Tech Insights

Logical Overlay

Last updated May 16, 2025, generated by Sumble

What is Logical Overlay?

A logical overlay is a network virtualization technique that creates a virtual network on top of an existing physical network infrastructure. It decouples network resources from their physical locations, allowing for greater flexibility, scalability, and efficiency in network management. Logical overlays are commonly used to create virtual private clouds (VPCs), software-defined networks (SDNs), and other virtualized network environments.

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What other technologies are related to Logical Overlay?

Logical Overlay Competitor Technologies

Fabric Path

A Layer 2 multi-path technology, similar to TRILL, that could be used instead of a logical overlay.

mentioned alongside Logical Overlay in 14% (61) of relevant job posts

MPLS VPN

MPLS VPNs provide similar VPN functionality for connecting remote sites, competing with logical overlay networks which provides similar capabilities.

mentioned alongside Logical Overlay in 7% (97) of relevant job posts

SD-WAN

SD-WAN solutions often utilize logical overlay technologies to create secure and flexible WAN connections, thus is a direct competitor.

mentioned alongside Logical Overlay in 0% (73) of relevant job posts

VPC

Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs) offer logically isolated networks within a public cloud environment, competing with logical overlay approaches that provides similar logical network isolation and connectivity.

mentioned alongside Logical Overlay in 0% (80) of relevant job posts

VPN

Traditional VPNs (IPSec, SSL VPNs) can be used to create secure tunnels between sites or users, competing with logical overlay networks.

mentioned alongside Logical Overlay in 0% (78) of relevant job posts

Logical Overlay Complementary Technologies

Multicast

Multicast can be used within a logical overlay network to efficiently distribute data to multiple recipients, complementing its functionality.

mentioned alongside Logical Overlay in 1% (111) of relevant job posts

VRF

VRFs can be used to create separate routing domains within a logical overlay network, complementing the overlay's segmentation capabilities.

mentioned alongside Logical Overlay in 1% (61) of relevant job posts

BGP

BGP is often used as the routing protocol within the underlay network that supports a logical overlay, facilitating reachability between overlay endpoints.

mentioned alongside Logical Overlay in 0% (113) of relevant job posts