A physical network versus a virtual network

We will now see the difference between a physical network and a virtual network. The following diagram represents a physical network without a virtualization platform:

The following diagram represents virtualization as the main infrastructure:

Before we dive into virtual network building blocks, we need to understand how networks are set up in the preceding diagrams. Both the diagrams represent the same office setup where the main administrative department is on the second floor, and the accounting department is on the fourth floor of the building. It is apparent from the diagrams that a physical network is less complex than a virtual network, but by leveraging virtualization, we can cut costs, increase efficiency, reduce hardware maintenance complexity, and increase portability.

A physical network

In the physical network diagram, there is no virtualization platform set up. The network is set up with physical devices, such as firewalls, switches, servers...