: Unlike VXLAN's fixed header, GENEVE uses a variable-length options header with a Type-Length-Value (TLV) format. This allows tunnel endpoints to exchange custom metadata, which is critical for systems like Open Virtual Network (OVN) .
: It utilizes a 24-bit Virtual Network Identifier (VNI) to isolate traffic, supporting up to 16 million unique virtual segments.
The Linux kernel provides native support for GENEVE through the ip link command suite. Setting up GENEVE tunnel in Linux with TC | by Chen Dar
: Formally defined in RFC 8926 , it is the default tunnel protocol for modern cloud networking stacks like Open vSwitch (OVS) . Linux Implementation
( Generic Network Virtualization Encapsulation ) is an extensible overlay tunneling protocol designed to unify earlier standards like VXLAN and NVGRE. It creates Layer 2 overlay networks over Layer 3 IP infrastructure by encapsulating Ethernet frames in UDP packets on port 6081 . Key Features