Patent ID: 7490161

Claim:
A method, comprising: providing a router having an active processor means and a standby processor means; building a removable hidden Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) interface on said active processor means and a hidden OSPF interface on said standby processor means for each area during initial synchronization, each area being a group of contagious networks and attached hosts, the hidden OSPF interface on said active processor means and the hidden OSPF interface on said standby processor means being unexposed and at least one hidden adjacency for synchronizing databases on the active processor means and on the standby processor means being automatically built for each area over the hidden OSPF interface on said active processor means and the hidden OSPF interface on said standby processor means; connecting said hidden OSPF interface of said active processor means to said hidden OSPF interface of said standby processor means over a communications link; synchronizing an OSPF routing database using an OSPF network link protocol over said hidden OSPF interface, such that said OSPF routing database is synchronized when said hidden OSPF interface of said active processor means and said hidden OSPF interface of said standby processor means reach a full adjacency state; transferring OSPF network link protocol information from said hidden OSPF interface of said active processor means to said hidden OSPF interface of said standby processor means over said communications link to mirror states of said active processor means and said standby processor means by maintaining a synchronization state machine for each task within a protocol; removing said hidden interface of said active processor means and said hidden interface of said standby processor means; and assuming control by said standby processor means when a failure is detected in said active processor means and wherein all states of said link protocol immediately function as if the failure had not occurred.