Integrate the Bare-Metal NSX-T Edge Nodes into the Virtual Network Infrastructure of the Workload Domain

After the bare-metal NSX-T Edge nodes become accessible from the NSX-T Manager instance in the workload domain, to enable the use of their services in tenant workloads, such as dynamic routing and load balancing,connect the edge nodes to the virtual network units for the workload domain.

Caution:

• Do not delete any object that is created by SDDC Manager, such as host transport node profiles, N-VDS instances, and segments.
• Do not delete any NSX-T Edge virtual appliance that is deployed by SDDC Manager.
• Avoid replacing any NSX-T Edge virtual appliance that is deployed by SDDC Manager with a bare-metal NSX-T Edge appliance.
• Do not modify the name or description properties of any object that is created by SDDC Manager, such as host transport node profiles.
• Do not assign new objects to the ESXi host transport nodes, such as a different transport node profile.
• Avoid adding bare-metal NSX-T Edge appliances to a cluster of NSX-T Edge virtual appliances.

Note: Starting with VMware Validated Design 6.0, you deploy the SDDC by using VMware Cloud Foundation. VMware Validated Design and VMware Cloud Foundation support the same design for NSX-T Edge nodes. VMware Validated Design provides the design details on the NSX-T Edge integration in the management domain and workload domains.

Procedure

1. Create the uplink profiles and NSX-T Edge cluster profiles for the workload domain.

   See Uplink Policy Design for the NSX-T Edge Nodes for a Virtual Infrastructure Workload Domain in VMware Validated Design Architecture and Design for a Virtual Infrastructure Workload Domain.

2. Create the transport zones for uplink traffic to the top of rack switches in the workload domain.
   For overlay traffic, use the transport zone that is created by SDDC Manager.

   See Overlay Design for NSX-T Data Center for a Virtual Infrastructure Workload Domain in VMware Validated Design Architecture and Design for a Virtual Infrastructure Workload Domain.

3. Create the segments for uplink traffic in the workload domain.
   See Overlay Design for NSX-T Data Center for a Virtual Infrastructure Workload Domain in VMware Validated Design Architecture and Design for a Virtual Infrastructure Workload Domain.
4. By following the single N-VDS design for bare-metal NSX-T Edge nodes, add the bare-metal NSX-T Edge nodes to the transport zones for uplink and overlay traffic.
   See Network Design for the NSX-T Edge Nodes for a Virtual Infrastructure Workload Domain in VMware Validated Design Architecture and Design for a Virtual Infrastructure Workload Domain and NSX-T Reference Design 2.0 on VMware Technology Network.
5. Group the bare-metal NSX-T Edge nodes to a cluster to increase the availability of networking services.
   See High Availability Design for the NSX-T Edge Nodes for a Virtual Infrastructure Workload Domain in VMware Validated Design Architecture and Design for a Virtual Infrastructure Workload Domain.
6. Configure dynamic routing over BGP in the workload domain by creating Tier-0 and Tier-1 gateways.
   See NSX-T Services Design for a Virtual Infrastructure Workload Domain in VMware Validated Design Architecture and Design for a Virtual Infrastructure Workload Domain.