Azure VMware Solution private cloud and cluster concepts
Azure VMware Solution provides VMware-based private clouds in Azure. The private cloud hardware and software deployments are fully integrated and automated in Azure. Deploy and manage the private cloud through the Azure portal, CLI, or PowerShell.
A private cloud includes clusters with:
- Dedicated bare-metal server hosts provisioned with VMware ESXi hypervisor
- VMware vCenter Server for managing ESXi and vSAN
- VMware NSX-T Data Center software-defined networking for vSphere workload VMs
- VMware vSAN datastore for vSphere workload VMs
- VMware HCX for workload mobility
- Resources in the Azure underlay (required for connectivity and to operate the private cloud)
Private clouds are installed and managed within an Azure subscription. The number of private clouds within a subscription is scalable. Initially, there's a limit of one private cloud per subscription. There's a logical relationship between Azure subscriptions, Azure VMware Solution private clouds, vSAN clusters, and hosts.
The following diagram describes the architectural components of the Azure VMware Solution.
Each Azure VMware Solution architectural component has the following function:
- Azure Subscription: Provides controlled access, budget, and quota management for the Azure VMware Solution.
- Azure Region: Groups data centers into Availability Zones (AZs) and then groups AZs into regions.
- Azure Resource Group: Places Azure services and resources into logical groups.
- Azure VMware Solution Private Cloud: Offers compute, networking, and storage resources using VMware software, including vCenter Server, NSX-T Data Center software-defined networking, vSAN software-defined storage, and Azure bare-metal ESXi hosts. Azure NetApp Files and Pure Cloud Block Store are also supported.
- Azure VMware Solution Resource Cluster: Provides compute, networking, and storage resources for customer workloads by scaling out the Azure VMware Solution private cloud using VMware software, including vSAN software-defined storage and Azure bare-metal ESXi hosts. Azure NetApp Files and Pure Cloud Block Store are also supported.
- VMware HCX: Delivers mobility, migration, and network extension services.
- VMware Site Recovery: Automates disaster recovery and storage replication services with VMware vSphere Replication. Third-party disaster recovery solutions Zerto Disaster Recovery and JetStream Software Disaster Recovery are also supported.
- Dedicated Microsoft Enterprise Edge (D-MSEE): Router that connects Azure cloud and the Azure VMware Solution private cloud instance.
- Azure Virtual Network (VNet): Connects Azure services and resources together.
- Azure Route Server: Exchanges dynamic route information with Azure networks.
- Azure Virtual Network Gateway: Connects Azure services and resources to other private networks using IPSec VPN, ExpressRoute, and VNet to VNet.
- Azure ExpressRoute: Provides high-speed private connections between Azure data centers and on-premises or colocation infrastructure.
- Azure Virtual WAN (vWAN): Combines networking, security, and routing functions into a single unified Wide Area Network (WAN).
Hosts
Azure VMware Solution clusters are based upon hyper-converged infrastructure. The following table shows the CPU, memory, disk and network specifications of the host.
| Host Type | CPU (Cores/GHz) | RAM (GB) | vSAN Cache Tier (TB, raw) | vSAN Capacity Tier (TB, raw) | Network Interface Cards | Regional availability |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AV36 | Dual Intel Xeon Gold 6140 CPUs (Skylake microarchitecture) with 18 cores/CPU @ 2.3 GHz, Total 36 physical cores (72 logical cores with hyperthreading) | 576 | 3.2 (NVMe) | 15.20 (SSD) | 4x 25-Gb/s NICs (2 for management & control plane, 2 for customer traffic) | All product regions |
| AV36P | Dual Intel Xeon Gold 6240 CPUs (Cascade Lake microarchitecture) with 18 cores/CPU @ 2.6 GHz / 3.9 GHz Turbo, Total 36 physical cores (72 logical cores with hyperthreading) | 768 | 1.5 (Intel Cache) | 19.20 (NVMe) | 4x 25-Gb/s NICs (2 for management & control plane, 2 for customer traffic) | Selected regions (*) |
| AV52 | Dual Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 CPUs (Cascade Lake microarchitecture) with 26 cores/CPU @ 2.7 GHz / 4.0 GHz Turbo, Total 52 physical cores (104 logical cores with hyperthreading) | 1,536 | 1.5 (Intel Cache) | 38.40 (NVMe) | 4x 25-Gb/s NICs (2 for management & control plane, 2 for customer traffic) | Selected regions (*) |
| AV64 | Dual Intel Xeon Platinum 8370C CPUs (Ice Lake microarchitecture) with 32 cores/CPU @ 2.8 GHz / 3.5 GHz Turbo, Total 64 physical cores (128 logical cores with hyperthreading) | 1,024 | 3.84 (NVMe) | 15.36 (NVMe) | 1x 100 Gb/s NIC | Selected regions (**) |
An Azure VMware Solution cluster requires a minimum number of three hosts. You can only use hosts of the same type in a single Azure VMware Solution private cloud. Hosts used to build or scale clusters come from an isolated pool of hosts. Those hosts have passed hardware tests and have had all data securely deleted before being added to a cluster.
(*) details available via the Azure pricing calculator.
(**) AV64 Prerequisite: An Azure VMware Solution private cloud deployed with AV36, AV36P, or AV52 is required prior to adding AV64. This capability is now available in Switzerland North-AZ01, UK South-AZ0, UK South-AZ02, UK South-AZ03, Switzerland West-AZ01, West Europe-AZ03, East US-AZ03, South Central US-AZ01, South Central US-AZ02, North Europe-AZ02 and East US 2–AZ02.
Azure Region Availability Zone (AZ) to SKU mapping table
When planning your Azure VMware Solution design, use the following table to understand what SKUs are available in each physical Availability Zone of an Azure region.
Important
This mapping is important for placing your private clouds in close proximity to your Azure native workloads, including integrated services such as Azure NetApp Files and Pure Cloud Block Storage (CBS).
The Multi-AZ capability for Azure VMware Solution Stretched Clusters is also tagged in the following table. Customer quota for Azure VMware Solution is assigned by Azure region, and you are not able to specify the Availability Zone during private cloud provisioning. An auto selection algorithm is used to balance deployments across the Azure region. If you have a particular Availability Zone you want to deploy to, open a Service Request with Microsoft requesting a "special placement policy" for your subscription, Azure region, Availability Zone, and SKU type. This policy remains in place until you request it be removed or changed.
| Azure region | Availability Zone | SKU | Multi-AZ SDDC |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia East | AZ01 | AV36P | Yes |
| Australia East | AZ02 | AV36 | No |
| Australia East | AZ03 | AV36P | Yes |
| Australia South East | N/A | AV36 | No |
| Brazil South | AZ02 | AV36 | No |
| Canada Central | AZ02 | AV36, AV36P | No |
| Canada East | N/A | AV36 | No |
| Central US | AZ01 | AV36P | No |
| Central US | AZ02 | AV36 | No |
| East Asia | AZ01 | AV36 | No |
| East US | AZ01 | AV36P | No |
| East US | AZ02 | AV36P | No |
| East US | AZ03 | AV36, AV36P, AV64 | No |
| East US 2 | AZ01 | AV36 | No |
| East US 2 | AZ02 | AV36P, AV52, AV64 | No |
| France Central | AZ01 | AV36 | No |
| Germany West Central | AZ02 | AV36 | Yes |
| Germany West Central | AZ03 | AV36, AV36P | Yes |
| Japan East | N/A | AV36 | No |
| Japan West | N/A | AV36 | No |
| North Central US | AZ01 | AV36 | No |
| North Central US | AZ02 | AV36P | No |
| North Europe | AZ02 | AV36, AV64 | No |
| Qatar Central | AZ03 | AV36P | No |
| South Africa North | AZ03 | AV36 | No |
| South Central US | AZ01 | AV36, AV64 | No |
| South Central US | AZ02 | AV36P, AV52, AV64 | No |
| South East Asia | AZ02 | AV36 | No |
| Sweden Central | AZ01 | AV36 | No |
| Switzerland North | AZ01 | AV36, AV64 | No |
| Switzerland West | N/A | AV36, AV64 | No |
| UK South | AZ01 | AV36, AV36P, AV52, AV64 | Yes |
| UK South | AZ02 | AV36, AV64 | Yes |
| UK South | AZ03 | AV36P, AV64 | No |
| UK West | AZ01 | AV36 | No |
| West Europe | AZ01 | AV36, AV36P, AV52 | Yes |
| West Europe | AZ02 | AV36 | Yes |
| West Europe | AZ03 | AV36P, AV64 | Yes |
| West US | AZ01 | AV36, AV36P | No |
| West US 2 | AZ01 | AV36 | No |
| West US 2 | AZ02 | AV36P | No |
| West US 3 | AZ01 | AV36P | No |
| US Gov Arizona | AZ02 | AV36P | No |
| US Gov Virginia | AZ03 | AV36 | No |
Clusters
For each private cloud created, there's one vSAN cluster by default. You can add, delete, and scale clusters. The minimum number of hosts per cluster and the initial deployment is three.
You use vCenter Server and NSX-T Manager to manage most aspects of cluster configuration and operation. All local storage of each host in a cluster is under the control of VMware vSAN.
The Azure VMware Solution management and control plane has the following resource requirements that need to be accounted for during solution sizing of a standard private cloud.
| Area | Description | Provisioned vCPUs | Provisioned vRAM (GB) | Provisioned vDisk (GB) | Typical CPU Usage (GHz) | Typical vRAM Usage (GB) | Typical Raw vSAN Datastore Usage (GB) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VMware vSphere | vCenter Server | 8 | 28 | 915 | 1.1 | 3.9 | 1,854 |
| VMware vSphere | vSphere Cluster Service VM 1 | 1 | 0.1 | 2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 5 |
| VMware vSphere | vSphere Cluster Service VM 2 | 1 | 0.1 | 2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 5 |
| VMware vSphere | vSphere Cluster Service VM 3 | 1 | 0.1 | 2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 5 |
| VMware vSphere | ESXi node 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 5.1 | 0.2 | N/A |
| VMware vSphere | ESXi node 2 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 5.1 | 0.2 | N/A |
| VMware vSphere | ESXi node 3 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 5.1 | 0.2 | N/A |
| VMware vSAN | vSAN System Usage | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 5,458 |
| VMware NSX-T Data Center | NSX-T Unified Appliance Node 1 | 12 | 48 | 300 | 2.5 | 13.5 | 613 |
| VMware NSX-T Data Center | NSX-T Unified Appliance Node 2 | 12 | 48 | 300 | 2.5 | 13.5 | 613 |
| VMware NSX-T Data Center | NSX-T Unified Appliance Node 3 | 12 | 48 | 300 | 2.5 | 13.5 | 613 |
| VMware NSX-T Data Center | NSX-T Edge VM 1 | 8 | 32 | 200 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 409 |
| VMware NSX-T Data Center | NSX-T Edge VM 2 | 8 | 32 | 200 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 409 |
| VMware HCX (Optional Add-On) | HCX Manager | 4 | 12 | 65 | 1 | 2.5 | 140 |
| VMware Site Recovery Manager (Optional Add-On) | SRM Appliance | 4 | 12 | 33 | 1 | 1 | 79 |
| VMware vSphere (Optional Add-On) | vSphere Replication Manager Appliance | 4 | 8 | 33 | 1 | 0.6 | 75 |
| VMware vSphere (Optional Add-On) | vSphere Replication Server Appliance | 2 | 1 | 33 | 1 | 0.3 | 68 |
| Total | 77 vCPUs | 269.3 GB | 2,385 GB | 30 GHz | 50.4 GB | 10,346 GB (9,032 GB with expected 1.2x Data Reduction ratio) |
The Azure VMware Solution management and control plane has the following resource requirements that need to be accounted for during solution sizing of a stretched clusters private cloud. VMware SRM is not included in the table since it is currently not supported.
| Area | Description | Provisioned vCPUs | Provisioned vRAM (GB) | Provisioned vDisk (GB) | Typical CPU Usage (GHz) | Typical vRAM Usage (GB) | Typical Raw vSAN Datastore Usage (GB) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VMware vSphere | vCenter Server | 8 | 28 | 915 | 1.1 | 3.9 | 3,708 |
| VMware vSphere | vSphere Cluster Service VM 1 | 1 | 0.1 | 2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 5 |
| VMware vSphere | vSphere Cluster Service VM 2 | 1 | 0.1 | 2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 5 |
| VMware vSphere | vSphere Cluster Service VM 3 | 1 | 0.1 | 2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 5 |
| VMware vSphere | ESXi node 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 5.1 | 0.2 | N/A |
| VMware vSphere | ESXi node 2 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 5.1 | 0.2 | N/A |
| VMware vSphere | ESXi node 3 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 5.1 | 0.2 | N/A |
| VMware vSphere | ESXi node 4 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 5.1 | 0.2 | N/A |
| VMware vSphere | ESXi node 5 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 5.1 | 0.2 | N/A |
| VMware vSphere | ESXi node 6 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 5.1 | 0.2 | N/A |
| VMware vSAN | vSAN System Usage | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 10,722 |
| VMware NSX-T Data Center | NSX-T Unified Appliance Node 1 | 12 | 48 | 300 | 2.5 | 13.5 | 1,229 |
| VMware NSX-T Data Center | NSX-T Unified Appliance Node 2 | 12 | 48 | 300 | 2.5 | 13.5 | 1,229 |
| VMware NSX-T Data Center | NSX-T Unified Appliance Node 3 | 12 | 48 | 300 | 2.5 | 13.5 | 1,229 |
| VMware NSX-T Data Center | NSX-T Edge VM 1 | 8 | 32 | 200 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 817 |
| VMware NSX-T Data Center | NSX-T Edge VM 2 | 8 | 32 | 200 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 817 |
| VMware HCX (Optional Add-On) | HCX Manager | 4 | 12 | 65 | 1 | 2.5 | 270 |
| Total | 67 vCPUs | 248.3 GB | 2,286 GB | 42.3 GHz | 49.1GB | 20,036 GB (17,173 GB with expected 1.2x Data Reduction ratio) |
These resource requirements only apply to the first cluster deployed in an Azure VMware Solution private cloud. Subsequent clusters only need to account for the vSphere Cluster Service, ESXi resource requirements and vSAN System Usage in solution sizing.
The virtual appliance Typical Raw vSAN Datastore Usage values account for the space occupied by virtual machine files, including configuration and log files, snapshots, virtual disks and swap files.
The VMware ESXi nodes have compute usage values that account for the vSphere VMkernel hypervisor overhead, vSAN overhead and NSX-T distributed router, firewall and bridging overhead. These are estimates for a standard three cluster configuration. The storage requirements are listed as not applicable (N/A) since a boot volume separate from the vSAN Datastore is used.
The VMware vSAN System Usage storage overhead accounts for vSAN performance management objects, vSAN file system overhead, vSAN checksum overhead and vSAN deduplication and compression overhead. To view this consumption, select the Monitor, vSAN Capacity object for the vSphere Cluster in the vSphere Client.
The VMware HCX and VMware Site Recovery Manager resource requirements are optional Add-Ons to the Azure VMware Solution service. Discount these requirements in the solution sizing if they are not being used.
The VMware Site Recovery Manager Add-On has the option of configuring multiple VMware vSphere Replication Server Appliances. The table above assumes one vSphere Replication Server appliance is used.
Sizing an Azure VMware Solution is an estimate; the sizing calculations from the design phase should be validated during the testing phase of a project to ensure the Azure VMware Solution has been sized correctly for the application workload.
Tip
You can always extend the cluster and add additional clusters later if you need to go beyond the initial deployment number.
The following table describes the maximum limits for Azure VMware Solution.
| Resource | Limit |
|---|---|
| vSphere clusters per private cloud | 12 |
| Minimum number of ESXi hosts per cluster | 3 (hard-limit) |
| Maximum number of ESXi hosts per cluster | 16 (hard-limit) |
| Maximum number of ESXi hosts per private cloud | 96 |
| Maximum number of vCenter Servers per private cloud | 1 (hard-limit) |
| Maximum number of HCX site pairings | 25 (any edition) |
| Maximum number of HCX service meshes | 10 (any edition) |
| Maximum number of Azure VMware Solution ExpressRoute linked private clouds from a single location to a single Virtual Network Gateway | 4 The virtual network gateway used determines the actual max linked private clouds. For more details, see About ExpressRoute virtual network gateways If you exceed this threshold use Azure VMware Solution Interconnect to aggregate private cloud connectivity within the Azure region. |
| Maximum Azure VMware Solution ExpressRoute port speed | 10 Gbps (use Ultra Performance Gateway SKU with FastPath enabled) The virtual network gateway used determines the actual bandwidth. For more details, see About ExpressRoute virtual network gateways |
| Maximum number of Azure Public IPv4 addresses assigned to NSX-T Data Center | 2,000 |
| Maximum number of Azure VMware Solution Interconnects per private cloud | 10 |
| vSAN capacity limits | 75% of total usable (keep 25% available for SLA) |
| VMware Site Recovery Manager - Maximum number of protected Virtual Machines | 3,000 |
| VMware Site Recovery Manager - Maximum number of Virtual Machines per recovery plan | 2,000 |
| VMware Site Recovery Manager - Maximum number of protection groups per recovery plan | 250 |
| VMware Site Recovery Manager - RPO Values | 5 min or higher * (hard-limit) |
| VMware Site Recovery Manager - Maximum number of virtual machines per protection group | 500 |
| VMware Site Recovery Manager - Maximum number of recovery plans | 250 |
* For information about Recovery Point Objective (RPO) lower than 15 minutes, see How the 5 Minute Recovery Point Objective Works in the vSphere Replication Administration guide.
For other VMware-specific limits, use the VMware configuration maximum tool.
VMware software versions
Microsoft is a member of the VMware Metal-as-a-Service (MaaS) program and uses the VMware Cloud Provider Stack (VCPS) for Azure VMware Solution upgrade planning.
The VMware solution software versions used in new deployments of Azure VMware Solution private clouds are:
| Software | Version |
|---|---|
| VMware vCenter Server | 7.0 U3k |
| VMware ESXi | 7.0 U3k |
| VMware vSAN | 7.0 U3 |
| VMware vSAN on-disk format | 15 |
| VMware vSAN storage architecture | OSA |
| VMware NSX-T Data Center NOTE: VMware NSX-T Data Center Advanced is the only supported version of NSX Data Center. |
3.2.2 |
| VMware HCX | 4.6.3 |
| VMware Site Recovery Manager | 8.7.0.3 |
| VMware vSphere Replication | 8.7.0.3 |
The current running software version is applied to new clusters added to an existing private cloud.
Host maintenance and lifecycle management
One benefit of Azure VMware Solution private clouds is that the platform is maintained for you. Microsoft is responsible for the lifecycle management of VMware software (ESXi, vCenter Server, and vSAN). Microsoft is also responsible for the lifecycle management of the NSX-T Data Center appliances and bootstrapping the network configuration, like creating the Tier-0 gateway and enabling North-South routing. You’re responsible for the NSX-T Data Center SDN configuration: network segments, distributed firewall rules, Tier 1 gateways, and load balancers.
Note
A T0 gateway is created and configured as part of a private cloud deployment. Any modification to that logical router or the NSX-T Data Center edge node VMs could affect connectivity to your private cloud and should be avoided.
Microsoft is responsible for applying any patches, updates, or upgrades to ESXi, vCenter Server, vSAN, and NSX-T Data Center in your private cloud. The impact of patches, updates, and upgrades on ESXi, vCenter Server, and NSX-T Data Center has the following considerations:
ESXi - There's no impact to workloads running in your private cloud. Access to vCenter Server and NSX-T Data Center isn't blocked during this time. It's recommended that, during this time, you don't plan any other activities like: scaling up private cloud, scheduling or initiating active HCX migrations, making HCX configuration changes, and so on, in your private cloud.
vCenter Server - There's no impact to workloads running in your private cloud. During this time, vCenter Server will be unavailable and you won't be able to manage VMs (stop, start, create, or delete). It's recommended that, during this time, you don't plan any other activities like scaling up private cloud, creating new networks, and so on, in your private cloud. If you're using VMware Site Recovery Manager or vSphere Replication user interfaces, it's recommended to not configure vSphere Replication, and configure or execute site recovery plans during the vCenter Server upgrade.
NSX-T Data Center - There's workload impact and when a particular host is being upgraded, the VMs on that host might lose connectivity from 2 seconds to 1 minute with any of the following symptoms:
Ping errors
Packet loss
Error messages (for example, Destination Host Unreachable and Net unreachable)
During this upgrade window, all access to the NSX-T Data Center management plane will be blocked. You can't make configuration changes to the NSX-T Data Center environment for the duration. However, your workloads will continue to run as normal, subject to the upgrade impact detailed above.
It's recommended that, during the upgrade time, you don't plan any other activities like scaling up private cloud, and so on, in your private cloud. Other activities can prevent the upgrade from starting or could have adverse impacts on the upgrade and the environment.
You'll be notified through Azure Service Health that includes the timeline of the upgrade. This notification also provides details on the upgraded component, its effect on workloads, private cloud access, and other Azure services. You can reschedule an upgrade as needed.
Software updates include:
Patches - Security patches or bug fixes released by VMware
Updates - Minor version change of a VMware stack component
Upgrades - Major version change of a VMware stack component
Note
Microsoft tests a critical security patch as soon as it becomes available from VMware.
Documented VMware workarounds are implemented in lieu of installing a corresponding patch until the next scheduled updates are deployed.
Host monitoring and remediation
Azure VMware Solution continuously monitors the health of both the VMware components and underlay. When Azure VMware Solution detects a failure, it takes action to repair the failed components. When Azure VMware Solution detects a degradation or failure on an Azure VMware Solution node, it triggers the host remediation process.
Host remediation involves replacing the faulty node with a new healthy node in the cluster. Then, when possible, the faulty host is placed in VMware vSphere maintenance mode. VMware vMotion moves the VMs off the faulty host to other available servers in the cluster, potentially allowing zero downtime for live migration of workloads. If the faulty host can't be placed in maintenance mode, the host is removed from the cluster. Before the faulty host is removed, the customer workloads are migrated to a newly added host.
Tip
Customer communication: An email is sent to the customer's email address before the replacement is initiated and again after the replacement is successful.
To receive emails related to host replacement, you need to be added to any of the following Azure RBAC roles in the subscription: 'ServiceAdmin', 'CoAdmin', 'Owner', 'Contributor'.
Azure VMware Solution monitors the following conditions on the host:
- Processor status
- Memory status
- Connection and power state
- Hardware fan status
- Network connectivity loss
- Hardware system board status
- Errors occurred on the disk(s) of a vSAN host
- Hardware voltage
- Hardware temperature status
- Hardware power status
- Storage status
- Connection failure
Note
Azure VMware Solution tenant admins must not edit or delete the previously defined VMware vCenter Server alarms because they are managed by the Azure VMware Solution control plane on vCenter Server. These alarms are used by Azure VMware Solution monitoring to trigger the Azure VMware Solution host remediation process.
Backup and restoration
Private cloud vCenter Server and NSX-T Data Center configurations are on an hourly backup schedule. Backups are kept for three days. If you need to restore from a backup, open a support request in the Azure portal to request restoration.
Azure VMware Solution continuously monitors the health of both the physical underlay and the VMware Solution components. When Azure VMware Solution detects a failure, it takes action to repair the failed components.
Next steps
Now that you've covered Azure VMware Solution private cloud concepts, you might want to learn about:
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