Geneve SDN

Q: What is the Geneve Software Defined Networking encapsulation protocol?

A: Microsoft, VMware, and other vendors each have their own encapsulation protocol (which is used to wrap around the packets sent between operating systems) for their Software Defined Network (SDN) solutions. For example, Microsoft Network Virtualization utilizes Network Virtualization using Generic Routing Encapsulation (NVGRE), whereas VMware utilizes Virtual Extensible LAN (VXLAN). Having multiple standards doesn't provide any long-term benefits, and it makes obtaining support for the actual physical network hardware more difficult. Various companies, such as Microsoft, VMware, Red Hat Software, and Intel, have collaborated to create a new encapsulation standard, Generic Network Virtualization Encapsulation (Geneve). The Geneve protocol has been submitted to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). This new single standard should increase adoption of SDN; however, this doesn't mean the individual solutions will go away. I would expect Microsoft to continue investing in NVGRE, including adding features.