Lower Networking vs Upper Networking

Last Updated: 2023-02-15

Lower Networking vs Upper Networking

• Lower networking:
  • network engineering.
  • includes physical network topology, routing protocols, network device configurations (routers, switches, firewalls, etc.), automation, etc.
  • comprises both underlay (VLAN) and overlay, i.e. VXLAN.
• Upper networking:
  • software engineering.
  • exists "on top of" the lower network .
  • includes virtual machine and container networking, kubernetes networking, service mesh, load balancing, DNS, etc.

Underlay vs Overlay

Both are part of "Lower Networking".

• Underlay: physical network.
• Overlay: virtual network on top of physical network (i.e. underlay).
  • EVPN: control plane.
  • vxlan: tunnel technology.
  • EVPN and vxlan go hand in hand.