8.4 Deployment Options
There are an infinite number of ways to distribute a vCloud platform. This is due to the number of vCloud components that must be deployed and the various connectivity options.
The following options lead to different combinations and layouts:
Connectivity between locations (MAN/WAN).
Network layer (Layer
2/Layer
3).
End-user workloads clusters configurations
(stretched/separate).
NoteThe combination of some of these options may not be viable. For example, a vSphere stretched cluster configuration requires and is deployable only in conjunction with a Layer 2 stretched network.
The following diagram shows the scenarios covered later in this section.
Figure 47. Summary of Deployment Scenarios
Note
A slightly different view of the same options is given in the following table:
Table 17. Summary of Deployment Scenarios
Connectivity | Network Layer | Clusters Configuration |
MAN | Layer 2 | Stretched Clusters |
MAN | Layer 2 | Separate Clusters |
MAN | Layer 3 | Separate Clusters |
WAN | Layer 3 | Separate Clusters |
The following four figures show the logical architecture of the four different deployment models. The connectivity type is indicated in each figure caption.
Figure 48. MAN Connectivity – Stretched Layer 2 Clusters
Figure 49. MAN Connectivity – Separate Layer 2 Clusters
Figure 50. MAN Connectivity – Separate Layer 3 Clusters
Figure 51. WAN Connectivity – Layer 3 Clusters
NoteThough the diagrams show two vCenter Servers managing two different clusters, the same concepts apply with a single vCenter that manages two clusters. For convenience, vCenter servers are always shown located close to the vCloud Director cells and far from the ESXi hosts. The same supportability considerations apply in scenarios where the vCenter servers are located close to the ESXi hosts and far from the vCloud Director cells.
