Before you install NSX Edge, make sure that your environment meets the supported requirements.

Note: The following conditions apply to the hosts for the NSX Edge nodes:
  • NSX Edge nodes are supported only on ESXi-based hosts with Intel-based and AMD-based chipsets.

    Otherwise, vSphere EVC mode may prevent NSX Edge nodes from starting, showing an error message in the console.

  • If vSphere EVC mode is enabled for the host for the NSX Edge VM, the CPU must be Haswell or later generation.
  • Only VMXNET3 vNIC is supported for the NSX Edge VM.
NSX Cloud Note: If using NSX Cloud, note that the NSX Public Cloud Gateway( PCG) is deployed in a single default size for each supported public cloud. See NSX Public Cloud Gateway: Architecture and Modes of Deployment for details.

NSX Edge VM Resource Requirements

Appliance Size Memory vCPU Disk Space VM Hardware Version Notes
NSX Edge Small 4 GB 2 200 GB 11 or later (vSphere 6.0 or later)

Proof-of-concept deployments only.

Note: L7 rules for firewall, load balancing and so on are not realized on a Tier-1 gateway if you deploy a small sized NSX Edge VM.
NSX Edge Medium 8 GB 4 200 GB 11 or later (vSphere 6.0 or later)

Suitable when only L2 through L4 features such as NAT, routing, L4 firewall, L4 load balancer are required and the total throughput requirement is less than 2 Gbps.
NSX Edge Large 32 GB 8 200 GB 11 or later (vSphere 6.0 or later)

Suitable when only L2 through L4 features such as NAT, routing, L4 firewall, L4 load balancer are required and the total throughput is 2 ~ 10 Gbps. It is also suitable when L7 load balancer, for example, SSL offload is required.

See Scaling Load Balancer Resources in the NSX-T Data Center Administration Guide. For more information about what the different load balance sizes and NSX Edge form factors can support, see https://configmax.vmware.com.
NSX Edge Extra Large 64 GB 16 200 GB 11 or later (vSphere 6.0 or later)

Suitable when the total throughput required is multiple Gbps for L7 load balancer and VPN.

See Scaling Load Balancer Resources in the NSX-T Data Center Administration Guide. For more information about what the different load balance sizes and NSX Edge form factors can support, see https://configmax.vmware.com.

NSX Edge VM CPU Requirements

For the DPDK support, the underlaying platform needs to meet the following requirements:

  • CPU must have AESNI capability.
  • CPU must have 1 GB Huge Page support.
Hardware Type
CPU
  • Intel Xeon E7-xxxx (Westmere-EX and later CPU generation)
  • Intel Xeon 56xx (Westmere-EP)
  • Intel Xeon E5-xxxx (Sandy Bridge and later CPU generation)
  • Intel Xeon Platinum (all generations)
  • Intel Xeon Gold (all generations)
  • Intel Xeon Silver (all generations)
  • Intel Xeon Bronze (all generations)
  • AMD EPYC Series processors