From Firmware 7, High Availability (HA) failover is supported on the BR1.
High availability (HA) allows a slave unit in the LAN to take over the role when failure is detected in the corresponding master unit, providing hardware redundancy.
High Availability (HA) failover between two routers is based on the Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP). A heartbeat is sent out from the BR1 configured as master device to the router configured as slave device.The router configured as slave will take over the master device’s role when the heartbeat is missing.
For example when there is a hardware failure or when the router with the MASTER role is disconnected from the LAN.
This document will walk you through the steps to configure 2 BR1 in High Availability (HA) failover mode.
Hardware configuration
For VRRP or Hardware Failover to work both BR1 routers need to be connected to the same LAN.In the example below we use 1 switch.
The routers both connect to the switch with the same LAN .
It is not necessary to share the same WAN connection,being cellular routers the BR1 routers will use separate cellular WAN connections in most cases. This doesn’t affect how HA works.
But you could use a wired WAN connection as well.
Router configuration
Before you begin you’ll need the following details:The HA group number
The HA group number should be the same on both the master and slave device. This mandatory number is used to identify the VRRP group.
The Virtual IP address (VIP)
A Virtual IP address is an IP address that doesn’t correspond to an actual physical network interface (port). The virtual IP address is the default gateway for all hosts connected to the LAN segment.
Additional IP addresses for each router.
In this example, we’ll use the following settings:
HA Group Number: 15
Virtual IP address: 192.168.20.1
Master Peplink MAX BR1: 192.168.20.2
Slave Peplink MAX BR1: 192.168.20.3
Follow these steps:
1: Log on to the Peplink MAX BR1 used as the Master device.
2: Set the LAN IP Address for the MASTER device in Network > Network Settings
3: Enable High Availability in Advanced > Misc. Settings > High Availability and set the Group Number, Preferred Role and Virtual IP address as shown below.
4: Apply these changes.
5: Check the applied settings on the bottom of the dashboard page.
6: Copy the serial number from the MASTER device from the status page.
7: Log on to the BR1 used as the SLAVE device and enable High Availability Mode in Advanced > Misc. Settings > High Availability.
Enabling Configuration Sync is optional. If you choose to use this option copy the earlier saved Master Serial Number in the correct field. The master unit will automatically transfer the configuration to this unit. Please make sure the LAN IP Address and Subnet Mask fields are set correctly in the LAN Settings page.You can refer to the Event Log for the configuration synchronization status.
Finally save your settings and apply the changes.
Wait until the configuration has synced and test the failover by unplugging the power from the MASTER device.
The SLAVE should become MASTER and will either remain MASTER or return to SLAVE mode in case the option to “Resume Role Upon Recovery” is ticked.