NSX-T Architecture (SDN)

Cloud Avenue networking services are powered by VMware NSX-T, providing Software-Defined Networking (SDN) capabilities for tenant connectivity, network segmentation and routing. 

NSX-T also provides the platform’s firewall capabilities. While this section focuses on networking services and architecture, security and firewall features are described in the Security section of this documentation. 

The NSX-T architecture is built around two complementary gateway layers : 

Tier-0 Gateway (T0) 

The Tier-0 Gateway is a provider-managed component that delivers connectivity between customer environments and external services. 

Each customer benefits from a dedicated routing context on the shared Tier-0 infrastructure. 

The Tier-0 Gateway provides access to external networks and services, including: 

• Internet connectivity 

• BVPN Galerie connectivity 

• Cross Connect services 

• Management and administration networks 

• Shared platform services 

The Tier-0 Gateway is fully configured and managed by the Cloud Avenue platform. No customer intervention is required. 

Tier-1 Gateway (T1) 

The Tier-1 Gateway is dedicated to the customer environment and acts as the networking entry point for the Virtual Data Center (vDC). 

It provides routing and networking services for tenant workloads and enables the creation and management of: 

• Routed networks 

• Isolated networks 

• Network Address Translation (NAT) 

• DHCP services 

• Static routing 

• Load balancing services (where applicable) 

• VPN services (where applicable) 

The Tier-1 Gateway configuration is managed directly by the customer through the VMware Cloud Director portal. *

Gateway Sizing 

Cloud Avenue offers several gateway sizes to accommodate different workload requirements and network throughput expectations. 

Gateway sizing directly impacts the available networking capacity and should be selected according to both current and anticipated future requirements. 

Typical sizing considerations include: 

• Expected network throughput 

• Number of virtual machines 

• Number of connected networks 

• NAT and routing requirements 

• VPN usage 

• Future growth projections 

Important: Gateway resizing is not an in-place operation. Moving from one gateway size to another requires the recreation and reconfiguration of the networking environment. Customers should therefore carefully evaluate their requirements and select the appropriate gateway size during the initial design phase. 

The available gateway sizes and their associated throughput limits are described in the following sections.

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