ProCurve Switches - Configuring a Failover Link in OSPF

In the above example, switch ProCurve A has two connections to network 10.10.13.0/24. Switch ProCurve A needs to be configured in such a way that when both connections are up, the traffic to and from network 10.10.13.0/24 will pass through ProCurve B (the main link). If the main link is down then the backup link through ProCurve C will carry that traffic. All three ProCurve switches run OSPF for routing.

The method described below also works in the scenario where the main link is connected to the Internet via ISP 1 (the preferred ISP) and the backup link is connected to the Internet via ISP 2. Just replace the remote network address (10.10.13.0/24 in this example) by 0.0.0.0/0.

Using static routes with different administrative distances, then redistribute them into OSPF:

In ProCurve A, configure two static routes as follows:

HP-5406zl(config)# ip route 10.10.13.0/24 192.168.200.2 distance 10
HP-5406zl(config)# ip route 10.10.13.0/24 192.168.300.2 distance 20
HP-5406zl(config)# router ospf redistribute static

The link through ProCurve B has a lower distance than the backup link, so it will be chosen to carry traffic to and from network 10.10.13.0/24 under normal conditions. When this link fails, the link through ProCurve C will kick in as backup. The last command makes sure that these static routes be redistributed throughout the OSPF domain.

In the first two commands, the parameter metric can be modified instead of distance. The effect will be the same.