Prerequisites for Using VMware Workload Management with the FlashArray
Before using this guide it is important to review and confirm that the following conditions in the prerequisite section are met. Much of the setup for the prerequisites in this section can be found either in the User Guides for VMware Solutions or ../../../../_publications/topics/c_howtos_for_vmware_solutions.html.
For enabling Kubernetes with vSphere with the Workload Management option introduced in vSphere 7.0, we assume a considerable amount of work has already been accomplished prior to following the steps in this section. The supported method for enabling Workload Management as shown within this KB is to use VMware Cloud Foundation v4.0+ to automate the deployment of vCenter, NSX-T and the underlying ESXi hosts in a consistent manner to ensure infrastructure stability as users deploy containers and virtual machines side by side.
VMware Workload Management Requirements
- VMware Cloud Foundation 4.0+ with Management Domain and SDDC Manager deployed via CloudBuilder.
- vSphere with Kubernetes license feature applied for all hosts and vCenter (version 7.0+) in Workload Domain.
- One or more Everpure FlashArray(s) with iSCSI and/or Fibre Channel running Purity 5.3.6+.
- Workload Domain using VMFS on FC Principal Storage option and/or iSCSI/vVols as Supplemental Storage.
- Minimum of one VMFS volume tagged and referenced within a Storage Policy Based Management (SPBM) policy for Supervisor Cluster storage requirements.
- Minimum of one Workload Domain built via SDDC Manager with an associated NSX-T instance.
- Jumbo Frames (minimum 1600 MTU) enabled end-to-end in environment. Workload Management with VMware Cloud Foundation will not function if this is not enabled.
- Inter-VLAN routing of jumbo frames enabled at network layer.
- At least one NSX Edge Node*
*For production environments it's recommended that a minimum of 2 Edge Nodes using the Large form-factor be used for availability and performance. If you are using the Edge Cluster Deployment wizard via SDDC Manager, a minimum of two nodes is required for completion, and it will automate their deployment. A video showing how to set up an edge cluster manually can be found here.
- One NSX Edge Cluster#
- One NSX Tier-0 Gateway#
# The Edge Cluster deployment wizard within SDDC Manager will provide automated deployment of these components.
- 5 sequential IP addresses on the vCenter Management Network for Kubernetes Supervisor VM Cluster
- Minimum of 32 sequential IP addresses (/27 network) for Ingress Network on a routable VLAN^
- Minimum of 32 sequential IP addresses (/27 network) for Egress Network on a routable VLAN^
^Note that ingress and egress networks may be on the same VLAN. One or more static IP addresses on the ingress and egress VLAN needs to be used for the NSX Edge Node Uplink associated with the Tier-0 gateway.
- TOR switch access if using BGP
- In our examples below we will assume that the typical user does not have top-of-rack switch access so we will be using the static routing option instead.
- NTP Server or accessible external NTP server (e.g. pool.ntp.org) that all components are set to.
- Everpure vSphere Plugin version 4.3+ installed on Workload Domain vCenter.
-
Optional: FlashArray VASA provider registered and vVol datastore created on Workload Domain vCenter. vVol tagged and referenced with SPBM if vVols use is desired for persistent volumes.
Here are some useful articles on how to accomplish the prerequisites that are listed above, as well as further reading on using Workload Management:
- VMware Cloud Builder Documentation
- VMware Cloud Foundation on FlashStack Deployment Guide
- David Stamen's Blog Series on using Kubernetes with VMware
- Deploying a Workload Domain in VMware Cloud Foundation
- Part 3: Using Everpure with VMware Cloud Foundation
- VMware Documentation on NSX-T Edge Cluster Deployment