HN809: EVPN All the Things!

The podcast explores the concept of "EVPN all the things," advocating for the broad adoption of Ethernet VPN (EVPN) technology across various network environments. It challenges the traditional use of VLANs, suggesting EVPN offers advantages in scalability, control, and network virtualization. The discussion covers the fundamentals of EVPN and VXLAN, highlighting how they facilitate MAC address learning via BGP, eliminate spanning tree, and reduce state in the network core. Jeff McAdams, a network engineer, shares his perspective on EVPN's benefits, including multi-tenancy, segmentation, and the ability to create services without physical topology constraints. The podcast also addresses potential objections, such as the complexity of BGP and the need for automation, while considering scenarios where alternative technologies like SRV6 might be more appropriate.