Network Virtualization Protocols ===================================== .. toctree:: :maxdepth: 1 :hidden: :includehidden: VPC VXLAN NVGRE Geneve Network virtualization technologies logically divide networks to enhance **security**, **performance**, and **administrative control** across enterprise and cloud infrastructures. .. list-table:: :widths: 20 60 20 :header-rows: 1 * - Technology - Description - Use Case * - VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) - Virtual network in cloud environments that mimics traditional networking. *Supports routing, security groups, subnets, and gateways.* - Deploying secure cloud applications with private subnets. * - VXLAN (Virtual Extensible LAN) - Encapsulates Layer 2 frames within UDP over IP to create overlay networks. *Enables scalable multi-tenant segmentation across IP networks.* - Large-scale data center overlay networks and tenant segmentation. * - NVGRE (Network Virtualization using Generic Routing Encapsulation) - Uses GRE to encapsulate tenant network traffic over IP. *Provides overlay virtualization with simpler header overhead than VXLAN.* - Tenant isolation and segmentation in private cloud environments. * - Geneve (Generic Network Virtualization Encapsulation) - A flexible encapsulation protocol designed to unify VXLAN, NVGRE, and others. *Provides customizable header fields and rich metadata.* - Modern overlay networks in software-defined data centers and cloud-native environments. .. tab-set:: .. tab-item:: VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) **Used By:** AWS, GCP, Azure, Oracle Cloud **Main Features:** - Virtualized network within cloud provider infrastructure - Includes subnets, route tables, firewalls, and NAT gateways - Supports public and private IP address ranges - Fine-grained control over routing and connectivity - Enables secure and isolated cloud workloads **Use Cases:** - Hosting cloud-native or hybrid applications securely - Isolating environments (e.g., dev, test, prod) - VPN and Direct Connect for hybrid cloud access - Applying firewall and security group policies per subnet **Alternative Technologies:** - On-premises VLANs and VRFs - SDN – Software-defined overlay networks - NSX, Azure Virtual Network, GCP VPC Peering .. panels:: :container: container pb-4 :column: col-lg-12 p-2 :card: What You Will Learn in This Section **Let us learn more about VPCs:** * :ref:`Learnings in this section ` * :ref:`Terminology ` * :ref:`Version Info ` * :ref:`VPC Version&RFC Details ` * :ref:`VPC Basic Setup on Ubuntu using IPv4 ` * :ref:`VPC Basic Setup on Ubuntu using IPv6 ` * :ref:`VPC Protocol Packet Details ` * :ref:`VPC Usecases ` * :ref:`VPC Basic Features ` * :ref:`VPC Feature : Private IP Addressing ` * :ref:`VPC Feature : Subnetting ` * :ref:`VPC Feature : Route Tables ` * :ref:`VPC Feature : Security Groups ` * :ref:`VPC Feature : Network ACLs ` * :ref:`VPC Feature : Elastic IP Support ` * :ref:`VPC Feature : NAT Gateway Integration ` * :ref:`VPC Feature : Internet Gateway Access ` * :ref:`VPC Feature : DNS Resolution ` * :ref:`VPC Feature : IPV6 Support ` * :ref:`Reference links ` .. button-link:: ./VPC.html :color: primary :shadow: :expand: Jump to "VPC" .. tab-set:: .. tab-item:: VXLAN (Virtual Extensible LAN) **RFC / Specification:** IETF RFC 7348 **Main Features:** - Encapsulates Ethernet frames in UDP/IP (UDP port 4789) - Supports up to 16 million VXLAN Network Identifiers (VNIDs) - Enables multi-tenant overlays across layer-3 infrastructure - Integrates with multicast or unicast (EVPN) for flood-and-learn operations - Operates as an overlay to isolate tenant traffic in data centers **Use Cases:** - Scalable tenant segmentation in large-scale cloud data centers - Overlay network virtualization in EVPN deployments - Extending VLANs across geographically distributed sites **Alternative Technologies:** - NVGRE – GRE-based encapsulation for overlays - Geneve – Extensible, metadata-rich overlay design - VPC – Broad, cloud-provider specific network virtualization .. panels:: :container: container pb-4 :column: col-lg-12 p-2 :card: What You Will Learn in This Section **Let us learn more about VXLAN:** * :ref:`Learnings in this section ` * :ref:`Terminology ` * :ref:`Version Info ` * :ref:`VXLAN Version&IEEE Details ` * :ref:`VXLAN Basic Setup on Ubuntu using IPv4 ` * :ref:`VXLAN Basic Setup on Ubuntu using IPv6 ` * :ref:`VXLAN Protocol Packet Details ` * :ref:`VXLAN Usecases ` * :ref:`VXLAN Basic Features ` * :ref:`Reference links ` .. button-link:: ./VXLAN.html :color: primary :shadow: :expand: Jump to "VXLAN" .. tab-set:: .. tab-item:: NVGRE (Network Virtualization using GRE) **Spec:** Microsoft VGRE and NVGRE design proposals (industry de-facto; not formal RFC) **Main Features:** - Uses GRE (IP protocol 47) to encapsulate Layer‑2 frames over IP - Simpler header compared to VXLAN; includes tenant ID in GRE key - Supports tenant segmentation and scalable overlays - Integrates well in environments with GRE-aware devices **Use Cases:** - Building network virtualization overlays in private clouds - Tenant-isolated network virtualization using GRE encapsulation **Alternative Technologies:** - VXLAN – UDP-based overlay with EVPN support - Geneve – Extensible, open metadata encapsulation format .. panels:: :container: container pb-4 :column: col-lg-12 p-2 :card: What You Will Learn in This Section **Let us learn more about NVGRE:** * :ref:`Learnings in this section ` * :ref:`Terminology ` * :ref:`Version Info ` * :ref:`NVGRE Version&IEEE Details ` * :ref:`NVGRE Basic Setup on Ubuntu using IPv4 ` * :ref:`NVGRE Basic Setup on Ubuntu using IPv6 ` * :ref:`NVGRE Protocol Packet Details ` * :ref:`NVGRE Usecases ` * :ref:`NVGRE Basic Features ` * :ref:`Reference links ` .. button-link:: ./NVGRE.html :color: primary :shadow: :expand: Jump to "NVGRE" .. tab-set:: .. tab-item:: Geneve (Generic Network Virtualization Encapsulation) **Spec:** IETF draft/perhaps RFC-in-progress; designed by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) **Main Features:** - Flexible, extensible header with metadata options - Encapsulates Layer‑2 or Layer‑3 payloads over UDP/IP - Designed to unify features of VXLAN, NVGRE, and others - Supports variable-length optional metadata for advanced use cases (e.g., NSH, flow affinity) **Use Cases:** - Overlay networking in cloud-native environments and SDN fabrics - Multi-tenant segmentation with rich, programmable context data **Alternative Technologies:** - VXLAN – mature, widely supported overlay protocol - NVGRE – simpler GRE-based overlay - VPC – cloud-provider-specific network virtualization .. panels:: :container: container pb-4 :column: col-lg-12 p-2 :card: What You Will Learn in This Section **Let us learn more about Geneve:** * :ref:`Learnings in this section ` * :ref:`Terminology ` * :ref:`Version Info ` * :ref:`Geneve Version&IEEE Details ` * :ref:`Geneve Basic Setup on Ubuntu using IPv4 ` * :ref:`Geneve Basic Setup on Ubuntu using IPv6 ` * :ref:`Geneve Protocol Packet Details ` * :ref:`Geneve Usecases ` * :ref:`Geneve Basic Features ` * :ref:`Reference links ` .. button-link:: ./Geneve.html :color: primary :shadow: :expand: Jump to "Geneve"