Common Address Redundancy Protocol

Common Address Redundancy Protocol, or CARP, is a way to protect computer networks. CARP helps make sure that if one computer in a network fails or stops working, another computer can quickly take over and do the job of the broken computer. To do this, CARP uses an extra address (sometimes called a virtual address) that the computers on the network can share. This address is used to let the computers easily talk to each other and for them to know who is in charge of what. This way, if one computer fails, the other one can instantly take its place and keep the network running.