Operations Management Layer in Standard SDDC

The operations layer of the SDDC provides capabilities for performance and capacity monitoring, and for backup and restore of the cloud management components.

vSphere Update Manager

This VMware Validated Design version uses vSphere Update Manager for upgrade of the ESXi hosts from previous VMware Validated Design versions.

vSphere Update Manager server and client components are a part of vCenter Server Appliance in vSphere 6.5 or later. This design also deploys an instance of vSphere Update Manager Download Service (UMDS) in each region. Using a region-specific UMDS instance restricts the direct access to the external network from multiple vSphere Update Manager and vCenter Server instances, and reduces storage requirements across vSphere Update Manager.

Figure 1. vSphere Update Manager Design

vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager

vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager provides lifecycle management capabilities for vRealize components including automated deployment, configuration, and upgrade. vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager communicates with each Management vCenter Server in the SDDC to orchestrate the deployment, upgrade, and configuration drift analysis of vRealize Suite components in the SDDC.

Figure 2. Logical Design of vRealize Lifecycle Manager in a Multi-Region Deployment

Table 1. vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager Design Details

Design Attribute	Description
Deployment model	One virtual appliance that deploys and upgrades the vRealize components on a virtual infrastructure that is controlled by one or more vCenter Server instance
Supported components	vRealize Operations Manager vRealize Log Insight vRealize Automation (with embedded vRealize Orchestrator) vRealize Business for Cloud
Product installation setup	Direct integration with My VMware to access vRealize Suite entitlements Environments configuration that uses the product-based deployment path in the installation wizard

Table 2. Environment Layout in vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager

Environment Name	Environment Type	Scope	Product Components
Cross-Region	Production	Cross-Region	vRealize Operations Manager Analytics Cluster vRealize Operations Manager Remote Collectors vRealize Automation Appliances vRealize Automation IaaS Managers vRealize Automation IaaS Web Servers vRealize Automation IaaS DEMs vRealize Automation vSphere Proxy Agents vRealize Business Server Appliances vRealize Business Data Collectors
Region A	Production	Region A	vRealize Log Insight Cluster
Region B	Production	Region B	vRealize Log Insight Cluster

vRealize Operations Manager

You use vRealize Operations Manager to monitor the management components of the SDDC including vSphere, NSX for vSphere and vRealize Automation.

vRealize Operations Manager is also sized to accommodate the number of tenant workloads per the design objectives.

Figure 3. vRealize Operations Manager Logical Design

Table 3. vRealize Operations Manager Design Details

Design Attribute	Description
Deployment model	Analytics cluster of three nodes: primary, primary replica and data node Remote collector group that consists of two remote collectors that communicate with the region-specific components in the region
Monitored components	vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller ESXi hosts in the management cluster and the shared edge and compute cluster All components of NSX for vSphere for the management cluster and the shared edge and compute cluster vRealize Automation and VMware vRealize® Orchestrator ™ vRealize Log Insight including Launch in Context vRealize Business including integration in the vRealize Operations Manager operations interface vSAN vRealize Operations Manager (self-health monitoring) VMware Site Recovery Manager™

vRealize Log Insight

You use vRealize Log Insight to access the logs of the SDDC management components from a central place and view this information in visual dashboards.

Figure 4. vRealize Log Insight Logical Design

Table 4. vRealize Log Insight Design Details

Design Attribute	Description
Deployment model	Cluster of primary node and two worker nodes.
Monitored components	vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller Management, shared edge and compute ESXi hosts All components of NSX for vSphere for the management cluster and the shared edge and compute clusters vRealize Automation and vRealize Orchestrator vRealize Business Analytics cluster nodes of vRealize Operations Manager Management virtual appliances Site Recovery Manager
Archiving	Archiving location on an NFS export

VMware Skyline

You integrate the SDDC with VMware Skyline for proactive product support. The VMware Skyline engine in VMware Cloud Services analyzes the data on the usage of the management components that is collected by a VMware Skyline Collector instance in each region. You can then access proactive findings and recommendations in VMware Skyline Advisor.

Figure 5. Logical Design of the Skyline Collector Instances in a Multi-Region Deployment

Table 5. VMware Skyline Collector Design Details

Design Attribute	Description
Deployment model	One virtual appliance that collects product usage data from vCenter Server, NSX Manager, and vRealize Operations Manager endpoints.
Monitored components	Management vCenter Server and Compute vCenter Server ESXi hosts in the management cluster and shared edge and compute cluster. All components of NSX for vSphere for the management cluster and the shared edge and compute clusters Analytics cluster nodes of vRealize Operations Manager