2. Terminology

2. Terminology

This document uses the following terms:

Tunnel Endpoint:
A component that performs encapsulation and decapsulation of packets. Tunnel endpoints (or "Geneve endpoints") may be implemented in software (e.g., a virtual switch in a hypervisor) or hardware (e.g., a physical switch or a SmartNIC).

Transit Device:
A forwarding element along the path between tunnel endpoints. This device forwards Geneve packets based on the outer IP header and does not participate in the Geneve protocol.

NVE (Network Virtualization Edge):
A node at the edge of the virtualized network that connects the overlay network to the underlay network. An NVE may implement one or more tunnel endpoints.

Tenant Systems:
End systems (virtual machines, containers, or bare-metal servers) that connect to the NVE and communicate over the virtual network.

VNI (Virtual Network Identifier):
A 24-bit identifier used to differentiate between different virtual networks (or tenants).

Geneve Header:
The header added by the tunnel endpoint to encapsulate the original packet. It includes a base header and optional variable-length options.

Geneve Options:
Fields in the Geneve header that carry metadata. They are Type-Length-Value (TLV) encoded.

Control Plane:
The system responsible for managing the network, configuring the NVEs, and distributing implementation details (such as the mapping between tenant addresses and underlay addresses).