This reference architecture is designed considering key principle elements such as Deployment, Networking, Workload acceleration and Operational Intelligence.
Flexible Deployment Options
vCloud NFV can be deployed to support either a Three-Pod (Management, Resource, and Edge Pods) or a Two-Pod (Management and combined Resource and Edge Pods) configuration. The Three-Pod architecture provides the highest flexibility and performance, because Edge Nodes are dedicated to packet forwarding in and out of the virtual domain. CSPs can use the Two-Pod architecture for smaller starting deployments, where it is acceptable to combine the resource and Edge functionality in the same hosts.
Advanced Networking
To provide multitenant capabilities to distributed logical routers in the networking stack, vCloud NFV uses NSX-T Data Center to deploy multiple tiers of distributed routing through Tier-0 and Tier-1 gateways. Providers can use Tier-0 gateways, whereas tenants can use Tier-1 gateways. Network virtualization capabilities that are enabled through Geneve encapsulation provide a flexible capability in line with industry standards. NSX-T Data Center performance enhancements for the N-VDS and NSX Edge Node offer advanced network capabilities.
Workload Acceleration
vCloud NFV includes several features to support workloads that require high performance. These features are delivered with N-VDS with Enhanced Data Path Mode that can be used for high-performance workloads. Also, the North-South traffic forwarding between logical and physical domains can benefit from bare metal NSX Edge Nodes. This high-performance capability is available through Data Plane Development Kit (DPDK) based enhancements that come with NSX-T Data Center. Capabilities include optimizations through poll mode drivers, CPU affinity and optimization, and buffer management. DPDK provides support for workloads requiring acceleration.
Integrated Operational Intelligence
By using a framework that continuously collects data from local and distributed agents, vCloud NFV also provides the capability to correlate, analyze, and enable day 2 operations. Also, this analytical intelligence can be used with existing assurance engines for closed-loop remediation.
