What happens during the "speak" state in HSRP?

During the "speak" state in Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP), the router is actively participating in the HSRP process by sending hello messages to other routers in the group. This state indicates that the router is capable of taking over the role of the active router if necessary and is involved in the election process to determine which router will be the active one.

The hello messages are crucial for maintaining the communication between the routers, allowing them to keep track of each other's status and to identify the active and standby routers. This ensures that there is high availability and redundancy in the network, as the routers can quickly transition roles if the active router fails or becomes unavailable.

In summary, the speak state is essential for a router to assert its presence in the HSRP configuration, affirming its readiness to assume a routing role and to contribute to the overall fault tolerance of the network.