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VMware NSX is one of the most well-known Software-Defined Networking (SDN) solutions on the market. To help understand it, let’s walk through the evolution of VMware virtualized networks. This article was written in a simple and compact way and includes the moment VMware dove into the world of computer networks.
vSphere Standard Switch (vSS)
VMware, and virtualization in general, began their development in network architectures with the vSwitch (vSS).
The initial idea was to have a virtualized switch within the ESX, which would then be able to deliver different port groups (VLANs) to VMs hosted on the same hypervisor.
In a small environment — up to 5 ESX hypervisors — it worked great. However, as the infrastructure began to grow, management problems clearly appeared, and it became evident that this virtualized switch was not capable of accommodating data center networks.
The technical peak for automation would have required scripts executed on each ESX, since centralized control did not exist.
With the emergence of management panels, such as the vCloud suite, vCNS (VMware vCloud Networking and Security) was fundamental to meeting the needs of a Cloud environment, providing multi-tenancy constructs with the goal of logically separating clients.
vCNS goes far beyond just VLANs: it allows more advanced networks to become virtual, with the capacity to route, create VPNs, and utilize firewalls with automation and scalability.
VMware saw an opportunity and acquired the company Nicira, which was responsible for OpenStack’s virtual network architecture, focusing on its technology called Network Virtualization Platform (NVP).
VMware then utilized NVP components to serve other architectures, including its own (VMware vSphere). From that point, VMware NSX for vSphere (or NSX-v) was born. Its first presentation was at VMworld US 2013, now known as VMware Explore. Considered the future of virtual networking, SDN — designed for Cloud architectures — offers possibilities for new features within the vCloud suite.
The main technical comparison, from an architectural standpoint, is between vCloud Director Network Isolation (vCDNI) — the multi-tenancy protocol used by vCNS — and Virtual Extensible LAN (VXLAN), which is its successor used by NSX-v.
vCNS lost ground as NSX-v became the leading protagonist of VMware networking. This was a great strategic decision by VMware and a challenging one for service providers, who then had to migrate to NSX-v, as VMware decided to end the life (EOL) of vCNS in 2016.
After nearly six years of a stable networking platform, NSX Transformers — now called NSX-T — was born. It was an evolution with several rewritten and improved components, such as the distributed firewall (Microsegmentation) and new security capabilities like IPS/IDS, URL Filtering, and NDR solutions.
In relation to NSX-v, VMware discontinued the SSL VPN-Plus feature. Reports suggest that the overhead of keeping this component secure was too demanding for the engineering team. This limitation requires administrators to choose alternative solutions, whether open-source, such as OpenVPN or WireGuard, or commercial solutions.
Shortly after, in 2019, VMware made another major market acquisition, this time acquiring Avi Networks, a company specialized in virtual ADC (Application Delivery Controller) solutions.
Following this acquisition, VMware incorporated the product, renaming it VMware NSX Advanced Load Balancer (NSX ALB). VMware’s strategy at this point shifted toward Multicloud; NSX-T and NSX ALB open up possibilities to operate in various scenarios, expanding coverage across hypervisors, containers, cloud environments, and even Bare Metal servers. This means that beyond the VMware stack, NSX-T and ALB also support OpenStack, Docker, KVM, and Kubernetes, among others. Much of this is rooted in the acquisition of Nicira (NVP) back in 2012.
VMware announced that, starting with version 4.0, NSX-T would simply be called “VMware NSX.” Looking at the release notes, it was indeed just a name change, as the features and architecture remain the same as NSX-T — unlike the transition between NSX-v and NSX-T.
Finally, we conclude here and look forward to new features from this SDN, which has seen great evolution in recent years.
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