© 2014 VMware Inc. All rights reserved.
An Introduction to Network Virtualization
Scott Lowe, VCDX
Engineering Architect
10 June 2014
Taking a closer look at VMware NSX
Before We Begin
•  Get involved! Feel free to ask questions or provide
constructive feedback.
•  Please silence all mobile devices.
•  Feel free to take pictures, record videos, or post social
media updates. Use hashtag #KCVMUG or @MyVMUG.
•  This presentation will be available via SpeakerDeck and
SlideShare after the event.
2
Background - The Adoption Curve
2010
 2011
 2012
 1H 2013
 2H2013
“Science

fiction.”
“Plausible.”
“Let the
crazies go
first.”
“Help me
understand.”
“Get me into
production”
VMware NSX
Functionality
What can I do with VMware NSX?
VMware NSX for vSphere – Networking
Capabilities 
Any Application
(without modification)
Virtual Networks
VMware NSX
Network Virtualization
Platform
Any Network Hardware
Any Cloud Management Platform
VMware vSphere
Logical Switching– Layer 2 over Layer 3,
without dependencies on the physical
network
Logical Routing– Routing between virtual
networks and physical, East-West and
North-South Optimized
Logical Firewall – Distributed Firewall,
Kernel Integrated, High Performance
Logical Load Balancer – Application Load
Balancing in software
Logical VPN – Site-to-Site & Remote
Access VPN in software
NSX API – RESTful API for integration into
any Cloud Management Platform
Logical Firewall/Routing
•  OSPF/eBGP/iBGP/IS-IS
•  Virtualization and identity
context firewall
Features
•  Remove hairpins and
bottlenecks in routing and
firewalling
•  Line rate performance with
distributed scale out
architecture
Scale & Performance
•  Create on demand networks
to speed up application
provisioning
Use Cases
L2
L2
Tenant A
Tenant B
L2
L2
L2
Tenant C
L2
L2
L2
Logical User (SSL) and Site 2 Site (IPSec) VPN
•  Interoperable IPsec tested with major
vendors
•  Clients on all major OS (Win, Apple,
Linux)
•  Remote Authentication via Active
Directory, RSA Secure ID, LDAP, Radius
•  TCP Acceleration
•  Encryption – 3DES, AES128, AES256
•  AESNI H/W Offload
•  NAT & Perimeter Firewall Traversal
Features
•  High Performance – AES-NI acceleration
•  2 Gb/s throughput per tenant
Scale and Performance
•  Cloud to Corporate
•  Cloud On-boarding
•  Remote Office/Branch Office
•  Remote Management
Use Cases
Internet/
WAN
IPSEC
Internet/
WAN
SSL – VPN
Public
Cloud
Logical L2 VPN
•  SSL-based
•  Web-proxy Support
•  L2 Bridge to Cloud
•  Broadcast support
Features
•  High Performance – AES-NI
acceleration
•  2 Gb/s throughput per tenant
Scale & Performance
•  Cloud On-boarding
•  Cloud Bursting
Use Cases
Internet/
WAN
L2 VPN
L2 VPN
VM
 VM
 VM
The Power of Distribution
The Power of Distribution
Evolving Role of the Physical Network 
•  From 2- or 3-tier to spine/leaf
•  Density & bandwidth jump
•  ECMP for layer 3 (and layer 2)
•  Reduce network oversubscription
•  Wire & configure once
•  Uniform configurations
WAN/Internet	
  
WAN/Internet	
  
VMware NSX 

Core Components
How does VMware NSX work?
NSX for vSphere Components
Consumption
•  Self-service portal
•  Cloud management
•  vCloud Automation Center
Data
Plane
NSX Edge
Services
Gateway
ESXi
VDS 
Hypervisor Kernel Modules 
Firewall
Distributed 
Logical Router
VXLAN
NSX vSwitch
•  NSX Edge
•  VM form factor
•  Data plane for north-south
traffic 
•  Routing and advanced
services
•  NSX vSwitch
•  Distributed network edge 
•  Line rate performance 
Management 
Plane
NSX Manager
•  Single point of configuration
•  REST API and UI interface
vCenter Server
Control
Plane
NSX Controller
 •  Manages logical networks
•  Run-time state
•  Does not sit in the data path
•  Control-plane protocol
NSX Edge
Logical Router
 User World Agent
NSX Manager
•  Centralized management plane
•  Built for a 1:1 mapping between
itself and a vCenter Server
Features
•  Provides the management UI
and API for NSX
•  Secures control plane
communications
Role
•  Managers and configures
Controller Cluster via REST API
and hosts via a message bus.
•  Manages and deploys NSX
Controller, NSX edge virtual
appliances and the initial
vSphere web client plugin
Functionality
NSX Manager
 vCenter Server
NSX Controllers
• Establishes control plane between
hosts
• Distributes VXLAN and Logical
Router network information to hosts
Features
• Controllers are clustered for scale
out and HA
• Information is sliced across nodes
for resiliency
Scale & Performance
• Remove dependency on Multicast
on physical transport
• Suppresses ARP broadcasts across
VXLAN segments.
Use Cases
VXLAN
Logical Router
VXLAN
Logical Router
VXLAN
Logical Router
Controller
VXLAN
Directory
Service 
MAC table
ARP table
VTEP table
NSX User World Agent
•  TCP (SSL) client that
communicates with the
Controller using the control
plane protocol
•  Connects to multiple
controllers for resiliency
Core features
•  Mediator between hypervisor
kernel and NSX Controller
•  Communicates with the
Message Bus Agent to retrieve
info from NSX Controller
Modus operandi
•  Runs as a service daemon in
ESXi
In host function
Controller
Cluster
Controller
 Controller
 Controller
ESXi
Host
Kernel
Modules
Client
 Client
User World
Agent
LR
NSX
MGR
Client
VXLAN
NSX vSwitch and NSX Edge
18
ESXi
VDS 
Hypervisor Kernel Modules 
(vSphere VIBs)
Firewall
Logical Router
VXLAN
NSX vSwitch
• NSX vSwitch (VDS)
• Modules installed into vSphere
(VXLAN, dFW, LDR, Security)
vSphere Hypervisor
• Dynamic routing with updates to NSX
Controller
• Determines active ESXi host for L2
Bridging
NSX Edge Logical Router
• L3-L7 Services – NAT, DHCP, LB,
VPN, interface level Firewall
• Dynamic Routing
• High Availability
• Virtual Machine
NSX Edge Services Gateway
VXLAN Encapsulation
19
Q&A
Thank You
Scott Lowe
slowe@vmware.com
@scott_lowe (Twitter)
http://blog.scottlowe.org

An Introduction to VMware NSX

  • 1.
    © 2014 VMwareInc. All rights reserved. An Introduction to Network Virtualization Scott Lowe, VCDX Engineering Architect 10 June 2014 Taking a closer look at VMware NSX
  • 2.
    Before We Begin • Get involved! Feel free to ask questions or provide constructive feedback. •  Please silence all mobile devices. •  Feel free to take pictures, record videos, or post social media updates. Use hashtag #KCVMUG or @MyVMUG. •  This presentation will be available via SpeakerDeck and SlideShare after the event. 2
  • 3.
    Background - TheAdoption Curve 2010 2011 2012 1H 2013 2H2013 “Science
 fiction.” “Plausible.” “Let the crazies go first.” “Help me understand.” “Get me into production”
  • 4.
    VMware NSX Functionality What canI do with VMware NSX?
  • 5.
    VMware NSX forvSphere – Networking Capabilities Any Application (without modification) Virtual Networks VMware NSX Network Virtualization Platform Any Network Hardware Any Cloud Management Platform VMware vSphere Logical Switching– Layer 2 over Layer 3, without dependencies on the physical network Logical Routing– Routing between virtual networks and physical, East-West and North-South Optimized Logical Firewall – Distributed Firewall, Kernel Integrated, High Performance Logical Load Balancer – Application Load Balancing in software Logical VPN – Site-to-Site & Remote Access VPN in software NSX API – RESTful API for integration into any Cloud Management Platform
  • 6.
    Logical Firewall/Routing •  OSPF/eBGP/iBGP/IS-IS • Virtualization and identity context firewall Features •  Remove hairpins and bottlenecks in routing and firewalling •  Line rate performance with distributed scale out architecture Scale & Performance •  Create on demand networks to speed up application provisioning Use Cases L2 L2 Tenant A Tenant B L2 L2 L2 Tenant C L2 L2 L2
  • 7.
    Logical User (SSL)and Site 2 Site (IPSec) VPN •  Interoperable IPsec tested with major vendors •  Clients on all major OS (Win, Apple, Linux) •  Remote Authentication via Active Directory, RSA Secure ID, LDAP, Radius •  TCP Acceleration •  Encryption – 3DES, AES128, AES256 •  AESNI H/W Offload •  NAT & Perimeter Firewall Traversal Features •  High Performance – AES-NI acceleration •  2 Gb/s throughput per tenant Scale and Performance •  Cloud to Corporate •  Cloud On-boarding •  Remote Office/Branch Office •  Remote Management Use Cases Internet/ WAN IPSEC Internet/ WAN SSL – VPN
  • 8.
    Public Cloud Logical L2 VPN • SSL-based •  Web-proxy Support •  L2 Bridge to Cloud •  Broadcast support Features •  High Performance – AES-NI acceleration •  2 Gb/s throughput per tenant Scale & Performance •  Cloud On-boarding •  Cloud Bursting Use Cases Internet/ WAN L2 VPN L2 VPN VM VM VM
  • 9.
    The Power ofDistribution
  • 10.
    The Power ofDistribution
  • 11.
    Evolving Role ofthe Physical Network •  From 2- or 3-tier to spine/leaf •  Density & bandwidth jump •  ECMP for layer 3 (and layer 2) •  Reduce network oversubscription •  Wire & configure once •  Uniform configurations WAN/Internet   WAN/Internet  
  • 12.
    VMware NSX 
 CoreComponents How does VMware NSX work?
  • 13.
    NSX for vSphereComponents Consumption •  Self-service portal •  Cloud management •  vCloud Automation Center Data Plane NSX Edge Services Gateway ESXi VDS Hypervisor Kernel Modules Firewall Distributed Logical Router VXLAN NSX vSwitch •  NSX Edge •  VM form factor •  Data plane for north-south traffic •  Routing and advanced services •  NSX vSwitch •  Distributed network edge •  Line rate performance Management Plane NSX Manager •  Single point of configuration •  REST API and UI interface vCenter Server Control Plane NSX Controller •  Manages logical networks •  Run-time state •  Does not sit in the data path •  Control-plane protocol NSX Edge Logical Router User World Agent
  • 14.
    NSX Manager •  Centralizedmanagement plane •  Built for a 1:1 mapping between itself and a vCenter Server Features •  Provides the management UI and API for NSX •  Secures control plane communications Role •  Managers and configures Controller Cluster via REST API and hosts via a message bus. •  Manages and deploys NSX Controller, NSX edge virtual appliances and the initial vSphere web client plugin Functionality NSX Manager vCenter Server
  • 15.
    NSX Controllers • Establishes controlplane between hosts • Distributes VXLAN and Logical Router network information to hosts Features • Controllers are clustered for scale out and HA • Information is sliced across nodes for resiliency Scale & Performance • Remove dependency on Multicast on physical transport • Suppresses ARP broadcasts across VXLAN segments. Use Cases VXLAN Logical Router VXLAN Logical Router VXLAN Logical Router Controller VXLAN Directory Service MAC table ARP table VTEP table
  • 16.
    NSX User WorldAgent •  TCP (SSL) client that communicates with the Controller using the control plane protocol •  Connects to multiple controllers for resiliency Core features •  Mediator between hypervisor kernel and NSX Controller •  Communicates with the Message Bus Agent to retrieve info from NSX Controller Modus operandi •  Runs as a service daemon in ESXi In host function Controller Cluster Controller Controller Controller ESXi Host Kernel Modules Client Client User World Agent LR NSX MGR Client VXLAN
  • 17.
    NSX vSwitch andNSX Edge 18 ESXi VDS Hypervisor Kernel Modules (vSphere VIBs) Firewall Logical Router VXLAN NSX vSwitch • NSX vSwitch (VDS) • Modules installed into vSphere (VXLAN, dFW, LDR, Security) vSphere Hypervisor • Dynamic routing with updates to NSX Controller • Determines active ESXi host for L2 Bridging NSX Edge Logical Router • L3-L7 Services – NAT, DHCP, LB, VPN, interface level Firewall • Dynamic Routing • High Availability • Virtual Machine NSX Edge Services Gateway
  • 18.
  • 19.
  • 20.
    Thank You Scott Lowe slowe@vmware.com @scott_lowe(Twitter) http://blog.scottlowe.org