Organizations worldwide have gained significant efficiency and flexibility in their datacenters as a direct result of deploying VMware server virtualization solutions. Although compute has been virtualized, network and security technologies in datacenters have struggled to keep pace with the innovations. Many VMware customers are now looking to implement a network virtualization solution that brings flexibility to datacenter networks. Virtual eXtensible Local Area Network (VXLAN), part of VMware vCloud Networking and Security, addresses the current networking challenges. This document offers detailed deployment guidelines and step-by-step instructions on how to build VXLAN-based datacenter networks.
A VXLAN-based network virtualization solution addresses the following key challenges that exist in the traditional physical network:
- Limited number of isolated layer 2 (L2) networks (VLAN – 4096)
- Inability to change the physical network configuration on demand
- Limited L2 diameter (because of Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) limitations) that restricts pooling of compute resources available across the datacenter
For more details on the VXLAN-based network virtualization solution and various design consideration details, refer to VMware Network Virtualization Design Guide. This document is for both vSphere and network administrators. It provides step-by-step configuration instructions for the following two scenarios:
- A brand-new VXLAN network design spanning two compute clusters
- A migration of an existing two-cluster deployment from a standard VLAN to a VXLAN network
