This deployment model can serve CSPs that have existing vCloud NFV 2.1 deployments and cannot upgrade their entire platform to vCloud NFV 3.2.1. Such CSPs can complement their vCloud NFV deployments with advanced networking capabilities available through NSX-T Data Center and features described in this reference architecture.

In this scenario, the CSP should upgrade only some of the platform components to enable the platform to support both networking stacks, the existing NSX Data Center for vSphere based networking as well as the enhanced NSX-T Data Center networking. The objective is to have a common vCloud Director instance in the existing and new vCloud NFV 3.2.1 deployment stack (NSX-T based).

Figure 1. NSX-T and NSX-V Coexistence in Brownfield
NSX-T and NSX-V Coexistence in Brownfield

This deployment is also referred to as a brown field deployment model.

Table 1. Brown Field vCloud NFV 3.2.1 Deployment

Building Block

Design Objective

Management Pod

  • Dedicated vCenter Server instances for each NSX Data Center for vSphere and NSX-T Data Center stacks.

  • Separate management and control planes for NSX Data Center for vSphere and NSX-T Data Center.

  • Single vCloud Director instance for both NSX Data Center for vSphere and NSX-T Data Center networking and workload management.

Resource Pod

  • Dedicated Resource Pods for NSX Data Center for vSphere and NSX Data Center.

  • Disparate vSphere version for each stack.

  • Dedicated Provider VDC for the vSphere clusters of NSX Data Center for vSphere and NSX-T Data Center.

Edge Pod

  • Disparate NSX-V and NSX-T edge pods for North-South communications.

The CSP can start from existing vCloud NFV 2.1 components by upgrading only the components that are required to support the deployment of NSX-T Data Center alongside NSX Data Center for vSphere. Workloads continue to run on the vCloud NFV platform with minimal maintenance window. This is because only a subset of the components is upgraded as opposed to the entire suite. For the vCloud NFV 2.x deployment, see the respective vCloud NFV 2.x Reference Architecture guide.