Overview

Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP) provides high availability for the default gateway. It allows two or more routers to share a virtual IP and MAC address.

How it Works

  • Active Router: Handles all traffic sent to the virtual gateway.
  • Standby Router: Monitors the active router and takes over if it fails.
  • Virtual IP: Hosts are configured with this IP as their default gateway.

Benefits

Ensures that if the primary router fails, the network remains reachable without any configuration changes on the end-user devices.

Related Terms