An overlay network is a computer network which is built on the top of another network. Nodes in the overlay can be thought of as being connected by virtual or logical links, each of which corresponds to a path, perhaps through many physical links, in the underlying network. For example, distributed systems such as cloud computing, peer-to-peer networks, and client-server applications are overlay networks because their nodes run on top of the Internet. The Internet was originally built as an overlay upon the telephone network while today (through the advent of VoIP), the telephone network is increasingly turning into an overlay network built on top of the Internet.
Read more about Overlay Network: List of Overlay Network Protocols
Famous quotes containing the word network:
“Of what use, however, is a general certainty that an insect will not walk with his head hindmost, when what you need to know is the play of inward stimulus that sends him hither and thither in a network of possible paths?”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)