VSRP Overview

Virtual Switch Redundancy Protocol (VSRP) is a RUCKUS proprietary protocol that provides redundancy and sub-second failover in Layer 2 and Layer 3 mesh topologies. Based on RUCKUS Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol Extended (VRRP-E), VSRP provides one or more backups for a VSRP-aware device. If the master device becomes unavailable, one of the Backup devices takes over as the Master device and continues forwarding traffic for the network. For more information regarding VRRP-E, refer to the RUCKUS FastIron Layer 3 Routing Configuration Guide.

RUCKUS switches support full VSRP as well as VSRP-awareness. A RUCKUS device that is not itself configured for VSRP but is connected to a RUCKUS device that is configured for VSRP, is considered to be VSRP-aware.

You can use VSRP for Layer 2, Layer 3, or for both layers. On Layer 3 devices, Layer 2 and Layer 3 share the same VSRP configuration information.

The following illustration displays an example of a VSRP configuration.

VSRP Topology

Comment from Laurie:

The illustration (Fig 1: VSRP Topology) does not label which two devices are the RUCKUS devices referenced in this sentence, nor is there a VRID 1 label showing which devices are part of VRID 1.

In this illustration, two RUCKUS devices are configured as redundant paths for VRID 1. On each of the devices, a Virtual Router ID (VRID) is configured on a port-based VLAN. Since VSRP is primarily a Layer 2 redundancy protocol, the VRID applies to the entire VLAN. However, you can selectively remove individual ports from the VRID if needed.

Following Master election (described below), one of the RUCKUS devices becomes the Master for the VRID and sets the state of all the VLAN ports to Forwarding. The other device is a Backup and sets all the ports in its VRID VLAN to Blocking.

If a failover occurs, the Backup becomes the new Master and changes all its VRID ports to the Forwarding state.

Other RUCKUS devices can use the redundant paths provided by the VSRP devices. In this example, three RUCKUS devices use the redundant paths. A RUCKUS device that is not itself configured for VSRP but is connected to a RUCKUS device that is configured for VSRP, is VSRP-aware. In this example, the three RUCKUS devices connected to the VSRP devices are VSRP-aware. A RUCKUS device that is VSRP-aware can failover its link to the new Master in sub-second time by changing the MAC address associated with the redundant path.

When you configure VSRP, make sure each of the VSRP-aware RUCKUS devices has separate link to each of the VSRP devices.

Note: In VSRP Topology, the link between the VSRP Master and the VSRP Backup is "optional" because both devices are configured for VSRP. However, if the RUCKUS ICX device is only VSRP-aware, then this link is required. This is due to the need for interoperability between devices of these two platforms having different default timers. The link between the VSRP Master and Backup guarantees that the VSRP Hello messages are flowing between the VSRP Master and the VSRP Backup directly to cause VSRP transition instead of relying on VSRP-aware devices to forward and risk missing the VSRP Hello message.
Parent topic: Virtual Switch Redundancy Protocol (VSRP)