Virtual Forwarder - HPE FlexFabric 5700 Series Configuration Manual

2. When an ARP request arrives, the master (Router A) selects a virtual MAC address based on
the load balancing algorithm to answer the ARP request. In this example, Router A returns the
virtual MAC address of itself in response to the ARP request from Host A, and returns the virtual
MAC address of Router B in response to the ARP request from Host B. See
Figure 34 Answering ARP requests
Virtual MAC: 000f-e2ff-0011
Virtual IP address:10.1.1.1/24
Target IP: 10.1.1.1/24
Gateway IP: 10.1.1.1/24
3. Each host sends packets to the returned MAC address. As shown in
packets to Router A and Host B sends packets to Router B.
Figure 35 Sending packets to different routers for forwarding

Virtual forwarder

Virtual forwarder creation
Virtual MAC addresses enable traffic distribution across routers in a VRRP group. To enable routers
in the VRRP group to forward packets, VFs must be created on them. Each VF is associated with a
Router A
Master
ARP request ARP reply
Target MAC: 000f-e2ff-0011
Host A
Network
ARP request
Target IP: 10.1.1.1/24
123
Figure 34.
Router B
Backup
Virtual MAC: 000f-e2ff-0012
Virtual IP address:10.1.1.1/24
ARP reply
Target MAC: 000f-e2ff-0012
Gateway IP: 10.1.1.1/24
Host B
Figure 35, Host A sends