Overview of VMware vCloud Availability 3.0 – Introduction, Roles, Deployment Process

In this series of blog posts, I will be discussing the new release of VMware vCloud Availability 3.0 (vCAv). This is a very exciting release for the VMware Cloud Provider team. vCAv 3.0 will be out shortly (by end of our fiscal quarter) and I want to provide my insight into this platform. I will be focusing on the following points –

1. Introduction to vCAv 3.0
2. High-Level Architecture
3. vCAv 3.0 Service Roles
4. Deployment Process
5. Deployment Approach for Provider
6. Deployment for Tenant (On-Premises)
7. Protection Workflow
8. Resources

Introduction to vCAv 3.0

First off, let’s discuss what vCAv provides from a functionality perspective. vCAv is what I like to call “functional convergence.” In the past, we had many different products that provided some level of availability or migration capability –

In my opinion, this was a duplication of appliances and could be confusing to customers. The team has done a great job of putting forth a significant investment into vCAv 3.0 to simplify the architecture. Therefore, here’s where we are today –

Therefore, no need for multiple tools for migration, DR from/to Cloud, or between Clouds. We now have a single solution that answers all of the above.

vCAv 3.0 Key Functionality

So what does vCAv 3.0 provide?

1. Simple, Unified Architecture
   1. There is a single OVF for the Provider and the Tenant. On the Provider side, each role can be easily deployed used by the vSphere Client or CLI.
   2. Deployment is very intuitive and scalable – each role can be quickly deployed in a matter of minutes.
   3. On-Premises Appliance is unified and provides vCenter UI integration for management.
2. On-Premises Migration and Protection
   1. On-Premises appliance provides the same UI experience as connected to the Cloud instance, but built into vCenter.
   2. Migration and/or protection of workloads can be done with a few clicks.
   3. Allows for protection/migration to and from vCloud instances.
3. Cloud to Cloud Migration and Protection
   1. Very similar behavior to C2C 1.5, we can protect workloads (vApps and VM’s) between vCD instances.
4. Network Mapping and Re-Addressing
   1. One of the new additions is the ability to re-address and map out protected workflows for faster recovery at the destination site.
   2. This maps to existing vCD oVDC Network constructs such as Static IP pools.
5. Scale
   1. As discussed before, the team is aware of scalability requirements for Providers. For this version, here is the stated guidelines:
      1. 300 tenants with active protections paired to vCloud Director instance
      2. 20 vCAv Replicator instances per instance
      3. 500 active protections per vCAv Replicator instance
      4. 9,500 active protections across tenants to a Cloud
      5. 5TB protected VM size (contingent upon Cloud storage)

Business Value

Direct and native vCloud Director integration for providers and tenants – with the ability to provide self-service, this provides a unique experience that meets DRaaS requirements and migration functionality.

Ease of Operationalization – I’ve done several deployments during the development process and it’s one of the easiest VMware Cloud Provider solutions to deploy. Once we review the roles and concepts, anyone should be able to operationalize this with ease.

Cost-Effective Approach – vCAv 3.0 will be part of the VMware Cloud Provider Program (VCPP). This is based on the monthly consumption of points, which is a very cost-effective solution that can be modeled and productized for DRaaS and migration offerings.

High-Level Architecture

In the following diagram, we can see how this all comes together with a single, on-premises vCenter along with two vCD instances. One can pair this up with vCD multi-site federation capability.

Moreover, this pairs very well with existing vCD services such as CrossVDC Networking or L2VPN connectivity between on-premises and organization VDCs.

vCAv 3.0 Service Roles

Let’s review the distinct service roles of vCAv 3.0.

Provider

On the Provider side, we have the following –

1. Cloud Replication Management
   1. This is a logical entity that consists of the core of vCAv 3.0.
   2. vCloud Availability Portal – User Interface for the tenant and provider. All UI configuration ingresses from this service and applies all to all necessary connected components.
   3. vCloud Availability vApp Replication Manager – communicates directly to vCD and understands tenancy constructs such as organizations, vApps, etc. Also responsible for enabling protections or migrations.
   4. vCloud Availability Replication Manager – understands vCenter and ESXi concepts and will interoperate between the replicators and protected vCenters.
2. vCloud Availability Replicator – lightweight node responsible for executing on the host-based replication from a specific host. Typically, you deploy a replicator per vCenter.
3. vCloud Availability Tunnel – this is the tunneling service that is responsible for providing secure connectivity between on-premises vCenter(s) and connected vCD instances.

Each of these roles can be deployed separately or in a combined virtual appliance. For production deployments (which we will review later), the recommendation is standalone deployments for each role.

Tenant / On-Premises

On the tenant side, we have a single appliance that has a combined appliance approach –

1. vCloud Availability Replicator – just like on the Provider side, the Replicator is responsible for executing the host-based replication (HBR) process
2. vCloud Availability Tunnel – provides secure connectivity between on-premises and vCloud environment. All traffic securely ingresses and egresses through this service.
3. vCloud Availability Plugin – this plugin provides local vCenter UI management that is the same experience as connecting the vCAv Cloud environment.

Deployment Process

While this blog series will cover the Provider and On-Premises side in further detail, we will have the following steps to execute on for a successful deployment.

Provider:

1. Deployment of Cloud Replication Management (CRM) Instance
2. Deploy vCAv Replicator(s)
3. Deploy vCAv Tunnel
4. Configuration of CRM instance and start of site wizard
5. Configuration of Replicator
6. Configuration of Tunnel
7. Validation

Tenant:

1. Deploy vCAv On-Premises Appliance
2. Start configuration wizard
3. Connect to vCAv Cloud Tunnel
4. Configuration of local placement
5. Validation

Next up, I will review the Provider deployment process in further detail while providing the step-by-step procedures. Stay tuned!

-Daniel