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Networking Advanced

What is Overlay Network?

A virtual network built on top of an existing physical network, enabling features like container networking and VPNs.

Overlay networks create logical network topologies independent of the underlying physical infrastructure. They encapsulate packets from the overlay network inside packets of the underlay network (tunneling). Technologies include VXLAN (extending Layer 2 across Layer 3 boundaries), WireGuard/IPsec (VPN tunnels), and container networking (Flannel, Calico, Weave). In Kubernetes, overlay networks enable pods on different physical hosts to communicate as if on the same LAN. Benefits include network isolation, simplified addressing, and infrastructure independence. The trade-off is encapsulation overhead reducing effective MTU and adding latency.

Related Terms

QoS (Quality of Service)
A set of techniques for managing network traffic to prioritize certain types of data and ensure performance for critical applications.
HTTP Keep-Alive
An HTTP mechanism that reuses a single TCP connection for multiple requests, reducing the overhead of establishing new connections.
DNS Record Types
Different types of DNS entries that map domain names to various information like IP addresses, mail servers, and verification strings.
DNS (Domain Name System)
A hierarchical naming system that translates human-readable domain names into IP addresses.
VPN (Virtual Private Network)
A technology that creates an encrypted tunnel between your device and a remote server, securing internet traffic.
DHCP
A protocol that automatically assigns IP addresses and network configuration to devices on a network.
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