What does OVN mean in UNCLASSIFIED

Operator Vaste Net (OVN) is an open-source virtual network overlay for edge and cloud computing environments. It provides a consistent way to create and manage virtual networks, regardless of the underlying physical infrastructure. This allows operators to easily deploy and manage network services across multiple sites, clouds, and regions.

OVN offers several benefits, including:

• Centralized management: OVN provides a single point of control for managing virtual networks, simplifying operations and reducing costs.
• Scalability: OVN is designed to handle large-scale deployments with millions of virtual machines and thousands of networks.
• Performance: OVN leverages advanced network technologies such as Open vSwitch (OVS) to deliver high-performance networking.
• Extensibility: OVN can be integrated with a wide range of cloud management systems and third-party tools, providing flexibility and customization.

OVN compares favorably to other virtual network overlays in the following ways:

• Open source: OVN is an open-source project, giving users access to the source code and allowing them to contribute to its development.
• Kubernetes integration: OVN integrates seamlessly with Kubernetes, making it easy to manage network policies and services within Kubernetes deployments.
• Multi-tenancy: OVN supports multi-tenancy, allowing multiple organizations or users to share the same network infrastructure while maintaining isolation.
• Stateful network services: OVN provides support for stateful network services such as load balancing, firewalls, and NAT, simplifying the deployment of complex network topologies.

OVN is used in a variety of use cases, including:

• Cloud networking: OVN provides a scalable and flexible networking solution for cloud environments, enabling the creation and management of virtual networks across multiple data centers.
• Edge computing: OVN supports edge computing deployments by providing a way to connect and manage distributed devices and services, ensuring secure and reliable connectivity.
• Network function virtualization (NFV): OVN can be used to deploy and manage virtual network functions (VNFs), such as firewalls, routers, and load balancers, in a cloud or edge environment.
• Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML): OVN enables the deployment of AI and ML applications by providing high-performance networking and support for distributed data processing and communication.