From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Mon Aug 13 23:59:53 2007 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4C4BD16A41A for ; Mon, 13 Aug 2007 23:59:53 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from modulok@gmail.com) Received: from rv-out-0910.google.com (rv-out-0910.google.com [209.85.198.186]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1D24113C461 for ; Mon, 13 Aug 2007 23:59:53 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from modulok@gmail.com) Received: by rv-out-0910.google.com with SMTP id f1so1129922rvb for ; Mon, 13 Aug 2007 16:59:52 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=beta; h=domainkey-signature:received:received:message-id:date:from:to:subject:mime-version:content-type:content-transfer-encoding:content-disposition; b=Baayczk4oXpXvbTy3jz02eDVmllyaBz/SS7QykVNq5V4yvJ++YGaZCAReAJJBE4b1Zb7psDvf7moBEDHTGXjhmrCMAQLLnv//2JQsPEgGCQAfngcEnnB4FlIw78chiv7McHcOGunpDPxVvkiefWhIluhjVOrJPmIEzhshQdJqPk= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=beta; h=received:message-id:date:from:to:subject:mime-version:content-type:content-transfer-encoding:content-disposition; b=itZFVXe3vmNfCc2Uh8A8obuLimcNT1XOWvSISpLhIpxUP6eNh/N7YwjuEkpluxi1Phr4ql1qpvYFUVGGVJHTpRGbFPQD+d8JeJR8i6MJUKRWTmeg6zjrL8Ezm/X7W7hsetAp7HIvw7el2B7PxC/pW/2idSBFOIk36qA1RzuSp80= Received: by 10.141.63.20 with SMTP id q20mr970227rvk.1187049592656; Mon, 13 Aug 2007 16:59:52 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.140.207.2 with HTTP; Mon, 13 Aug 2007 16:59:52 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: <64c038660708131659m68620db9of8d93bd079d1fb29@mail.gmail.com> Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 17:59:52 -0600 From: Modulok To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Subject: Redundant network router setup? X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 23:59:53 -0000 QUESTION: Is there a way to setup a redundant router, such that I can offload traffic from the primary router to another machine, without breaking TCP sessions? BACKGROUND: I have a FreeBSD machine acting as a gateway, running natd(8) through ipfw(8). When maintenance time comes, the server is taken offline, causing every client who was dependent on it connectionless until I'm done monkeying around. I could hook up another server with an identical configuration and then just jack the cable from one machine to the other. This disconnects all clients momentarily, until they re-initiate their TCP connections. If we excuse it as a "computer glitch" no one gets too angry. Needless to say, there must be a better solution for high availability. Maybe this happens at the switch level? I don't know. Looking for pointers on how to set something like this up. Pointers, Ideas? -Modulok-