The Network Profile is an abstraction of a Distributed Port Group, Standard Port Group, or NSX Logical Switch, and the Layer 3 properties of that network.
A Network Profile is a sub-component of a complete Compute Profile.
Create a Network Profile for each network you intend to use with the HCX services. When creating a Compute Profile, the extension selects these network profiles and assigns one or more of the Network Profile functions.
Note: Although a Network Profile can be assigned any function during the Compute Profile configuration, consider creating a separate profile for each function as a best practice.
Note: In Federated NSX environments, the NSX Global Manager populates local NSX managers with all global network segments known to the Global Manager. These networks are flagged in HCX as Global Networks in the HCX inventory and become available for use for Bulk, RAV, and vMotion migrations. These global segments, however, are not supported for HCX Interconnect configuration, meaning Network Profile and Compute Profile creation with Global Segments or Global Transport Zones.
Management Network: The HCX Interconnect appliances use this network to communicate with management systems like the HCX Manager, vCenter Server, ESXi Management, NSX Manager, DNS, and NTP.
Uplink Network: The HCX Interconnect appliances use this network for WAN communications, like TX/RX of transport packets.
vMotion Network: The HCX Interconnect appliances use this network for the traffic exclusive to vMotion protocol operations.
vSphere Replication Network: The HCX Interconnect appliances use this network for the traffic exclusive to vSphere Replication.
Guest Network for OS-Assisted Migration: The Sentinel Gateway appliances use this vSphere network to connect with non-vSphere virtual machines.
Procedure:
Log in to the HCX Manager:
Navigate to the Network Profiles interface:
From the HCX Console, navigate to Interconnect > Multi-Site Service Mesh > Network Profiles. The system displays all the defined Network Profiles. If no profiles have been configured, the system highlights the Create Network Profile option.
Select a vCenter Server and existing Network.
Select a vCenter Server from the drop-down menu.
Select Distributed Port Group, Standard Switch Port Group, NSX Logical Switch, or External Network to filter the available networks by type.
Select one of the available networks.
Name the Network Profile.
Provide the IP address pool details for the network profile.
Provide an IP address range available for the HCX appliances. Use a comma to separate multiple discontiguous ranges within the same subnet.
Enter the Prefix Length for the network containing the IP ranges provided.
Enter the Default Gateway Address for the network.
Specify the DNS server information.
Enter the MTU value.
(Optional) Using the checkboxes, associate one or more suggested traffic types with the network selection: Management, HCX Uplink, vSphere Replication, vMotion, Sentinel Guest Network. The traffic type selection appears as a suggestion of which networks to use when creating the Compute Profile. It does not prevent the network from being used for other types of network traffic.
To complete the Network Profile configuration, click Create.
In my lab I created two network profiles in the above first profile I added 3 services (Management, HCX Uplink, and vSphere Replication)
The second network profile I created is for vMotion traffic.
As you can see in the below screenshot I have now successfully created two network profiles:
Note: Similarly you need to create the Network profile on the Destination (HCX Cloud appliance in my case) site so that Interconnect communicates for the specific service on the defined network.
Next, we will see the steps to create the Compute profiles where the network profiles will be used.
Comments