Before deploying HCX, consider the required resources for both the source and the destination environment site managers.

Virtual Hardware Requirements for HCX Manager Appliances

Appliance

vCPU

Memory

Disk Space/IOPS

HCX Manager

(See below notes for additional scaling information.)

4

12 GB

60 GB

HCX Interconnect (HCX-IX)

8

6 GB

2 GB

HCX Network Extension (HCX-NE)

8

3 GB

2 GB

HCX WAN Optimization (HCX-WAN-OPT)

8

14 GB

100 GB / 5000 IOPS

HCX Sentinel Gateway (HCX-SGW [source only])

8

8 GB

  • HCX:

    21 GB (disks: 2 GB, 6 GB, 4 GB, and 9 GB)

HCX Sentinel Data Receiver (HCX-SDR [destination only])

8

8 GB

  • HCX:

    21 GB (disks: 2 GB, 6 GB, 4 GB, and 9 GB)

HCX Sentinel Replication Gateway (SRG) 8 8 GB
  • HCX:

    21 GB (disks: 2 GB, 6 GB, 4 GB, and 9 GB)

Note:
  • The default HCX Manager sizes are 4 vCPU and 12 GB memory. To support more MON enabled VMs, you can scale up the HCX managers as described in Knowledge Base article 88401.
  • HCX supports scaling up to 1000 concurrent VM migrations. For details, see Knowledge Base article 373010.
  • The storage requirement per appliance is doubled during upgrade and redeploy operations, as a second appliance is created for operation.

Migration Host and Datastore Requirements

The requirements in this section apply to vSphere to vSphere migrations.

During a virtual machine migration operation , the destination compute and storage resources are selected. These resources must meet the following general requirements:

Requirement ID

Requirement

Description

Host-Req-1

Host CPU and Memory Capacity

The destination host must support the original vCPU and Memory configurations of the virtual machine.

Host-Req-2

Host CPU and Memory Usage

The destination host capacity must satisfy admission control requirements.

Host-Req-3

Host Compatibility with VMware Tools

The destination hosts must support the VMware Tools version of the original virtual machine. For more information, see the VMware Certified Compatibility Guides.

Host-Req-4

Host Compatibility with VM Hardware

The destination hosts must support the VM Hardware version of the original virtual machine. For more information, see VMware KB 2007240.

Datastore-Req-1

Datastore Type

The destination datastore type must be VMFS5, VMFS6, NFS3, NFS4.1, vSAN, vVOL, or vSAN Max.
Note: vVOL is not supported for RAV.

Datastore-Req-2

Datastore Capacity

The destination datastore capacity must be able to store the following:

  • Complete original virtual machine data (everything that makes up the virtual machine)

  • Additional replica instance vmdk file on target datastore (applicable for Bulk or RAV Migration during the delta sync)

  • Redo logs (virtual machine data changes over a one hour interval)

  • Additional data for multiple point in time (MPIT) recovery points

  • Full copy of the virtual machine when using test recovery

  • With VSAN, additional data required by the Primary level of failures to tolerate (PFTT) configuration

System Requirements for Scaling Out Deployments

Consider the following requirements when scaling out HCX deployments:
Note: For information regarding the scaling of HCX resources, see VMware KB article 93605.
  • When scaling HCX deployments, the hardware requirements apply for each additional appliance. For appliance limit information, refer to the VMware Configurations Maximums.

  • In environments with multiple vCenter Servers, a maximum of one site manager can be deployed per vCenter Server.

  • The migration service, in its default configuration, encompasses all source and destination clusters in the Service Mesh with a single IX appliance. The migration service can be scaled out by deploying additional Service Meshes. The additional meshes can be selected during migration operations."
  • Multiple Network Extension appliances can be deployed per distributed virtual switch (DVS) or NSX Transport Zone.

  • When using Network Extension High Availability (HA), a maximum of two Network Extension appliance can be deployed for each VLAN or NSX segment. In the HA group, one appliance is Active and one is Standby.

    Note:

    HA Standby appliances must be considered when calculating the overall hardware resource requirements.

  • When not using Network Extension HA, a maximum of one Network Extension appliance can be deployed for each VLAN or NSX segment.

  • The Network Extension appliance count in the Service Mesh configuration must equal the sum of all planned standalone, HA Active, and HA Standby appliances.