VXLAN: the Future of Data Center Networks

Nowadays, the emergency and rapid development of new technologies, such as cloud computing, big data, and machine learning, are driving data centers to adopt virtualization technologies and increase their server virtualization to provide cloud services. Traditional VLAN links have been proven insufficient to cope with the requirements of cloud data centers for large scale and flexibility. Therefore, VXLAN came on the stage and has become a significant part of modern data center network architecture.

What Is VXLAN?

VXLAN (Virtual Extensible LAN) is a network virtualization overlay technology designed to overcome the limitations of traditional Ethernet, providing better scalability and isolation. It allows multiple different organizations or "tenants" to share a single physical network, ensuring that no tenant can see the network traffic of others.

VXLAN creates a logical tunnel over an IP network, extending Layer 2 connectivity across an existing Layer 3 underlay network. It uses VXLAN Tunnel Endpoints (VTEPs)—which can be end hosts, network switches, or routers—to encapsulate and de-encapsulate Layer 2 traffic. This encapsulation allows VXLAN to run on existing network infrastructure without extensive network transformation.

How VXLAN works

VXLAN operates through two main processes: encapsulation and decapsulation.

Encapsulation: When a virtual machine (VM) transmits an Ethernet frame, the VXLAN module wraps it in a UDP packet. The source IP is the VM's host IP, and the destination IP points to the remote VXLAN tunnel endpoint. The VXLAN header's VNI field specifies the target virtual network. The UDP packet is then sent through the underlying network to reach the destination host.

Decapsulation: Upon receiving a VXLAN packet, the module extracts the Ethernet frame by decoding the UDP header. The VNI field is used to identify the destination virtual network, and the frame is forwarded to the appropriate VM or physical host.

This encapsulation and decapsulation process allows VXLAN to transport Ethernet frames seamlessly across the underlying network while maintaining logical isolation for virtual networks.

Advantages of VXLAN

VXLAN, as a cutting-edge network virtualization technology, offers several key advantages for data center networks:

Improved Network Performance:

VXLAN uses 24-bit VNI identifiers, supporting up to 16.7 million virtual networks, far surpassing the 4,094 VLAN limit. Each virtual network has its own independent Layer 2 namespace. This scalability enables VXLAN to handle large data centers, support multi-tenant isolation, and maintain a consistent network topology, reducing complexity and improving overall network performance.

Great Data Center Scalability:

EVPN-VXLAN

even allows the extension of identical networks across multiple data centers through a single overlay, making them behave as one. And hardware VTEPs minimize the latency overhead of VXLAN implementations, which helps build a scalable and robust data center network without sacrificing performance.

Cross-Subnet Communication

: Unlike traditional Ethernet, which requires Layer 3 routers for inter-subnet communication, VXLAN leverages the underlying IP network. This enables seamless virtual machine migration across subnets without changing IP addresses.

Flexibility

: VXLAN operates on existing network infrastructure, requiring no major network overhaul. It is compatible with current equipment and protocols, including switches, routers, and BGP, simplifying virtual network deployment and management.

Network Reliability

: With MP-BGP EVPN, VXLAN supports load balancing and redundancy, dynamically choosing optimal data paths based on network load and availability. This ensures improved performance and network reliability.

Privacy and Security

: Network segmentation enhances security and privacy, preventing tenants from accessing each other’s traffic, thus ensuring data isolation.

VXLAN Application in Data Center Network

VXLAN has a wide range of applications in data center networks. Some key use cases include:

Virtual Machine Migration: VXLAN enables seamless VM migration between physical hosts without changing IP addresses. This flexibility and scalability are crucial for load balancing, resource scheduling, and fault tolerance within data centers.

Multi-Tenant Isolation: By using unique VNIs, VXLAN segments a data center into multiple independent virtual networks, ensuring tenant isolation. This isolation guarantees data security, privacy, and tailored network policies and quality-of-service (QoS) for each tenant.

Cross-Data Center Connectivity: VXLAN extends across multiple data centers, enabling virtual network connections between them. This functionality supports resource sharing, business expansion, and disaster recovery across geographically distributed sites.

Cloud Service Providers: VXLAN helps cloud service providers build highly scalable and flexible virtualized network infrastructures. It allows for resource isolation and security in a multi-tenant environment, making it ideal for offering virtual network services.

Virtual Network Functions (VNF): In combination with Network Function Virtualization (NFV), VXLAN provides the underlying network virtualization technology for VNFs. It enables the rapid deployment and elastic scaling of network functions, ensuring flexibility and efficient management.

How FS Can Help You？

To sum up, the deployment advantages of VXLAN in the data center network architecture can provide you with greater business support. At present, FS has launched a cloud data center VXLAN solution with high performance, and scalability characteristics, making full use of the VXLAN network protocol application advantages. In addition, the PicOS® data center switches that support this solution offer powerful performance on top of VXLAN support. These switches use the unified PicOS® software and AmpCon-DC SDN Controller for automated operations and configuration, significantly enhancing data center efficiency and system stability.

As a professional provider of communication equipment and solutions, FS helps you develop a reliable IT modernization strategy to stand out in the evolving digital landscape and attract your target audience.