Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP) Version 3 for IPv4 and IPv6
RFC 5798

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Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                     S. Nadas, Ed.
Request for Comments: 5798                                      Ericsson
Obsoletes: 3768                                               March 2010
Category: Standards Track
ISSN: 2070-1721

 Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP) Version 3 for IPv4 and IPv6

Abstract

   This memo defines the Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP) for
   IPv4 and IPv6.  It is version three (3) of the protocol, and it is
   based on VRRP (version 2) for IPv4 that is defined in RFC 3768 and in
   "Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol for IPv6".  VRRP specifies an
   election protocol that dynamically assigns responsibility for a
   virtual router to one of the VRRP routers on a LAN.  The VRRP router
   controlling the IPv4 or IPv6 address(es) associated with a virtual
   router is called the Master, and it forwards packets sent to these
   IPv4 or IPv6 addresses.  VRRP Master routers are configured with
   virtual IPv4 or IPv6 addresses, and VRRP Backup routers infer the
   address family of the virtual addresses being carried based on the
   transport protocol.  Within a VRRP router, the virtual routers in
   each of the IPv4 and IPv6 address families are a domain unto
   themselves and do not overlap.  The election process provides dynamic
   failover in the forwarding responsibility should the Master become
   unavailable.  For IPv4, the advantage gained from using VRRP is a
   higher-availability default path without requiring configuration of
   dynamic routing or router discovery protocols on every end-host.  For
   IPv6, the advantage gained from using VRRP for IPv6 is a quicker
   switchover to Backup routers than can be obtained with standard IPv6
   Neighbor Discovery mechanisms.

Status of This Memo

   This is an Internet Standards Track document.

   This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
   (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has
   received public review and has been approved for publication by the
   Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Further information on
   Internet Standards is available in Section 2 of RFC 5741.

   Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
   http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5798.

Nadas                        Standards Track                    [Page 1]
RFC 5798                VRRPv3 for IPv4 and IPv6              March 2010

Copyright Notice

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   document authors.  All rights reserved.

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   than English.

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction ....................................................4
      1.1. A Note on Terminology ......................................4
      1.2. IPv4 .......................................................5
      1.3. IPv6 .......................................................6
      1.4. Requirements Language ......................................6
      1.5. Scope ......................................................7
      1.6. Definitions ................................................7
   2. Required Features ...............................................8
      2.1. IPvX Address Backup ........................................8
      2.2. Preferred Path Indication ..................................8
      2.3. Minimization of Unnecessary Service Disruptions ............9
      2.4. Efficient Operation over Extended LANs .....................9
      2.5. Sub-Second Operation for IPv4 and IPv6 .....................9
   3. VRRP Overview ..................................................10
   4. Sample Configurations ..........................................11