Question

Difficulty: HardFirst Hop Redundancy Protocols (HSRP and VRRP)

A network engineer is implementing First Hop Redundancy Protocols (FHRP) across an enterprise distribution layer, deploying HSRPv2 on VLAN 10 and VRRPv3 on VLAN 20. Which two statements correctly describe the operational mechanics, protocol addresses, and default behavior differences between HSRPv2 and VRRPv3? (Select two.)

  1. HSRPv2 sends hello messages to the multicast destination IPv4 address 224.0.0.102, whereas VRRPv3 sends advertisement packets to the multicast address 224.0.0.18 for IPv4 deployments.Answer
  2. VRRP allows the virtual IP address to match a physical IP address assigned to the Master router's interface, whereas HSRP requires the virtual IP to be unique and different from all physical interface IP addresses in the group.Answer
  3. C
    HSRP permits configuring the active router's physical IPv4 address as the virtual IP address, whereas VRRP strictly forbids the virtual IP address from matching any interface's physical IP address.
  4. D
    HSRPv2 enables preemption by default to ensure the primary router regains active state automatically, whereas VRRPv3 requires explicit configuration of preemption to allow a higher-priority router to become Master.

Answer

HSRPv2 sends hello packets to multicast address 224.0.0.102 while VRRPv3 uses 224.0.0.18, and VRRP permits configuring a virtual IP that matches a physical interface IP while HSRP requires a unique virtual IP address.
The correct statements correctly identify the protocol multicast addresses (HSRPv2 uses 224.0.0.102, whereas VRRPv3 uses 224.0.0.18) and the virtual IP assignment rules (VRRP allows the virtual IP to match a physical interface IP, whereas HSRP mandates a unique virtual IP address).

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze multicast destination addressing for HSRPv2 and VRRPv3.
HSRPv1 uses 224.0.0.2, HSRPv2 uses 224.0.0.102 (UDP 1985). VRRPv2 and VRRPv3 (IPv4) use 224.0.0.18 (IP protocol 112).
Correct protocol understanding requires knowing transport and network layer multicast identifiers.
2
Evaluate virtual IP address assignment constraints.
HSRP requires the virtual IP to be unique within the subnet and not assigned as a physical IP on any participating gateway interface. VRRP permits the virtual IP to be identical to the IP address configured on the Master router's physical interface (IP address owner).
This is a fundamental architectural difference between Cisco proprietary HSRP and standard VRRP.
3
Evaluate preemption defaults for both protocols.
HSRP preemption is disabled by default. VRRP preemption is enabled by default.
Default preemption rules dictate failover and recovery behavior when a higher-priority device comes online.

Key Concept

FHRP Protocol Differences (HSRP vs. VRRP Addressing, Virtual IP Rules, and Preemption Defaults)
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