The structure of the VMware Validated Design documentation reflects the best practices in designing and deploying a data center that is capable of automated workload provisioning. The documentation components of the validated design are organized according to the audience and deployment stage. You use the documents in a specific order.

Figure 1. VMware Validated Design Documentation Flow

For details on the latest available documentation, see Documentation Map for VMware Validated Design.

Architecture Overview

The first part of a VMware Validated Design is Architecture Overview and it introduces the terms and components in the design.

Table 1. Architecture Overview Information
Section Attribute Description
Guide Architecture and Design
Purpose
  • Introduce the fundamentals and components in the SDDC design.
  • Provide information about the layered structure of the SDDC.
  • Describe the building modules and basic behavior of each management component.
Audience Cloud architects and cloud administrators
SDDC Architecture
  • Standard SDDC
  • Consolidated SDDC
  • ROBO SDDC

Detailed Design

After you learn about the basic modules in the SDDC design, you proceed with detailed design of the management components and the required infrastructure.

Table 2. Detailed Design Information
Section Attribute Description
Guide Architecture and Design
Purpose
  • Provide complete details about the configuration of each layer and of the components that are a part of the layer.
  • Describe available design alternatives.
  • Provide design decisions to reflect the main design issues and the rationale behind a chosen solution path.
Audience Cloud architects and cloud administrators
SDDC Architecture
  • Standard SDDC
  • Consolidated SDDC
  • ROBO SDDC

Planning and Preparation

After you understand the details of the design, you plan your environment according to the requirements of the design so that you can deploy the designed SDDC directly without additional testing and troubleshooting efforts.

Table 3. Planning and Preparation Information
Section Attribute Description
Guide Planning and Preparation
Purpose

Collect all requirements that your environment must meet so that you can follow a VMware Validated Design to create an SDDC. The Planning and Preparation section provides prerequisites about the following areas:

  • Required software including VMware products, scripts, and third-party software
  • Networking configuration including VLANs, example IP addresses, and DNS names
  • Active Directory user configuration
  • Specifications of the virtual machines that you must provide in advance
Audience Cloud architects, infrastructure administrators, cloud administrators, and cloud operators
SDDC Architecture
  • Standard SDDC
  • Consolidated SDDC
  • ROBO SDDC

Deployment of Region A

After you make sure that your environment has the required structure and configuration, follow the Deployment of Region A to start the SDDC implementation in the first region.

Table 4. Deployment Guide Information
Section Attribute Description
Guide

Deployment of Region A for Standard SDDC

Deployment for ROBO SDDC and Consolidated SDDC

Purpose
  • Provide step-by-step instructions for each management component of the SDDC according to the selected design path in Detailed Design.
  • Cover the single-region setup of the SDDC.
  • Provide details about setting up the virtual infrastructure for both management and tenant workloads.
  • Provide procedures for integration of the products to form one functional system.
Audience Cloud architects, infrastructure administrators, cloud administrators, and cloud operators
SDDC Architecture
  • Standard SDDC
  • Consolidated SDDC
  • ROBO SDDC

Deployment of Region B

After you make sure that your environment has the required structure and configuration, follow the Deployment Guide of Region B to start the SDDC implementation in the second region.

Table 5. Deployment Guide Information
Section Attribute Description
Guide Deployment of Region B
Purpose
  • Provide step-by-step instructions for each management component of the SDDC according to the selected design path in Detailed Design.
  • Cover the dual-region setup of the SDDC.
  • Provide details about setting up the virtual infrastructure for both management and tenant workloads.
  • Provide procedures for integration of the products to form one functional system.
Audience Cloud architects, infrastructure administrators, cloud administrators, and cloud operators
SDDC Architecture
  • Standard SDDC

Documentation on Workload Provisioning, Maintenance and Expansion of the SDDC

After you deploy the SDDC, follow the post-deployment documentation to operate and maintain the management workloads, or to modify or extend the SDDC. See Post-Deployment Documentation and Technical Notes.