Abstract: In a seamless redundancy or failover system for an IP network, data intended for a master component is received at a seamless redundancy component, where the data is routed both to the master component and to a standby component. The standby component is configured to process the data in the same manner as the master component, e.g., the standby component may be a duplicate of the master component, or another component configured to perform the same data processing functions. For seamless redundancy/failover, the data output of the standby component is suppressed unless and until the master component enters a failure condition, at which time the data output of the standby component is enabled for transmission to a downstream network component. “Failure condition” refers to an operational state of the master component where the master component is unable to process received data in its intended and normal manner.