VMware Cloud Foundation supports multiple networking models that provide different levels of network availability, resilience, and scale.

Networking Model

Description

Benefits

Drawbacks

NSX overlay

Overlay-backed NSX segments

  • Supports AVNs in the management domain.

  • Supports deployment of NSX Edge clusters from SDDC Manager.

  • Requires routing configured on the physical network fabric to route traffic from the NSX Edge nodes.

NSX VLAN-backed

VLAN-backed NSX segments

  • Deploying NSX Edge clusters is not required.

  • Routing configuration on the ToR switches for NSX Edge nodes is not required.

  • Requires changes in the physical network fabric to add new networks and VLANs.

vSphere networking

vSphere Distributed Switch only

  • Simplest configuration

  • Not supported in the management domain.