Cisco OTV Connects Remote Data Centers at Layer 2

Cisco Overlay Transport Virtualization (OTV) skips some of the pitfalls associated with connecting remote data centers

By Enterprise Networking Planet Staff | Feb 17, 2010
Print ArticleEmail Article
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn

Cisco OTV is a way for far-flung Cisco Nexus 7000 switches to share MAC address tables. Usually, multiple data centers has its own set of VLANs, spanning-tree, and so forth. According to SF Gate, Cisco OTV requires a switch running at each data center that has a trunked interface to the local switched LAN and plays on all VLANs relevant to the data center extension.

"When an OVF switch receives a frame destined for another data center, it encapsulates it in a normal IP packet and transmits it over the WAN to the data center where that destination MAC resides. On the receiving end, the local OVF switch strips the encapsulation and drops the frame on the appropriate VLAN as if nothing ever happened. The sending and receiving hosts never know that that they are in different datacenters, or that a WAN link was involved at all.

"The underlying table information and routing transport for this scenario is a pretty neat adaption of existing technology. Cisco is leveraging some of the capabilities of the IS-IS (Intermediate System to Intermediate System) routing protocol to make this happen, although the IS-IS configuration is completely under the covers. It really is only about five commands to add a data center to the mix, although the necessary configuration of the Nexus 7000 switches might be a bit more involved."

Read the Full Story at SF Gate

Comment and Contribute
(Maximum characters: 1200). You have
characters left.
Get the Latest Scoop with Enterprise Networking Planet Newsletter
Helpful Links

  • Yankee Group Mobile WAN Optimization Report

    Mobile work continues to evolve. Your organization must keep up with the demands of its mobile workforce. This report introduces the concept of mobile WAN optimization and provides three case studies including RCM, PRTM and Einstein that highlight how this emerging technology can help IT departments achieve what previously appeared to be conflicting goals. Read >

  • Network Security Resources

    More threats than ever before pose a danger to today's enterprise network. Get the latest tips and intel on the newest risks in our guide to network security resources. Read >

  • Extreme Savings: Cutting Costs with WAN Optimization

    Did you know it's possible to cut IT costs without impacting day-to-day IT operations? In fact, when you download this whitepaper from Riverbed on cost-savings through WAN optimization, you'll discover how businesses of all different sizes have realized a return on investment in just a few months through significant hard cost savings in areas such as bandwidth reduction and IT consolidation. It's called Extreme Savings and its only from Riverbed. Read >