What Are the Data Center Interconnect DCI Solutions?

With the rapid development of cloud computing and big data, the demand for interconnection between data centers is increasing, leading to the emergence of data center interconnect DCI solutions, which have become an indispensable part of modern enterprises. This article will explore several major data center interconnect DCI solutions to help enterprises choose the most suitable technical architecture.

Data Center Interconnect DCI solutions include the following:

End-to-End VXLAN Solution

The End-to-End VXLAN (Virtual Extensible Local Area Network) solution is an effective method for data center interconnect DCI. This solution establishes a unified resource pool across multiple data centers to achieve end-to-end VXLAN tunnels. Specifically, the computing and network resources of multiple data centers are managed centrally by a set of cloud platforms and iMaster NCE-Fabric.

In this solution, it is first necessary to ensure Underlay routing between data centers. On the Overlay network layer, EVPN (Ethernet VPN) needs to be deployed between the Leaf devices of the two data centers. Through the EVPN protocol, these devices can discover each other and transmit VXLAN encapsulation information, thereby establishing end-to-end VXLAN tunnels.

This solution is applicable to Multi-PoD (Multiple Points of Delivery) scenarios, where there are several data centers in the same city with short distances and small scale. By achieving end-to-end VXLAN interconnection of data centers, users' virtual private clouds (VPC) and subnets can be deployed across data centers to directly achieve business interconnection.

Segmented VXLAN Solution

Another data center interconnect DCI solution is based on the design of segmented VXLAN tunnels. In this scenario, the computing and network resources of each data center are independent and managed by their respective cloud platforms and iMaster NCE-Fabric. To achieve interconnection between data centers, a specialized DCI VXLAN domain must be established.

In the segmented VXLAN solution, VXLAN tunnels need to be established both within and between data centers. Similar to the end-to-end solution, it is first necessary to ensure Underlay routing between data centers. Next, EVPN must be deployed between the Leaf devices and the DCI gateways within data centers, as well as between the DCI gateways of different data centers, to trigger the establishment of segmented VXLAN tunnels.

This solution is mainly applicable to Multi-Site scenarios, suitable for interconnecting multiple data centers located in different regions or with significant physical distances. By using segmented VXLAN, enterprises can achieve more flexible resource management and efficient data transmission.

Key Technologies of Data Center Interconnect DCI Solutions

Data Center Interconnect DCI solutions rely on a series of key technologies to ensure efficient data flow and system stability.

VXLAN Technology

VXLAN is a tunneling technology that can overlay layer 2 virtual networks over any routable network. Through VXLAN gateways, interconnectivity within VXLAN networks is achieved, and compatibility with traditional non-VXLAN networks is also supported.VXLAN uses MAC in UDP encapsulation technology, which encapsulates Ethernet frames within IP packets, ensuring network flexibility and scalability, allowing virtual machines (VM) to migrate without being constrained by the network architecture.

EVPN Technology

EVPN is a next-generation, full-service VPN solution that unifies the control plane for various VPN services. Using the BGP extension protocol, EVPN achieves layer 2 or layer 3 reachability information transmission, ensuring the separation of the forwarding and control planes. As data center networks develop, the integration of EVPN and VXLAN enables the wider application of EVPN in data center interconnect DCI scenarios.