Patent ID: 6856591

Claim:
A method for providing high reliability to management of a cluster of network devices, said network devices belonging to a management virtual network, said cluster including a command network device and at least one member network device, said command network device having a commander IP address and a commander MAC address, said cluster being managed through said command network device using said commander IP address, said command network device communicating with said member network device using said commander MAC address, said method comprising: defining a standby group by assigning a virtual IP address and a virtual MAC address to said standby group; selecting a first network device for said standby group, said first network device being said command network device; selecting a second network device for said standby group, said second network device having an IP address and belonging to said management virtual network; defining a standby priority for each network device in said standby group; and binding said standby group to said cluster, by replacing said commander IP address with said virtual IP address and replacing said commander MAC address with said virtual MAC address, the network device with a highest priority in said standby group becoming an active commander, the network device with a second highest priority in said standby group becoming a standby commander.