Direct Connect is a mechanism to provide data transfer connection between an on-premise location and public cloud services. VMware Aria Operations for Networks supports the Direct Connect feature for VMware Cloud on AWS.

Direct Connect support enables you to:

  • Identify flows that pass over Direct Connect between on-premise data center and VMware Cloud on AWS SDDC.
  • Run the flow analytics to understand the flow bandwidth and the packet rate.
  • View the detailed path topology between virtual machines that communicate over Direct Connect.
  • View details about Direct Connect and associated alerts.

Direct Connect data fetch mechanism

VMware Aria Operations for Networks fetches Direct Connect information by using the VMware Cloud on AWS NSX APIs. Therefore, to get the Direct Connect information, you must add the VMware Cloud on AWS related data sources (VMware vCenter and NSX Manager).

Note: You do not have to add an AWS account for Direct Connect support. However, you must add the following Data Sources:
  • VMware Cloud on AWS vCenter
  • VMware Cloud on AWS NSX Manager
  • On-premise VMware vCenter
  • On-premise NSX or On-premise VMware NSX-T Manager
  • On-premise DC Perimeter Physical Router (Supported routers include Cisco N9k and Cisco ASR 9k)
  • DX Colo Physical Router (Supported routers include Cisco N9k and Cisco ASR 9k)

These data sources are required by VMware Aria Operations for Networks to construct VM-VM path topology and to enrich the IPFIX flows with Direct Connect information.

What data is collected with Direct Connect support

  • Direct Connect related configuration details in the VMware Cloud on AWS SDDC.
  • Advertised and learnt subnets for Direct Connect at the SDDC level.
  • Configuration information of Direct Connect Interfaces (VIFs) associated with the SDDC.
  • Flows reported by Distributed Firewall (DFW) in VMware Cloud on AWS.
    Note:
    • The NetFlow enablement is not required on the colocation routers.
    • Route based VPN is not supported for Direct Connect. So, even if you have enabled the Use VPN as backup to Direct Connect option, VPN backup fails.
    • The metrics, and the advertised or learnt subnets information is not available at the individual VIF level.

Direct Connect Entities

  • VMware Cloud on AWS Direct Connect: This is the parent entity for all Direct Connect entities in VMware Aria Operations for Networks, which models the configuration information of Direct Connect within the VMware Cloud on AWS SDDC.
  • Direct Connect Interface: This models the AWS Direct Connect VIF information provided by VMware Cloud on AWS. This entity enables the exchange of advertised and learnt routes between VMware Cloud on AWS and on-premise data center.