Episode-3: NSX and VCF 9 Networking capabilities

From now and onwards, we are focusing on VCF and its components. I will start from NSX and later we shall focus on 

1. VCF-NSX (Security, Networking)
2. VCF-Operations (and its sub components etc)
3. VCF-Automation 
4. Storage (vSAN ESA/OSA, VMFS, NFS)

So, lets talk about NSX first and then we shall move on to its in depth capabilities aligned with VCF. How can we utilize and have day 2 administration. It's high-level over view of services and integrations with VCF is as below highlighted. 

1. Network Virtualization

• VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) delivers integrated Software-Defined Networking (SDN) through NSX, enabling organizations to build self-service Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs) with agility and consistency.
• This pillar empowers administrators and tenants to provision logical networks on demand, abstracting physical infrastructure and simplifying operations.
• Virtual distributed switching and routing ensure seamless east-west and north-south traffic flow across workloads, while consistent networking policies across sites support multi-region deployments and disaster recovery.
• The result is a scalable, programmable network fabric that aligns with modern cloud principles and accelerates application delivery.

2. Modern Apps Networking 

VCF networking stack is optimized for modern application platforms, especially Kubernetes. It offers simplified 

Kubernetes networking through NSX’s comprehensive policy model, which supports 

• Micro-segmentation, 
• Ingress/egress control, 
• Service chaining. 

The architecture is platform-agnostic, meaning it integrates with any Kubernetes like 

• Tanzu distribution 
• Upstream K8s (Open standard)  
• Third-party platforms—without requiring custom plugins. 

NSX provides a unified management plane, allowing operators to monitor and enforce policies across VMs and containers from a single interface. 

Note: This convergence of VM and container networking simplifies DevOps workflows and enhances security posture for cloud-native workloads.

3. Network Visibility and Troubleshooting

VCF includes powerful monitoring and visibility tools that span pre-deployment and runtime operations. How it works, lets discuss as below 

• Administrators can perform pre-deployment assessments to validate network readiness and compliance. 
• Application discovery features automatically map dependencies and traffic flows, helping teams understand workload behavior and optimize placement. 
• Network topology visualization and real-time metrics provide deep insights into performance, latency, and bottlenecks. 
• These capabilities reduce mean time to resolution (MTTR), improve operational efficiency, and support proactive capacity planning. 
• NSX Intelligence and vRealize Network Insight (now part of VMware Aria Operations for Networks) are key enablers in this pillar.

4. Workload Mobility

VCF supports large-scale workload mobility across vSphere environments, enabling seamless migration of VMs and applications. 

• Organizations can move workloads between clusters, regions, or even clouds with zero downtime, thanks to technologies like vMotion and HCX. 
• The architecture supports any-to-any vSphere version compatibility, allowing legacy systems to coexist with modern platforms during migration. 
• Multiple migration modes—bulk, scheduled, or live—offer flexibility based on business needs. 

This mobility ensures business continuity, simplifies hardware refresh cycles, and supports hybrid cloud strategies without rearchitecting applications.

5. Lateral Security

Security in VCF is deeply embedded at the network layer, with NSX providing stateful Layer 7 distributed firewalling across workloads. This enables granular east-west traffic protection, essential for preventing lateral movement of threats. 

Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) features—such as 

• Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems (IDS/IPS), 
• Network sandboxing
• Network Traffic Analysis/Detection and Response (NTA/NDR)—enhance threat visibility and response. 

Security analytics and rule recommendations help automate policy creation and tuning. 

Note that these advanced services are add-ons and not included by default in VCF, requiring separate licensing or subscriptions.