Which term creates virtual connections between different endpoints to provide additional security benefits?

• A. SDN Overlay
• B. Open SDN
• C. Data Plane/Forwarding Plane
• D. Management Plane

Answer: (A)

An SDN overlay is a virtual network layer built on top of the physical network that connects endpoints through logical paths regardless of the underlying hardware. This layer encapsulates traffic to create distinct, controllable connections between devices or hosts, enabling centralized security policy enforcement, micro-segmentation, and consistent access controls across data centers or clouds. By decoupling the virtual network from the physical topology, you can apply security measures more flexibly and reach endpoints that might be on different segments or even different locations.

In contrast, the data plane/forwarding plane is simply where packets are actually moved and forwarded, the management plane handles configuration and monitoring, and “Open SDN” isn’t a standard term for this concept.