420 Brocade ICX 6650 Layer 3 Routing Configuration Guide
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Comparison of VRRP and VRRP-E

ARP behavior with VRRP-E

In the VRRP-E implementation, the source MAC address of the gratuitous Address Resolution
Protocol (ARP) request sent by the VRRP-E Master router is the VRRP-E virtual MAC address. When
the router (either the Master or Backup router) sends an ARP request or reply packet, the sender’s
MAC address becomes the MAC address of the interface on the router. When an ARP request
packet for the virtual router IP address is received by the Backup router, it is forwarded to the
Master router to resolve the ARP request. Only the Master router answers the ARP request for the
virtual router IP address.
Comparison of VRRP and VRRP-E
This section compares router redundancy protocols.

VRRP

VRRP is a standards-based protocol, described in RFC 2338. The Brocade implementation of VRRP
contains the features in RFC 2338. The Brocade implementation also provides the following
additional features:
•Track ports – A Brocade feature that enables you to diagnose the health of all the Layer 3
switch ports used by the backed-up VRID, instead of only the port connected to the client
subnet. Refer to “Track ports and track priority” on page416.
•Suppression of RIP advertisements on Backup routers for the backed-up interface – You can
enable the Layer 3 switches to advertise only the path to the Master router for the backed-up
interface. Normally, a VRRP Backup router includes route information for the interface it is
backing up in RIP advertisements.
Brocade Layer 3 switches configured for VRRP can interoperate with third-party routers using VRRP.

VRRP-E

VRRP-E is a Brocade protocol that provides the benefits of VR RP without the limitatio ns. VRRP-E is
unlike VRRP in the following ways:
•There is no “Owner” router. You do not need to use an IP address configured on one of the
Layer 3 switches as the virtual router ID (VRID), which is the address you are backing up for
redundancy. The VRID is independent of the IP interfaces configured in the Layer 3 switches.
As a result, the protocol does not have an “Owner” as VRRP does.
•There is no restriction on which router can be the default Master router. In VRRP, the “Owner”
(the Layer 3 switch on which the IP interface that is used for the VRID is configured) must be
the default Master.
Brocade Layer 3 switches configured for VRRP-E can interoperate only with other Brocade Layer 3
switches.