Virtual Wire: Why L2–L7 Networking Changes Everything
The problem with Layer 3 VPNs
Traditional VPNs and overlay networks operate at a single layer — usually L3 (IP routing). This means they can route packets between endpoints, but they can't bridge Ethernet segments, enforce transport-layer policy, or inspect application protocols. Everything funnels through a central gateway, creating a bottleneck and a single point of failure.
What Virtual Wire provides
ORBTR's Virtual Wire spans the full OSI stack:
- L2 — Data Link: VLAN bridging and broadcast domain extension across sites. Extend your local network anywhere.
- L3 — Network: Encrypted mesh overlay with per-tenant VRF isolation. Standard IP routing without gateway appliances.
- L4 — Transport: Per-flow policy enforcement with segment-aware forwarding. Control traffic at the connection level.
- L7 — Application: DNS policy, protocol inspection, and identity-aware access decisions. Understand what applications are doing, not just where packets go.
No gateway, no bottleneck
Because Virtual Wire is agent-native, there's no gateway appliance to rack, patch, or capacity-plan. Traffic flows directly between devices. Edge Endpoints provide relay only when direct peer-to-peer connections fail.
This architecture means sub-5ms P2P latency, zero single points of failure, and a network that keeps working even when the control plane is unreachable.