As a best practice, you must deploy a highly available NSX Global Manager instance so that the NSX management plane can continue propagating configuration to the NSX Local Manager nodes in each VMware Cloud Foundation location. You also select an NSX Global Manager appliance size according to the number of anticipated objects required to run the management components of the private cloud.

Deployment Type

You can deploy NSX Global Manager in a one-node configuration or as a three-node cluster for high availability.

Table 1. Design Decisions on the NSX Global Manager Deployment Type for Multiple VMware Cloud Foundation Instances

Decision ID

Design Decision

Design Justification

Design Implication

VCF-MGMT-NSX-FED-CFG-001

Deploy three NSX Global Manager nodes for the management domain in the default cluster in the domain for configuring and managing the network services for the management domain components.

Some management components must be placed on isolated virtual networks, using load balancing, logical switching, dynamic routing, and logical firewalls services.

  • You must turn on vSphere HA in the default vSphere cluster in the management domain.

  • The default vSphere cluster in the management domain requires four physical ESXi hosts for vSphere HA and for high availability of the NSX Manager cluster.

Sizing Compute and Storage Resources for NSX Global Manager

When you size the resources for the management components of an NSX-T Data Center deployment, consider the compute and storage requirements for each component, and the number of nodes per component type.

Table 2. NSX Global Manager Resource Specification

Appliance Size

vCPU

Memory (GB)

Storage (GB)

Scale

Small

4

16

300

Proof of concept

Medium

6

24

300

Up to 64 ESXi hosts

Large

12

48

300

More than 64 ESXi hosts
Table 3. Design Decisions on Sizing Resources for NSX Global Manager for Multiple VMware Cloud Foundation Instances

Decision ID

Design Decision

Design Justification

Design Implication

VCF-MGMT-NSX-FED-CFG-002

Deploy each node in the NSX Global Manager cluster for the management domain as a medium-size appliance or larger.

A medium-size appliance is sufficient for providing network services to the management components of the private cloud.

If you extend the management domain, increasing the size of the NSX Manager appliances might be required.

High Availability of NSX Global Manager in a Single VMware Cloud Foundation Instance

The NSX Global Manager cluster runs on the default management vSphere cluster of the VMware Cloud Foundation instance. vSphere HA protects the NSX Manager appliances by restarting an NSX Manager appliance on a different ESXi host if a primary ESXi host failure occurs.

Table 4. Design Decisions on High Availability for NSX Global Manager for Multiple VMware Cloud Foundation Instances

Decision ID

Design Decision

Design Justification

Design Implication

VCF-MGMT-NSX-FED-CFG-003

Create a virtual IP (VIP) address for the NSX Global Manager cluster for the management domain.

Provides high availability of the user interface and API of NSX Global Manager.

  • The VIP address feature provides high availability only. It does not load-balance requests across the cluster.

  • When using the VIP address feature, all NSX Global Manager nodes must be deployed on the same Layer 2 network.

VCF-MGMT-NSX-FED-CFG-004

Apply VM-VM anti-affinity rules in vSphere DRS to the NSX Global Manager appliances.

Keeps the NSX Global Manager appliances running on different ESXi hosts for high availability.

 You must allocate at least four physical hosts so that the three NSX Manager appliances continue running if an ESXi host failure occurs.

VCF-MGMT-NSX-FED-CFG-005

In vSphere HA, set the restart priority policy for each NSX Global Manager appliance to medium.

  • NSX Global Manager implements the management plane for global segments and firewalls.

    NSX Global Manager is not required for control plane and data plane connectivity.

  • Setting the restart priority to medium reserves the high priority for services that impact the NSX control or data planes.

  • Management of NSX global components will be unavailable until the NSX Global Manager virtual machines restart.

  • The NSX Global Manager cluster is deployed in the management domain, where the total number of virtual machines is limited and where it competes with other management components for restart priority.

High Availability of NSX Global Manager in a Single VMware Cloud Foundation Instance with Multiple Availability Zones

The NSX Global Manager cluster runs in the first availability zone. If a failure in this zone occurs, the NSX Global Manager cluster is failed over to the second availability zone.

Table 5. Design Decisions on High Availability for NSX Global Manager for Multiple Availability Zones

Decision ID

Design Decision

Design Justification

Design Implication

VCF-MGMT-NSX-FED-CFG-006

Add the NSX Global Manager appliances to the virtual machine group for the first availability zone.

Ensures that, by default, the NSX Global Manager appliances are powered on on a host in the primary availability zone.

None.

High Availability of NSX Global Manager across Multiple VMware Cloud Foundation Instances

You can deploy multiple NSX Global Manager clusters in an Active-Standby model. In this scenario, the NSX Global Manager cluster for the management domain of the first VMware Cloud Foundation instance is in active mode, and a second NSX Global Manager cluster for the management domain of the second VMware Cloud Foundation instance is in standby mode. Additional VMware Cloud Foundation instances do not have NSX Global Manager clusters installed.

Table 6. Design Decisions on High Availability for NSX Global Manager for Multiple VMware Cloud Foundation Instances

Decision ID

Design Decision

Design Justification

Design Implication

VCF-MGMT-NSX-FED-CFG-007

Deploy an additional NSX Global Manager Cluster in the second VMware Cloud Foundation instance.

Enables recoverability of NSX Global Manager in the second VMware Cloud Foundation instance if a failure in the first VMware Cloud Foundation instance occurs.

Requires additional NSX Global Manager nodes in the second VMware Cloud Foundation instance.

VCF-MGMT-NSX-FED-CFG-008

Set the NSX Global Manager cluster in the second VMware Cloud Foundation instance as standby for the management domain.

Enables recoverability of NSX Global Manager in the second VMware Cloud Foundation instance if a failure in the first VMware Cloud Foundation instance occurs.

None.