Users Guide

NOTE: If you plan to deploy vRealize Automation, Active Directory services must be available. For more information on

AD configuration, see the vRealize Automation documentation.

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol

Cloud Foundation uses Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) to automatically configure each VM kernel port of an ESXi host that

is used as a TEP with an IPv4 address. One DHCP scope must be defined and made available for this purpose.

The DHCP scope that is defined must be large enough to accommodate all the initial and future servers that are used in the Cloud

Foundation solution. Each host requires two IP addresses, one for each TEP configured.

Domain Name System

During deployment, you must provide the DNS domain information to be used to configure the various components. The root DNS domain

information is required and, optionally, you can also specify subdomain information.

DNS resolution must be available for all the components that are contained within the Cloud Foundation solution, which includes servers,

virtual machines, and any virtual IPs that are used. For more information on the components that are required for DNS resolution before

starting a Cloud Foundation deployment, see Host names and IP addresses.

Ensure that both forward and reverse DNS resolutions are functional for each component before deploying Cloud Foundation or creating

any workload domains.

Network Time Protocol

All components must be synchronized against a common time provider by using the Network Time Protocol (NTP) on all nodes. Important

components of Cloud Foundation, such as vCenter Single Sign-On (SSO), are sensitive to a time drift between distributed components.

Synchronized time between the various components also assists with troubleshooting.

Requirements for the NTP sources include the following:

• The IP addresses of two NTP sources are provided during the initial deployment.

• The NTP sources must be reachable by all the components in the Cloud Foundation solution.

• Time skew is less than 5 minutes between NTP sources.

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol mail relay (optional)

Certain components of the SDDC, such as vCenter, Log Insight, and vRealize Automation, can send status messages to users by email. To

enable this functionality, a mail relay that does not require user authentication must be available through SMTP. As a best practice, limit

the relay function to the networks allocated for use by Cloud Foundation.

Certificate Authority (optional)

The components of the SDDC require SSL certificates for secure operation. During deployment, self-signed certificates are used for each

of the deployed components. These certificates can be replaced with certificates that are signed by an internal enterprise CA or by a

third-party commercial CA.

If you plan to replace the self-signed certificates, the CA must be able to sign a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) and return the signed

certificate. All endpoints within the enterprise must also trust the root CA of the CA.

If you plan to deploy vRealize Automation, a Certificate Authority is required, and the certificates are required during installation.

Physical network requirements

Before deploying Cloud Foundation, configure the physical network to enable the following features:

• VLAN Tagging (802.1Q)

• Jumbo frames

○ A minimum MTU value of 1600 is required, however it is recommended that you set the MTU to 9000.

Cloud Foundation and SDDC design considerations