Cross Cloud Mobility for VMware Cloud Foundation

Decision: Deploy HCX Connector appliance in default management vSphere cluster

Rationale: Required for secure communication between VCF instance and VMware HCX

Implication: HCX Connector must connect to the Internet through a firewall

Component: CDP

Decision: Protect HCX Connector with vSphere HA

Rationale: Supports availability objective without manual intervention during ESXi host failure

Implication: No significant trade-offs identified for this decision.

Component: CDP

Decision: Place HCX Connector in designated VM folder

Rationale: Organizes appliances in management domain vSphere inventory

Implication: Must create VM folder before or during deployment

Component: CDP

Decision: In multi-AZ, add HCX Connector to first AZ VM group

Rationale: Ensures HCX Connector runs on primary AZ hosts group

Implication: Must update VM group after second AZ implementation

Component: CDP

Decision: Place HCX Connector on management VLAN

Rationale: Same network as VCF components; consistent deployment model

Implication: No significant trade-offs identified for this decision.

Component: CDP

Decision: Allocate statically assigned IPs from management VLAN

Rationale: Deployment stability and simplified maintenance

Implication: Requires precise IP address management

Component: CDP

Decision: Configure forward and reverse DNS records for HCX Connector

Rationale: Access via FQDN instead of IP only

Implication: DNS record required; firewalls must allow DNS traffic

Component: CDP

Decision: Configure DNS servers on HCX Connector

Rationale: Accurate name resolution

Implication: HA DNS infrastructure required; firewall rules for DNS; two or more DNS servers required

Component: CDP

Decision: Configure NTP servers for HCX Connector

Rationale: Accurate time sync; prevent time mismatch with dependencies

Implication: HA NTP infrastructure; firewall rules for NTP; two or more NTP servers required

Component: CDP

Decision: Deploy VMware Cloud on AWS mobility SDDC with minimum of 2 nodes

Rationale: Pre-provisioned mobility SDDC remains available; single-node expires after 60 days

Implication: Pre-provisioned SDDC incurs regular charge

Component: AWS

Decision: Configure management gateway to allow access to mobility SDDC vCenter over Internet

Rationale: Users can access vCenter UI over Internet

Implication: Must manually manage access using NSX group

Component: AWS

Decision: Register HCX Connector with VI workload domain vCenter Server

Rationale: Installs HCX plug-ins for vCenter integration

Implication: No significant trade-offs identified for this decision.

Component: HCX

Decision: Register HCX Connector with VI workload domain NSX Manager

Rationale: Required to enable networking configuration

Implication: No significant trade-offs identified for this decision.

Component: HCX

Decision: Register HCX Connector with SSO domain of VI workload domain vCenter

Rationale: Creates dedicated VMware HCX roles within vCenter

Implication: No significant trade-offs identified for this decision.

Component: HCX

Decision: Pair HCX Connector with HCX Cloud service

Rationale: Establishes unidirectional communication for Service Mesh

Implication: HCX Connector must reach Internet via firewall; proxy configuration is external to this solution

Component: HCX

Decision: Create management network profile with Management and HCX Uplink traffic types

Rationale: Provides management network configuration for HCX service appliances

Implication: No significant trade-offs identified for this decision.

Component: HCX

Decision: Assign management network profile pool of 5 IPs from VI workload domain management VLAN

Rationale: Dynamic IP assignment to HCX service appliances

Implication: Requires static IP pool from management VLAN

Component: HCX

Decision: Create vMotion network profile with vMotion traffic type

Rationale: Provides vMotion network for HCX service appliances

Implication: No significant trade-offs identified for this decision.

Component: HCX

Decision: Assign vMotion network profile pool of 5 IPs from VI workload domain vMotion VLAN

Rationale: Dynamic IP assignment

Implication: Requires static IP pool from vMotion VLAN

Component: HCX

Decision: Create compute profile activating all available HCX services

Rationale: Defines compute/storage/network used by Service Mesh

Implication: Services activated depend on HCX license applied

Component: HCX

Decision: Assign VI workload domain cluster to compute profile

Rationale: Provides compute capacity for interconnect appliances

Implication: No significant trade-offs identified for this decision.

Component: HCX

Decision: Assign vSphere resource pool as compute profile container

Rationale: Groups interconnect appliances with resource priorities

Implication: Must create resource pool before configuration

Component: HCX

Decision: Assign VM folder as compute profile container

Rationale: Organizes appliances in inventory

Implication: Must create VM folder before configuration

Component: HCX

Decision: Assign management and vMotion network profiles to compute profile

Rationale: Network settings for interconnect appliances

Implication: No significant trade-offs identified for this decision.

Component: HCX

Decision: Create Service Mesh between VCF instance and VMware Cloud on AWS SDDC

Rationale: Provides interconnect enabling network extension without re-IP

Implication: No significant trade-offs identified for this decision.

Component: HCX

Decision: Manually upgrade HCX Connector using built-in tools

Rationale: Upgrade package must be downloaded and applied

Implication: No significant trade-offs identified for this decision.

Component: CDP

Decision: Use VMware Cloud Services automatic over-the-air upgrade for HCX Connector

Rationale: Upgrades pushed automatically by HCX Cloud service

Implication: No significant trade-offs identified for this decision.

Component: CDP