What does HSRP stand for?

HSRP stands for Hot Standby Routing Protocol. This protocol is used in networking to provide network resilience and redundancy by allowing multiple routers to work together to present a single virtual router to the hosts on a local area network (LAN). HSRP operates as a failover mechanism so that if the active router fails, one of the standby routers can take over seamlessly, ensuring continuous network uptime.

The use of a virtual IP address allows devices on the network to default their gateway to this virtual address rather than to the individual IP address of a physical router, which simplifies configuration and enhances network reliability. HSRP designations, such as "hot standby," indicate that the standby router is ready to take over immediately if needed, providing quick failover to maintain connectivity without significant interruption.