HCX is key to many use cases with VMware technology today. For me, I use it constantly with VMware Cloud on AWS to assist customers and partners with moving workloads up to the cloud. However, it is also a great service to use when you need to move workloads from one datacenter to another. Well, you can use vMotion for that, right? Yes, but vMotion can only be done by copying the files of one vm at a time. HCX can move vm’s in bulk. This reduces your downtime window when you need to move quickly. There are many more ways to use HCX that are beyond the scope of this little post. Without further ado, let’s jump into the public HCX References I use on a daily basis.
Odd for #1 until you realize it’s a long document with ports, requirements, and a diagram to back it up! Since I focus on VMC, I’m using this a LOT. I even did a breakdown of source side HCX appliances and their associated flows in a VMUG session. Look it up!
Did you really think this wouldn’t be in the top 5? Many times, I go back to the basics because VMware will release a new version of HCX and the features and functionality may have changed. If you’re not sure if a feature or function operates the way you remember, go back through the reference documents.
Gabe is our HCX Rockstar and like a rockstar, his website is packed with useful information. His content covers a lot of scenarios that customers and partners run into on an everyday basis. In addition, he has provided HCX Reference Designs. If you’re looking for some HCX documentation that deviates from the neutral tone of the official documentation, this is the first place to look.
Once I get into deploying HCX, I have to pull this up without fail because often times IT teams have to identify specifically which ports and protocols are being used by each appliance to satisfy compliance and firewall needs.
I often support partners with moving a customer from a VPN connection to VMC to using DirectConnect and re-establishing HCX. We refer to this type of activity as Day 2 activity because in practice, the end users are already up and running the VMware Cloud on AWS service. It’s important to review the VMware documentation on running HCX over DirectConnect after the DirectConnect has been established.
How did I forgot the very original William Lam virtuallyGhetto blog?! William covers new use cases through automation from time to time and HCX has certainly made a few guest appearances.
Talk about real life HCX scenarios! VMware’s Professional Services Team do it first so you don’t have to. My PSO team has teamed up together to bring you their tales from the field and a few of them have spent more time with HCX than I ever will!
Wow Manish, how do you find the stamina to describe all the bells and whistles in HCX 4.x alone? My brain glazes over because I have such short attention span. Thank goodness Manish is so thorough so you all can benefit and save me from EVER trying to describe the service in detail.
Yikes! I nearly forgot one of the most important reference links – the HCX Release Notes! Especially since HCX is a service and is frequently releasing new versions, make sure you check in on what new features/functionality has been released. I can’t stress this enough – this piece of software is changing rapidly. The team at VMware is actively adding functionality asked for by our customers into the solution so check back often. Just in the last year alone, VMware released a new higher level version of HCX called HCX Enterprise.
And I think we’re going to end it here. Yes, the list is significantly shorter than other VMware products but keep your eyes peeled as this is a growing area for VMware and will represent the beginnings of how VMware will be able to move workloads from one location to another, whether that’s a datacenter or in the cloud! Thank you to Brianna Williams for enlightening me on our VMware professional services’ team amazing contributions.