Which node acts as a gateway between the fabric and the known network?

The border node serves a crucial role in a network fabric by acting as the gateway between the fabric and external networks. It facilitates communication between the fabric environment, which is often a virtualized infrastructure, and other known networks, including traditional physical networks and the internet.

This node is particularly important for routing traffic to and from the fabric to ensure that data can traverse between internal and external resources. By providing this gateway functionality, the border node helps maintain the logical separation of the fabric while still allowing necessary connectivity to external services and data.

In contrast, edge nodes typically deal with endpoints within the fabric and manage communications from those endpoints to other nodes within the same fabric. Control plane nodes are responsible for managing the network control functions and are focused on maintaining state and routing tables but do not directly manage traffic between the fabric and external networks. Intermediate nodes primarily deal with routing data within the fabric and do not serve as gateways to outside networks.