VRRP load balancing mode

In a standard-mode VRRP group, only the master can forward packets and backups are in listening state. You can create multiple VRRP groups to share traffic, but you must configure different gateways for hosts on the subnet.

In load balancing mode, a VRRP group maps its virtual IP address to multiple virtual MAC addresses, assigning one virtual MAC address to each member router. Every router in this VRRP group can forward traffic and respond to IPv4 ARP requests or IPv6 ND requests from hosts. Because their virtual MAC addresses are different, traffic from hosts is distributed across the VRRP group members. Load balancing mode simplifies configuration and improves forwarding efficiency.

VRRP load balancing mode uses the same master election, preemption, and tracking mechanisms as the standard mode. New mechanisms have been introduced to VRRP load balancing mode, as described in the following sections.