Is VRRP-E a completely separate standard than VRRP or does it just add on features to the VRRP standard? What are some major differences between VRRP and VRRP-E?
VRRP-E is Brocade only. From Brocade documentation:
VRRP-E is a Brocade protocol that provides the benefits of VRRP without the limitations. VRRP-E is unlike VRRP in the following ways:
There is no “Owner” router. You do not need to use an IP address configured on one of the Layer 3 Switches as the virtual router ID (VRID), which is the address you are backing up for redundancy. The VRID is independent of the IP interfaces configured in the Layer 3 Switches. As a result, the protocol does not have an “Owner” as VRRP does.
There is no restriction on which router can be the default master router. In VRRP, the “Owner” (the Layer 3 Switch on which the IP interface that is used for the VRID is configured) must be the default Master.
Brocade Layer 3 Switches configured for VRRP-E can interoperate only with other Brocade Layer 3 Switches.
The main current issue with the Brocade line is that you can only enable one at a time, per chassis. i.e. If you want to run VRRP-E, you'll never be able to run VRRP with another vendor on another port.
They are not compatible in any way. VRRP-E is proprietary.
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I can't help but think this is a bad call on Brocades part but that could be my biased view. If you are going to create a proprietary extension then why not keep it completely separate so you can run VRRP (standard) on some ports and BVRRP (or other name) on other ports. – David Rothera May 30 '13 at 21:14
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I've asked my contacts at Brocade that they need to change this. I see no technical reason it can't be that each group can run their own version. No word yet on whether this will change. – mellowd May 30 '13 at 21:21