 1 load-balancing round-robin → Distributes traffic evenly among routers.

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Troubleshooting HSRP and VRRP

1. Verify Protocol Status

• Check which router is active and standby/master. bashCopyEditshow standby brief # For HSRP show vrrp brief # For VRRP show glbp brief # For GLBP
• Example output for HSRP: nginxCopyEditInterface Grp Pri P State Active Standby Virtual IP Gi0/1 1 110 Active local 192.168.1.3 192.168.1.1

2. Check Multicast Communication

• Ensure the routers are receiving multicast messages using debug. bashCopyEditdebug standby events # For HSRP debug vrrp events # For VRRP debug glbp events # For GLBP
• If messages are missing, check:
  • Multicast filtering settings.
  • Interface VLAN configuration.

3. Verify Interface Status

• Ensure the interface is up. bashCopyEditshow ip interface brief
• If the interface is down: bashCopyEditinterface GigabitEthernet0/1 no shutdown

4. Check Priority and Preemption

• If a router is not becoming active, verify the priority settings: bashCopyEditshow standby # HSRP show vrrp # VRRP show glbp # GLBP
• If needed, increase the priority: bashCopyEditstandby 1 priority 120 # HSRP vrrp 1 priority 120 # VRRP glbp 1 priority 120 # GLBP

5. Test Failover

• Shut down the active router’s interface and check if failover occurs: bashCopyEditinterface GigabitEthernet0/1 shutdown
• Check if the backup router becomes active: bashCopyEditshow standby brief

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Comparison of HSRP, VRRP, and GLBP

Feature	HSRP	VRRP	GLBP
Standard	Cisco	Open	Cisco
Load Balancing	No	No	Yes
Preemption	Optional	Default	Yes
Active Router	Single	Single	Multiple
Virtual MAC	Yes	Yes	Yes

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Conclusion

• HSRP: Best for Cisco environments.
• VRRP: Best for multi-vendor networks.
• GLBP: Best when load balancing is needed.