Dual homing connects a device—such as a server, switch, or router—to two separate network switches or routers, ensuring continuous connectivity even if one path fails. This redundancy minimizes downtime and enhances network resilience, making it a common strategy in data centers, enterprise networks, and service provider environments.

Hedgehog natively supports all common dual homing technologies, streamlining deployment and management even in the most complex environments. With Hedgehog’s automated network fabric, features like dual-homed server connections, MC-LAG (Multi-Chassis Link Aggregation), and seamless failover are configured and managed automatically, reducing the need for manual intervention and specialized networking expertise.

Beyond redundancy, dual homing—especially when orchestrated by Hedgehog—can enable load balancing, traffic optimization, and network segmentation. Implementation typically involves protocols like Spanning Tree (STP), link aggregation (LAG/MC-LAG), and dynamic routing to manage failover and optimize performance.

Best practices include using diverse physical paths, regularly testing failover mechanisms, and monitoring for optimal performance. Dual homing is essential for mission-critical deployments requiring uninterrupted network access, and Hedgehog’s flexible, cloud-like architecture ensures seamless support for these advanced configurations—bringing enterprise-grade reliability and automation to both data center and edge environments.