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VMware NSX-T Design

Creating a robust NSX-T design requires a deep understanding of the organization’s network architecture, security needs, and application demands. Our design process ensures that the NSX-T deployment enhances network efficiency, security, and agility.

Understanding Business and Technical Requirements

Assessment of Current Infrastructure

Start with a thorough assessment of the existing network and IT infrastructure to identify:

  • Network Topology: Understanding physical and logical network layouts.
  • Application Landscape: Identifying critical applications and their networking requirements.
  • Security and Compliance Needs: Assessing security policies, compliance requirements, and how micro-segmentation can address these needs.

Defining Objectives

Clear objectives guide the NSX-T design process, focusing on:

  • Scalability: Ensuring the network can grow with the organization.
  • Resilience: Designing for high availability and disaster recovery.
  • Operational Simplicity: Simplifying management and operations through automation.

Core Design Components

NSX-T Manager Cluster Design

Designing a highly available NSX-T Manager cluster involves:

  • Cluster Configuration: Deploying a three-node NSX-T Manager cluster for fault tolerance and load balancing.
  • Placement Strategy: Strategically placing NSX-T Manager nodes to optimize network paths and reduce latency.

Transport Zone and Transport Node Architecture

Key considerations include:

  • Overlay and VLAN Transport Zones: Determining the scope of transport zones based on data center topology and segmentation requirements.
  • Transport Node Configuration: Designing the integration of transport nodes, including ESXi hosts and NSX Edge nodes, ensuring efficient traffic flow and security.

Logical Routing and Switching

Tier-0 and Tier-1 Gateway Design

Architect gateways for optimal connectivity:

  • Tier-0 Gateway: Designing for external connectivity, including North-South routing and connections to physical routers.
  • Tier-1 Gateway: Planning for application-specific routing, enabling East-West traffic flow and micro-segmentation.

Edge Cluster Deployment

Strategically deploy edge clusters to:

  • Ensure High Availability: Designing edge clusters for redundancy, ensuring continuous network services.
  • Optimize Performance: Placing edge nodes to minimize latency and maximize bandwidth for critical applications.

Advanced Network Services

Load Balancing

Incorporate load balancers to:

  • Enhance Application Availability: Designing for failover and performance optimization across application instances.
  • Support Scalability: Ensuring the load balancing architecture can accommodate growing traffic demands.

Micro-Segmentation and Security Policies

Crafting detailed security policies through micro-segmentation:

  • Granular Security Controls: Defining security policies at the workload level to isolate and protect critical applications.
  • Compliance Alignment: Ensuring the design meets regulatory compliance requirements by controlling data flows within the network.

Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity

Cross-Site Design

Implementing NSX-T in a multi-site architecture to:

  • Ensure Business Continuity: Designing network and application redundancy across data centers.
  • Simplify Disaster Recovery: Utilizing NSX-T’s capabilities for seamless disaster recovery planning and execution.
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