Virtual router on remote standalone ESXi host

[joshu]

I'm deploying a single ESXi 5 host at a remote location with a Vyatta VM as an internet gateway, IPSEC site-site etc. The only physical networking hardware at the site will be an ADSL modem and an HP ProCurve 1810-8g switch for VLANs and the LAN PCs.

I've realised that if I want to patch the ESXi host, all the VMs need to be shutdown (including Vyatta). This will take down the IPSEC VPN and the LAN network until Vyatta is back online. Of course there's also the possibility of the Vyatta VM going down for other reasons.

One solution might be to get a minimal ALIX board, install Vyatta and setup VRRP, so that if the Vyatta VM is down it will failover to the physical device. I don't know whether this will work in practice, i.e. virtual to physical VRRP.

I'm open to suggestions for how to mitigate the risk of losing the network and having to travel to the site to fix the problem.

Many thanks

 

[danswartz]

VRRP is just packets, so I can't see why a virtual/physical pair wouldn't work. Should be easy enough to try, no?

 

[joshu]

I've never used VRRP, so I'm no expert on the subject. I don't have an ALIX board yet, as I wanted to hear what others say before I make any purchase.

 

[joshu]

Any suggestions from the experts on my situation above?