Virtual Network

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A Virtual Network represents communication relationships among participating entities independently of the physical network used to realize those relationships.

A Virtual Network may connect Nodes, Twin Realizations, services, or other communicating entities.

The Virtual Network may define a Network Topology and may associate communication characteristics or parameters with the communication relationships represented by that topology.

The term does not imply a particular realization technology. A Virtual Network may be realized using physical networks, software-defined networking, overlays, cloud networking, container networking, middleware, or combinations of these mechanisms.

a network representation that establishes communication relationships among participating entities independently of the physical network used to realize those relationships

Derived from the DIDO-TE source material describing Virtual Networks that communicatively couple distributed Nodes and represent communication conditions independently of physical separation.

A Virtual Network is an architectural representation of communication relationships. It is not synonymous with a particular product-specific construct such as a cloud virtual private network, VLAN, software-defined network, or container network.

A DIDO-TE Test Environment may use a Virtual Network to represent communication among three Nodes even when the Nodes execute on infrastructure located in different physical facilities.