An HCX Service Mesh configured with Multi-Edge traffic groups uses dedicated high-bandwidth network paths for HCX Network Extension and Migration operations.

About HCX with Multi-Edge SDDC

In the default configuration, an SDDC network has a single edge (T0) gateway through which all North-South traffic flows. You configure additional bandwidth for North-South traffic flows for direct-connect networks by creating one or more network traffic groups, each of which creates an additional T0 edge router in AWS. Traffic groups are created for each SDDC using the VMC Console.

When traffic groups are created in VMware Cloud on AWS, the HCX Cloud Manager at the destination site automatically detects those groups and adds them to the list of networks in the HCX Network Profile. HCX assigns a logical name to the traffic group, and the HCX Manager communicates any changes to the SDDC. HCX Manager can take advantage of the bandwidth provided by T0 routers to enhance HCX operations.

Requirements for HCX Multi-Edge Deployments

The HCX Multi-Edge solution requires AWS SDDCs configured with VMware Transit Connect.

Best Practices and Limitations

Review these best practices and systems limitations when scaling-out HCX deployments.

  • It is a best practice to create a dedicated traffic group for HCX virtual machine migration.

    • The HCX-IX migration services cannot load balance across multiple traffic groups.

  • It is a best practice to create a traffic group for HCX Network Extension.

    • If using a single traffic group for Network Extension, assign a /25 prefix to accommodate the maximum Network Extension appliance scale.

    • Create multiple traffic groups to distribute network extension traffic, which can be done using smaller prefixes.

    • The HCX SDDC supports a maximum of 100 HCX Network Extension appliances.