cyber deal
Switching and Bridging RouterOS v7 Book
Study material for the MTCSWE Certification Course updated to RouterOS v7
$19,97
Add to cart
Bonding Active Backup (active-backup) in MikroTik
- Mauro Escalante
- No comments
- Share this article
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
WhatsApp
Telegram
The Active Backup bonding method, also known as active-backup, is one of the link aggregation techniques that you can use on MikroTik devices with RouterOS.
Unlike other bonding methods such as balance-xor o 802.3ad, the main objective of active-backup is to offer redundancy instead of load balancing.
How It Works
The method active-backup uses a “one asset at a time” approach, meaning that only one of the physical interfaces in the bonding group is active at any given time.
The other links act as backup. If the active link fails for any reason (such as connection loss, cable failure, etc.), one of the backup links automatically takes its place, thus minimizing downtime.
Previous requirements
- Two or more Ethernet interfaces on a MikroTik device.
- RouterOS installed on the MikroTik device.
Configuration in MikroTik RouterOS
- Access to the MikroTik device: You can use Winbox or access the device's web interface.
- Navigate to Interfaces: Here you will see all the available interfaces.
- Create the Bonding Interface:
- Click on the + and choose Bonding.
- Go to the tab General and set a name for the interface.
- In the Bonding, Select Fashion as active-backup.
- Add ports to the Bonding Interface:
- In the same configuration window, look for the option Slaves.
- Add the Ethernet interfaces you want to use as backup.
Important data
- No load balancing: Unlike other methods, active-backup does not offer load balancing. It is only designed to provide redundancy.
- Fast failover: Switching from a failed interface to a backup one is typically quick, minimizing downtime.
- Easiest setup: It requires no additional configuration on the switch or device at the other end of the link.
Limitations of Bonding Active Backup (active-backup) in MikroTik
- Without Load Balancing: One of the most significant limitations is that the method active-backup does not perform load balancing. That is, the bandwidth of multiple links cannot be used simultaneously to increase performance.
- Failover Latency: Although failover is generally fast, there is inherent latency during the change from an active link to a backup link. This delay can be critical in time-sensitive applications such as VoIP or online gaming.
- Monitoring Configuration: The effectiveness of the failover mechanism depends largely on how link monitoring is configured. If the link monitoring configuration is not optimized, there could be delays in failover or even failure to detect a down link.
- Without Efficient Use of Resources: Since only one link is active at a time, the rest of the links are underutilized, which could be considered an inefficient use of available resources.
Considerations for Bonding Active Backup
Monitoring:
Before deploying, it is crucial to have a monitoring solution that can log events related to link availability and failover effectiveness. In MikroTik, you can set up alerts and logs that inform you of changes in link status.
Failover Tests:
It is essential to perform failover testing in a controlled environment before deploying the configuration to a live network. These tests will allow you to adjust parameters such as failover timeout and link monitoring settings.
Compatibility with Other Devices:
Make sure the device at the other end of the link also supports the bonding method you are using, although active-backup He is usually more tolerant of this.
Bandwidth Planning:
Since this method does not provide an increase in bandwidth, you will need to carefully plan the capacity of each individual link to ensure that they can handle the traffic in the event of a primary link failure.
VLAN configuration:
If you are using VLANs on your network, make sure they are correctly configured on all interfaces involved in bonding.
Documentation:
Maintain complete and up-to-date configuration documentation, as this will facilitate troubleshooting and future maintenance.
Cost:
Although not a technical limitation, maintaining multiple links as backup can increase operational costs since only one of them will be in active use.
Understand both the limitations and considerations of bonding active-backup in MikroTik will help you implement this technique more effectively and maximize its usefulness in scenarios where redundancy is critical.
Bonding Active Backup (active-backup) is especially useful in scenarios where service continuity and high availability are crucial. Here are some practical applications in different contexts:
Data Centers and Corporate Environments
- Server Redundancy: To ensure that critical servers always have a network connection, you can use active-backup bonding to automatically switch to a backup link if the primary one fails.
- Switches and Routers: In large network infrastructures, active-backup can be used to provide failover for connections between switches and routers.
ISP and Telecommunications
- Client Connections: Some ISPs use active-backup bonding to offer greater reliability in customers' Internet connections, automatically switching to a backup connection in case the primary connection fails.
- Network Infrastructure: For critical links in an ISP's infrastructure, such as those connecting different network nodes or data centers, active-backup provides an additional layer of redundancy.
Health and Emergency Services
- Hospitals and Medical Centers: In these environments, a network failure could be critical. Active-backup bonding can ensure that essential medical systems always have an active connection.
Retail and Services
- Financial transactions: For POS (Point of Sale) and other systems that handle financial transactions, active-backup bonding can provide an extra layer of reliability.
Education
- Internet Connection on Campus: Universities and schools can implement active-backup bonding to ensure an uninterrupted connection to online educational resources and administrative systems.
Industry
- Process control: In industrial environments where process control and automation systems are managed, network availability is crucial. Active-backup bonding can minimize downtime.
Basic example of how to configure bonding with the Active Backup method in MikroTik
In this example, we will assume that you have two Ethernet interfaces, ether1 y ether2, and you want to group them using the Active Backup method.
- Access the MikroTik Router via CLI:
You can use SSH or direct terminal to access the router.
ssh admin@192.168.88.1
- Create a bonding interface:
/interface bonding add name=active-backup-bonding mode=active-backup
- Add 'slave' interfaces to bonding:
/interface bonding set active-backup-bonding slaves=ether1,ether2
- (Optional) Configure an IP address for the bonding interface:
/ip address add address=192.168.1.1/24 interface=active-backup-bonding
- Check settings:
/interface bonding print
After running this command, you should see something similar to:
Flags: X - disabled, R - running 0 name="active-backup-bonding" mtu=1500
mac-address=XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX arp=enabled mode=active-backup primary=none
link-monitoring=mii arp_interval=100ms arp_ip_target="" up-delay=0ms
down-delay=0ms slaves=ether1,ether2 mii-interval=100ms
With these steps, you should have Active Backup bonding configured and running.
Now the interface active-backup-bonding group ether1 y ether2 using the Active Backup method, which will select one active 'slave' interface and use the other as a backup.
Brief knowledge quiz
What do you think of this article?
Do you dare to evaluate your learned knowledge?
Recommended book for this article
Related Posts
Related Posts
Microlabs
(ML-001) How to properly manage multiple public or private IPs on the edge router
$8,99
(ML-002) Ways to assign public IP addresses to clients with MikroTik
$9,99
(ML-003) Guide to configure Internet exit routes with two or more providers (failover and recursion in PCC balancing)
$8,99
(ML-004) Filter implementation strategies to restrict access to web pages with MikroTik
$7,99
Other topics that may interest you
Ways to Assign IPv6 Addressing (Part 2)
March 25th, 2024
WireGuard on MikroTik RouterOS: A Secure and Efficient VPN Solution
March 13th, 2024
Ways to Assign IPv6 Addressing (Part 1)
March 11th, 2024
Do you want to suggest a topic?
Every week we post new content. Do you want us to talk about something specific?
Upcoming online courses
MTCINE OnLine
$187,00
MTCNA Online
$187,00
MTCRE Online
$187,00
Pack 4 MikroTik RouterOS books
$68,47
