VXLAN Technical Deep Dive

Webinar: 4.80 Instructor: 4.83 Materials: 4.85 more …

Webinar details

VXLAN was the first MAC-over-IP overlay virtual networking technology that could be used to implement large-scale layer-2 multi-tenant virtual networking solutions within the VMware’s vSphere ecosystem.

Since its introduction in 2011 various VXLAN implementations introduced scalable control plane, hardware gateways, and standardized scale-out architectures based on BGP MPLS Ethernet VPN (EVPN).

Version 2.0 of VXLAN Technical Deep Dive webinar (launched on October 22nd) describes:

• The basics of VXLAN technology;
• VXLAN integration with the layer-3 data center network core;
• Benefits and drawbacks of VXLAN versus its competitors (NVGRE and STT);
• VXLAN implementations in hypervisors switches;
• Integration with vCloud Director;
• Large-scale VXLAN solutions, including unicast mode VXLAN and EVPN-based scale-out architectures;
• Hardware VXLAN gateways and VLAN-to-VXLAN integration options;
• Use of VXLAN in data center fabrics (Arista, Cisco ACI) and OpenStack Quantum.

Contents

The webinar covers the following topics:

• The overview of VXLAN technology;
• Multicast-based VXLAN and its hypervisor-based implementations;
• Proprietary VXLAN control plane solutions;
• Standard scale-out VXLAN-based architectures using OVSDB and EVPN;
• VXLAN gateways and their integration with VXLAN controllers;
• VXLAN as transport method in data center fabrics.

VXLAN Technology Overview

This section describes the VXLAN architectural model, packet formats and forwarding principles, including the use of IP multicast to emulate layer-2 flooding.

The design guidelines presented in this section will help you integrate VXLAN-based virtual networking solutions with large-scale IP-based data center networks.

Multicast-Based VXLAN

Initial VXLAN implementations used IP multicast to establish MAC-to-VTEP mappings in hypervisor virtual switches. This section describes the technical details of multicast-based VXLAN and two hypervisor-based implementations: Cisco’s Nexus 1000V and native vSphere 5.1 implementation included in vCloud Networking and Security (vCNS) group of products.

Proprietary VXLAN Control PLanes

Virtualization vendors quickly realized that they cannot sell a solution that depends so heavily on IP multicast, and started implementing proprietary control-plane solutions that replaced multicast-based flooding with hypervisor-based packet replication, and dynamic MAC learning with control-plane information gathering.

This section describes three typical proprietary control-plane architectures: Cisco Nexus 1000V, VMware NSX for Multiple Hypervisors and VMware NSX for vSphere.

Standardized Scale-Out VXLAN Solutions

This section describes EVPN-based approaches that allow network designers to build scale-out VXLAN-based architectures. The implementations mentioned in this section include Cisco Nexus 1000V, Nuage VSP and Juniper Contrail.

VXLAN Gateways

VXLAN segments are completely isolated from the rest of the network. You need gateway functionality if you want to link a VXLAN segment with a traditional VLAN or insert network services (routing, firewalling or load balancing) between a VXLAN segment and the rest of the network.

This section lists most common gateway solutions, from VM-based products (example: vShield Edge or vASA) to hardware gateways (Arista 7150, Cisco Nexus 9300, Brocade VDX 6740), and describes various design scenarios that you can use to implement large-scale multi-tenant private- or public cloud solutions.

VXLAN Use in Data Center Fabrics

One could use Arista’s VXLAN implementation to build large-scale layer-2 data center fabrics. VXLAN is also a fundamental building block of Cisco’s ACI architecture. This section will describe the approaches network hardware vendors use to build overlay data center fabrics with their hardware VXLAN gateways.

Happy Campers

Target Audience

If part of your daily job includes VMware network connectivity, OpenStack or IaaS infrastructure, be it on the server or networking side, you simply have to attend this webinar, regardless of whether you’re a network architect, network designer, or an implementation guru.

Prerequisite knowledge

This webinar assumes familiarity with virtual networking concepts and VMware networking solutions, and basic understanding of IP routing and IP multicast. Watching Cloud Networking and Overlay Virtual Networking before attending this webinar will also help you better understand the technical details.

The Author

You'll get

• Webinar materials in PDF format (list)

• Recording of virtual classroom session
• Downloadable videos in MP4 format (list)

Related Webinars

• Introduction to Virtualized Networking
• VMware Networking Deep Dive
• Cloud Computing Networking
• Overlay Virtual Networking

Sample videos

• VXLAN Gateway Design Options
• VXLAN Unicast Mode
• VXLAN Gateways

Webinar roadmaps

• SDN, NFV and OpenFlow
• Network Automation
• Cloud Infrastructure and SDDC
• Data Center Infrastructure
• Containers and Docker
• Virtualization and Virtual Networks
• IPv6
• Security
• Virtual Private Networks (VPN)

Custom webinars

To get more information about customized versions of this webinar, on-site workshops, pricing or scheduling details, please contact us.

Related blog posts

• EVPN: All that Glitters Is Not Gold

• VXLAN Ping and Traceroute

• Can VMware NSX and Cisco ACI Interoperate over VXLAN?

• Replacing FabricPath with VXLAN, EVPN or ACI?

• Why Do We Need VXLAN (and What Is It)?

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