VMware recently made available for download an updated version of the VMware vSphere 8 virtualization platform and VMware vSAN 8 fail-safe storage solution. At the same time, VMware decided to update its VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) platform to version 4.5. We will remind that VCF is the main software complex infrastructure solution of VMware, which includes components of VMware vRealize Suite, VMware vSphere Integrated Containers, VMware Integrated OpenStack, VMware Horizon, NSX and others, which work in on-premises, cloud or hybrid infrastructure of the enterprise under the management of SD Manager .
Let’s see what’s new in VMware Cloud Foundation 4.5:
- VCF+ support. Now this subscription to cloud services can be used within the components – vSphere+ and vSAN+. Availability of VCF+ has not yet been announced.
- Clusters can now be added, and hosts can be added/removed and commissioned/decommissioned in parallel.
- Upgrade prechecks can now check NSX-T edge cluster licenses and passwords, as well as file permissions, passwords, and certificate rotation for failed jobs. Annoying vSAN health checks can be disabled.
- Users can rename clusters and apply tags to objects.
- SDDC Manager now provides a wizard-based interface that makes the VCF environment configuration process simpler.
- For the HCI Mesh architecture based on vSAN ReadyNodes, a remote vSAN datastore configured in another cluster can be mounted in the cluster.
- VxRaildomain manager workflows now match those for vSAN ReadyNodes. Also improved LCM when retrying operations.
- Redesigned interface, including to make it more convenient for visually impaired users.
- Support for Mixed Mode migrations, as well as new migration topologies from VCF 3 to the fourth version.
VMware Cloud Foundation 4.5 includes the following versions of components (Bill of Materials):
- Cloud Builder VM: 4.5
- SDDC Manager: 4.5
- VMware vCenter Appliance: 7.0 Update 3h
- VMware ESXi and VMware vSAN: 7.0 Update 3g
- VMware Virtual SAN Witness Appliance: 7.0 Update 3c
- VMware NSX-T: 3.2.1.2
- VMware vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager: 8.8.2
Due to the integration with VMware NSX-T 3.2.1.2, the VCF architecture received the following capabilities:
Briefly, the following innovations appeared here:
- NSX Federation improvements – VM tag replication features are supported so they preserve security policies in case of disaster recovery. Channel monitoring between Global Managers and Local Managers has also been improved.
- Gateway Security and Distributed Firewall improvements – improvements were made to L7 App ID, Malware Detection and Sandboxing, URL filtering and User-ID based network screen. In addition, TLS inspection functions appeared (in Tech Preview mode), as well as support for Intrusion Detection and Prevention Service (IDS/IPS).
- It is now possible to define networks and Antrea security policies for containers from the NSX-T Manager interface. Objects that the NSX-T inventory sees include: pods, namespaces, and services. They can also be seen in Distributed Firewall policies.
- The NSX Migration Coordinator has been enhanced to support user-defined NSX topologies. Large installations, VMware Integrated OpenStack (VIO) infrastructure, fixed topologies with OSPF, Guest Introspection features, and identity-based firewall (IDFW/RDSH) configurations are now supported.
You can read more about VMware Cloud Foundation 4.5 at Release Notes.
Do you want to use innovative and modern technologies? Contact our experts today. Call us at +38 (044) 277-23-23 or send us a letter at info@wiseit.com.ua, and we will tell you more about VMware solutions and their advantages.