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To use a loopback or not to use a loopback...

that is the question?

Why, whats the pros, is there any cons?

I've inherited a network thats using the "data" vlan IP address for management of switches and monitoring. I've just installed solarwinds and am thinking we should really have our own management subnet on loopbacks but want to know why first?

thanks

Dave

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FormerMember

Please can anyone help?

savell

Think of a loopback address as a virtual interface. It doesn't have a physical presence, so this makes them quite reliable (i.e. a physical failure won't disable the loopback address). If you have multiple routes for example to a device, then it's possible that access can be retained to your loopback in a event of a hardware failure so the device can report an interface failure - rather than just receive a 'node down' alert.

You can also use the loopback address for locally generated traffic. This can provide consistency for example in ACL lists.

Loopback addresses are also used for routing protocols.

In short, it's good network design practice to provide loopback addresses for your Network devices.

Dave.

FormerMember

so if I haven't got multiple paths to my devices then as far as monitoring is concearned a loopback is pointless. I agree to your other comments, I only wish I had the time to implement it . thankyou for your help.

Dave