Protocol for Network Redundancy in Switched Firepower Device Deployment

A.

The protocol that establishes network redundancy in a switched Firepower device deployment is the Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP).

VRRP is a standard protocol that enables multiple devices to work together as a virtual router, providing redundancy and failover capabilities. VRRP is typically used in situations where a group of routers are connected to a common LAN and are providing IP services to clients.

In a switched Firepower device deployment, VRRP can be used to provide redundancy for the default gateway IP address. This is important because if the default gateway fails, clients will be unable to communicate with devices on other subnets or on the Internet.

When using VRRP, one router is designated as the master and the other routers are designated as backups. The master router is responsible for forwarding packets sent to the virtual IP address, while the backups are on standby in case the master fails.

In the event of a failure, the VRRP protocol will detect that the master is no longer responding and one of the backups will take over as the new master. This ensures that the virtual IP address is always available to clients, even in the event of a router failure.

In contrast, the other protocols mentioned in the answers:

• STP (Spanning Tree Protocol) is used for loop prevention and ensuring a loop-free topology in a switched network.

• HSRP (Hot Standby Router Protocol) is a Cisco proprietary protocol that provides redundancy for the default gateway IP address. It functions similarly to VRRP.

• GLBP (Gateway Load Balancing Protocol) is a Cisco proprietary protocol that provides redundancy and load balancing for the default gateway IP address. It is similar to HSRP, but also provides load balancing capabilities.

While all of these protocols provide some level of redundancy, only VRRP is the protocol specifically designed for this purpose.