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VCF 9.1 - Understanding VCF Converge & Import Scenarios for vCenter Server Without NSX

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When converging or importing a vCenter Server environment that does not already include NSX, VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) will automatically deploy NSX as part of the converge or import workflow. While the deployed NSX version will be compatible with the existing environment, it may have implications for future VCF upgrade paths.

The current behavior in VCF 9.1.0 is to deploy the latest NSX version that is compatible with the source vCenter Server version. However, depending on when the converge or import workflow is performed, that NSX version could be a back-in-time release that does not have a direct upgrade path to the current version of VCF.

Below is an example to help illustrate the current behavior. Let us assume we are starting with a vCenter Server 8.0 Update 3c environment. As of this blog post, the Interoperability Matrix, which is the source used to determine component compatibility, shows NSX 4.2.4.1 as the latest compatible version.


Reference: https://interopmatrix.broadcom.com/Interoperability?col=912,&row=2,18560&isHidePatch=false&isHideLegacyReleases=false

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VCF 9.1 - Quick Tip: Optimized Workflow for Configuring Distributed Transit Gateway (DTGW) with NSX Virtual Network Appliance (VNA)

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With VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.1, the Distributed Transit Gateway (DTGW) connectivity model now supports NSX stateful network services through the Virtual Network Appliance (VNA) cluster. This makes it easy for VI Admins to provision Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs), which can then be used to deploy vSphere Kubernetes Service (VKS) workloads using either vCenter Server or VCF Automation (VCFA).

One of the most underappreciated benefits is the ability to complete various NSX workflows including an entire VNA cluster deployment and DTGW configuration directly from vCenter Server, without having to switch to the NSX Manager UI. While NSX Manager still provides the underlying micro-frontend interfaces that are integrated into the vSphere UI, I appreciate having the flexibility to perform these workflows from either the vCenter Server or NSX Manager interface, depending on your roles and responsibilities within an organization.

While there are a number of community blog posts covering DTGW and VNA deployments, they typically start in the vSphere UI for the initial VNA deployment before switching to the NSX Manager UI to complete the remaining configuration, which is perfectly valid. Personally, I prefer using the vSphere UI for as many workflows as possible, especially since enabling vSphere Supervisor and vSphere Kubernetes Service (VKS) is also performed through the vSphere UI.

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Quick Tip: Reducing High CPU Utilization on NSX due to slow Entropy from AMD Zen4/5 CPUs

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AMD Zen4/Zen5 processors have been known to have slower entropy generation, which can lead to higher CPU utilization for workloads that depend on random number generation. I recently learned from a colleague (Ross Wynne) about a simple optimization for NSX Manager that can significantly reduce CPU utilization when running on AMD Zen4/Zen5 processors.

Shut down your NSX Manager VM and add the following VM Advanced Setting. This allows the guest operating system to retrieve entropy directly from the ESXi host, which already includes optimizations for entropy generation on AMD Zen4 and Zen5 processors.

isolation.tools.getEntropy.disable = FALSE


Note: Ensure you have applied the recommended entropySource configuration for your physical ESX host in addition to this configuration change.

In my limited testing, I have observed the NSX Manager load average drop to less than 5, whereas it was consistently much higher before applying this optimization. I will continue to monitor my environment, but this is definitely a worthwhile optimization to add to your VCF homelab toolkit. This configuration change can also benefit NSX Edge and NSX Virtual Network Appliances (VNA).