CC&G Week 5 Posting - Virtual Extensible LAN (VXLAN)

 Virtual Extensible LAN (VXLAN)

  Virtual LANs (VLANs) segment networks at Layer 2 in the OSI model. While VLAN helps improve security and network performance, they suffer a few drawbacks. VLAN is limited to Layer 2, meaning it cannot operate in other layers, like Layer 3 or 4, to access the Internet. VLANs have a maximum subnet count of 4096. This is great for small or medium businesses, but it does not scale well in data centers. Virtual Extensible LANs (VXLANs) can be utilized to bypass these limitations.

    VXLAN uses the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) to operate at Layer 4. MAC-in-UDP inserts MAC address information into the packet header. VXLAN also uses VXLAN Network Identifier (VNI), which supports up to 16 million VXLANS, much more than VLAN's 4096. 

    A great use case in cloud networking can be found with Cloud Service Providers (CSPs). CSPs use them to differentiate between several tenants managed on a single physical architecture. VXLAN boasts several benefits that make it a great choice over VLANs. Better traffic control, more scalability, and multiple tenant support are all possible with VXLAN.