Before you install or upgrade NSX Data Center for vSphere, consider your network configuration and resources. You can install one NSX Manager per vCenter Server, one instance of Guest Introspection per ESXi host, and multiple NSX Edge instances per datacenter.

Hardware

This table lists the hardware requirements for NSX Data Center for vSphere appliances.

Table 1. Hardware Requirements for Appliances
Appliance Memory vCPU Disk Space
NSX Manager 16 GB (24 GB for larger deployments)

4

For large deployments:

Do not exceed 8 (6.4.0 to 6.4.6)

Do not exceed 32 (starting in 6.4.7)

 60 GB
NSX Controller 4 GB 4 28 GB
NSX Edge

(Distributed logical router is deployed as compact appliance)

Compact: 512 MB

Large: 1 GB

Quad Large: 4 GB (starting in 6.4.9), 2 GB (6.4.0 to 6.4.8)

X-Large: 8 GB

Compact: 1

Large: 2

Quad Large: 4

X-Large: 6

Compact, Large: 1 disk 640 MB + 1 disk 512 MB

Quad Large: 1 disk 640 MB + 2 disks 512 MB

X-Large: 1 disk 640 MB + 1 disk 2 GB + 1 disk 512 MB
Guest Introspection 2 GB 2 5 GB (Provisioned space is 6.26 GB)

As a general guideline, if your NSX-managed environment contains more than 256 hypervisors, increase NSX Manager resources to at least 8 vCPU and 24 GB of RAM. Do not exceed 32 vCPU. For more information on configuration maximums, see the NSX Data Center for vSphere section of the VMware Configuration Maximums tool. The documented configuration maximums all assume the large NSX Manager appliance size. For specific sizing details contact VMware support.

For information about increasing the memory and vCPU allocation for your virtual appliances, see "Allocate Memory Resources", and "Change the Number of Virtual CPUs" in vSphere Virtual Machine Administration.

The provisioned space for a Guest Introspection appliance shows as 6.26 GB for Guest Introspection. This is because vSphere ESX Agent Manager creates a snapshot of the service VM to create fast clones, when multiple hosts in a cluster shares a storage. For more information on how to disable this option via ESX Agent Manager, refer to the ESX Agent Manager documentation.

Network Latency

You should ensure that the network latency between components is at or below the maximum latency described.
Table 2. Maximum network latency between components
Components Maximum latency
NSX Manager and NSX Controller nodes 150 ms RTT
NSX Manager and ESXi hosts 150 ms RTT
NSX Manager and vCenter Server system 150 ms RTT
NSX Manager and NSX Manager in a cross-vCenter NSX environment 150 ms RTT
NSX Controller and ESXi hosts 150 ms RTT

Software

For the latest interoperability information, see the Product Interoperability Matrixes at http://partnerweb.vmware.com/comp_guide/sim/interop_matrix.php.

For recommended versions of NSX Data Center for vSphere, vCenter Server, and ESXi, see the release notes for the version of NSX Data Center for vSphere to which you are upgrading. Release notes are available at the NSX Data Center for vSphere documentation site: https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-NSX-for-vSphere/index.html.

For an NSX Manager to participate in a cross-vCenter NSX deployment the following conditions are required:

Component 		Version
NSX Manager 6.2 or later
NSX Controller 6.2 or later
vCenter Server 6.0 or later
ESXi

ESXi 6.0 or later

Host clusters prepared with NSX 6.2 or later VIBs

To manage all NSX Managers in a cross-vCenter NSX deployment from a single vSphere Web Client, you must connect your vCenter Server systems in Enhanced Linked Mode. See Using Enhanced Linked Mode in vCenter Server and Host Management.

To verify the compatibility of partner solutions with NSX, see the VMware Compatibility Guide for Networking and Security at http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php?deviceCategory=security.

Client and User Access

The following items are required to manage your NSX Data Center for vSphere environment:
  • Forward and reverse name resolution. This is required if you have added ESXi hosts by name to the vSphere inventory, otherwise NSX Manager cannot resolve the IP addresses.
  • Permissions to add and power on virtual machines.
  • Access to the datastore where you store virtual machine files, and the account permissions to copy files to that datastore.
  • Cookies must be enabled on your Web browser to access the NSX Manager user interface.
  • Port 443 must be open between the NSX Manager and the ESXi host, the vCenter Server, and the NSX Data Center for vSphere appliances to be deployed. This port is required to download the OVF file on the ESXi host for deployment.
  • A Web browser that is supported for the version of vSphere Client or vSphere Web Client you are using. See the list of supported Web browsers at https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-NSX-Data-Center-for-vSphere/6.4/rn/nsx-vsphere-client-65-functionality-support.html.

    Note that Windows 32-bit and 64-bit Microsoft Internet Explorer browser is not supported with NSX 6.4.x.