Loopback Interfaces—Benefits

Following are the benefits of configuring loopback interfaces for an Edge:

• As loopback interfaces are logical interfaces that are always up and reachable, you can use these interfaces for diagnostic purposes as long as there is layer 3 reachability to at least one physical interface.
• Loopback interfaces can be used as source interface for BGP. This ensures that when the BGP's interface state flaps, the BGP membership does not flap if there is at least one layer 3 connection available.
• Loopback interface IP address can be used as the source IP address for the various services such as Orchestrator Management Traffic, Authentication, DNS, NetFlow, Syslog, TACACS, BGP, and NTP. As loopback interfaces are always up and reachable, these services can receive the reply packets, if at least one physical interface configured for the Edge has layer 3 reachability.