In VMware Cloud Foundation, a workload domain is a policy- based resource construct with specific availability and performance attributes. It combines compute (vSphere), storage (VMware vSAN), networking (NSX-T), and cloud management (vRealize Suite) to form a single consumable entity that creates logical resource pools across compute, storage, and networking.
A workload domain consists of one or more vSphere clusters, provisioned automatically by the Domain Manager. There are two types of workload domains - the management domain and the Virtual Infrastructure (VI) workload domains.
The management domain contains the Cloud Foundation management components which include an instance of vCenter Server and a three-node NSX Manager cluster for the management domain. It uses the vSAN storage.
The Virtual Infrastructure (VI) workload domain is created for user workloads. For each VI workload domain, you can choose the storage option (vSAN, NFS, or VMFS on FC). A VI workload domain can consist of one or more vSphere clusters. Each cluster must start with a minimum of three hosts and can scale up to a maximum of 64 hosts. The domain manager automates the creation of the workload domain and the underlying vSphere cluster(s).
For the first VI workload domain in your environment, the SDDC Manager deploys a vCenter Server and a NSX Manager cluster in the management domain. For each subsequent VI workload domain, the SDDC Manager deploys an additional vCenter Server. New VI workload domains can share the same NSX Manager cluster with the existing VI workload domain, or deploy a new NSX Manager cluster. However, VI workload domains cannot share the management domain's NSX Manager cluster.
Configure the VMware Cloud Foundation account in vRealize Operations to monitor these constructs of VMware Cloud Foundation.
