Geneve
Geneve is a network virtualization protocol that extends VXLAN (Virtual Extensible LAN) by adding a flexible header with metadata fields, enabling more sophisticated network overlays in data centers and cloud environments. It allows encapsulation of Layer 2 Ethernet frames within Layer 3 UDP packets, supporting multi-tenancy, network segmentation, and enhanced traffic engineering. Developed as an IETF standard, it is commonly used in software-defined networking (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV) deployments.
Developers should learn Geneve when working on cloud infrastructure, data center networking, or SDN projects that require scalable and flexible network overlays, such as in Kubernetes clusters, multi-cloud environments, or virtualized data centers. It is particularly useful for implementing network policies, load balancing, and security features across distributed systems, as its extensible header supports custom metadata for advanced traffic management.