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VxLAN Evolution in the Context of DCI Requirements
Since I posted this article “Is VxLAN a DCI solution for LAN extension ?” clarifying why Multicast-based VxLAN was not suitable to offer a viable DCI solution, the DCI market (Data Center Interconnect) has become a buzz of activity around the evolution of VxLAN based on Control Plane (CP).
In this network overlay context, the Control Plane objective is to leverage Unicast transport while processing VTEP and host discovery and distribution processes. This method significantly reduces flooding for Unknown Unicast traffic within and across the fabrics.
The VxLAN protocol (RFC 7348) is aimed at carrying a virtualized Layer 2 network tunnel established over an IP network, hence from a network overlay point of view there is no restriction to transport a Layer 2 frame over an IP network, because that’s what the network overlays offers.
Consequently a question as previously discussed with MCAST-only transport in regard to a new DCI alternative solution, comes back again;
- Does a Control Plane suffice to claim that’s VxLAN can be used as a DCI solution?
Consequently, this noise requires a clarification on how reliable a DCI solution can be when based on VxLAN Unicast transport using a Control Continue reading