Cisco IOS Cookbook, 2nd Edition

Using HSRP on Token Ring

Problem

You want to configure HSRP on a Token Ring.

Solution

You can use HSRP on a Token Ring LAN exactly the same as in Recipe 22.1 if the only protocol on the segment is IP. However, if you have any other protocols, and particularly if the ring uses any source-route bridging, you must use a slightly different configuration:

Router1#configure terminal 
Enter configuration commands, one per line.  End with CNTL/Z.
Router1(config)#interface Tokenring0
Router1(config-if)#ip address 172.22.1.3
Router1(config-if)#standby ip 172.22.1.1
Router1(config-if)#standby use-bia
Router1(config-if)#standby priority 120
Router1(config-if)#standby preempt
Router1(config-if)#exit
Router1(config)#end
Router1#

The second router is configured similarly:

Router2#configure terminal 
Enter configuration commands, one per line.  End with CNTL/Z.
Router2(config)#interface Tokenring0
Router2(config-if)#ip address 172.22.1.2
Router2(config-if)#standby ip 172.22.1.1
Router2(config-if)#standby use-bia
Router2(config-if)#standby priority 110
Router2(config-if)#standby preempt
Router2(config-if)#exit
Router2(config)#end
Router2#

Discussion

The biggest functional difference between a Token Ring LAN and an Ethernet LAN is that Token Ring bridging is usually source-routed, while Ethernet almost always uses transparent bridging. Consequently, Token Ring devices use a Routing Information Field (RIF), which contains MAC address information.

This is particularly important when the two HSRP routers reside ...