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)
Suggested for L2 through L4 features and when the total throughput requirement is less than 2 Gbps:
  • NAT
  • Routing
  • L4 firewall
  • L4 load balancer
NSX Edge Large 32 GB 8 200 GB 11 or later (vSphere 6.0 or later)
Suggested for L2 through L4 features and when the total throughput requirement is between 2 ~ 10 Gbps.
  • NAT
  • Routing
  • L4 Firewall
  • L4 Load Balancer
  • L7 Load Balancer (for example, when SSL offload is required)
  • TLS Inspection
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)
Suggested for features that have a higher total throughput requirement than the NSX Edge Large form factor:
  • L7 load balancer
  • VPN
  • TLS Inspection
  • L7 Access Profile (URL filtering)
  • IDS/IPS
  • Malware prevention (Adavanced Threat Protection)

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