Creating a high-availability internet connection with Draytek routers

Creating a high-availability internet connection with Draytek routers

In today's e-commerce-driven business world, having an always-on internet connection is crucial.  While a 24x7 presence for the storefront can be reasonably assured through cloud-based hosting, your office staff still need to be able to connect to the internet to update stock, process orders, and respond to client enquiries. 


Ensuring you always have access to the internet starts with identifying any weaknesses in your IT infrastructure and planning for redundancy, so that any critical component has a backup in case of primary failure, including your WAN (internet connection). 


Two types of high availability options for WAN connectivity can be utilised in various scenarios. 


Hot-Standby

In this scenario, two routers are connected to the same internet connection.  The primary router would use the Internet connection as usual, while the secondary router would keep the Internet connections in standby or offline unless a failover occurs. 


If the primary router goes offline, the secondary router takes over the internet connections and brings them online, resuming connectivity. 


Draytek routers in this scenario automatically synchronise their configuration, simplifying their management.  


The benefit of Hot-Standby is to protect against router failure. 







Active Standby

This scenario utilises different WAN interfaces on each router. It is employed when the primary and secondary routers have distinct physical connections and cannot share a physical interface, such as the VDSL2 interface of a Vigor 2860 router. 


The different connections are made to different DSL/ISPs to reduce the likelihood of internet connectivity loss being caused by a single point of failure of an ISP.  


DSL routers cannot connect to the same DSL line because if one modem has a sync, another router's modem cannot connect. Additionally, if they both attempt to sync at the same time, they will clash. 


The benefit of Active Standby is to protect against ISP failure.



 


    • Related Articles

    • Can you extend the wireless range of Vigor Routers?

      Yes, you can extend and expand the wireless range of Draytek routers. This can be achieved by positioning a VigorAP where it can receive the wireless signal from the router, retransmitting and boosting the signal, thereby extending the wireless ...

    • Improving VPN Speed and Stability on MacOS

      In addition to the solutions offered in “Five tips for improving your VPN performance”, this article examines some additional improvements specifically for MacOS devices. Remove parental/security controls on your router. Some network providers might ...

    • Increasing Wireless Security with WPA3

      As wireless speeds approach those of wired connections, businesses are increasingly opting for the convenience of wireless networks and hybrid connections. Consequently, wireless security is more critical than ever. The ability to turn on a device, ...

    • Enhancing Router remote access security with 2FA authentication.

      Enhance Router remote access security with 2FA authentication. This article explains the process for setting up an additional two-factor authentication (2FA) security for logging in remotely to the router's WAN interface. Once implemented, gaining ...

    • Improving VPN Speed and Stability on Windows

      In addition to the solutions offered in “Five tips for improving your VPN performance”, this article examines some additional improvements specifically for Windows-based devices. Remove parental/security controls on your router. Some network ...