Is OTV still worth studying or deploying ?

[Tony JOrdan]

Hi guys,

Just interested in what the industry are doing with regard to OTV DCI technology now with the advent of VXLAN and also Cisco dropping OTV from the new CCIE DC blueprint ?

Cheers

Tony 

[Hector Gustavo Serrano Gutierrez]

Hello @Tony JOrdan.

OTV is used in many production environments leveraging Cisco Nexus 7000 Switches or Cisco ASR 1000 Routers.

While indeed VXLAN can nowadays replace OTV, it is actually about choosing the right tool for the job.

VXLAN will perfectly serve as the DCI technology when using Cisco Nexus 9000 Switches deployed in the following architectures:

• VXLAN EVPN Multi-Site Design and Deployment White Paper
• Cisco ACI Multi-Site Architecture White Paper

In these architectures, VXLAN is the overlay technology for intra and inter Data Center communication.

It is still worth the effort to dedicate some study time to properly understand OTV which you may find in existing network environments. Ultimately, a good grasp of OTV will help you to understand why VXLAN can take its place in newer architectures.

I hope this helps.

Best Regards.