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Since VXLAN was introduced in 2014 it has become an important component of modern data center network fabrics. This blog reviews what VXLAN is, why it was developed, how it is being used in data centers, and advantages over other virtualization technologies. In an upcoming blog, we will look at some innovative VXLAN applications outside the data center.
What is VXLAN?
Virtual eXtensible Local Area Network (VXLAN) is an Internet standard protocol that provides a means of encapsulating Ethernet (Layer 2) frames over an IP (Layer 3) network, a concept often referred to as “tunneling.” This allows devices and applications to communicate across a large physical network as if they were located on the same Ethernet Layer 2 network.
Tunneling approaches such as VXLAN provide an important tool to virtualize the physical network, often called the “underlay,” and allow for connectivity to be defined and managed as a set of virtual connections, called the “overlay.” These virtual connections can be created, modified and removed as needed without any change to the physical underlay network. (Mike Capuano’s blog, What to Know About Data Center Overlay Networks, provides a deeper dive on overlays.)
While VXLAN is only one Continue reading