Challenges of Monitoring Network Quality in VCF Environments

As organizations modernize their IT infrastructure with VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF), ensuring seamless workload and application mobility becomes critical. One often overlooked yet critical factor in this transformation is the quality of the networks connecting data centers and cloud environments. This is especially challenging in environments dependent on internet service providers (ISPs) and other external networks, where internal network operations teams have limited control over network behavior.

The importance of network underlay performance in VCF environments

Workload and application mobility in VCF environments rely on the performance of the network underlay. VMware HCX, the application mobility platform within VCF, depends on a stable and high-performance network for tasks like live migration via vMotion, replication, and workload rebalancing. However, several challenges arise when relying on ISP-managed networks:

1. Bandwidth constraints: ISP networks often experience fluctuations in capacity, particularly during peak usage periods. This leads to network contention that affects HCX network traffic.
2. High latency: Increased latency slows data replication and migration processes, potentially causing workload migrations to fail. These delays are especially disruptive during time-sensitive operations.
3. Packet loss: Even small packet losses can have a significant impact on HCX performance, introducing risks during critical tasks like vMotion migration and replication.
4. Unpredictable performance: ISP networks are inherently volatile, with varying speeds, routing behaviors, and availability. This unpredictability makes it challenging to ensure consistent application and workload mobility.

Given these issues, the ability to accurately measure and characterize network performance indicators, such as bandwidth, latency, and packet loss, is essential for ensuring seamless VCF operations. While the native tools provided by VCF and HCX are effective for baseline assessments, the complexities of ISP-managed networks often require additional approaches. Complementing these tools with a solution that offers deep insights and end-to-end visibility can help organizations address network challenges more effectively and ensure optimal performance.

Enhancing VCF native tools for network characterization

Native tools, such as HCX's CCLI perftest and ping-based latency tests, provide a reliable starting point for assessing network underlay performance and are well-suited for many scenarios. However, addressing the full range of complexities in hybrid cloud environments may require additional solutions to complement these tools. For instance, tools may be required that address these limitations:

• Scope: While native tools excel at testing specific uplinks or tunnel endpoints, gaining a comprehensive view of the entire network path, especially over ISP networks with multiple hops and unpredictable routing, often necessitates broader visibility.
• Manual processes: Manual tools often involve manual setup, execution, and repeated testing, which can be labor-intensive and less practical for continuous monitoring or large-scale deployments.
• Granularity: Although most can identify high-level issues like elevated latency or bandwidth constraints, they may not uncover such root causes as transient packet loss, ISP routing inefficiencies, or SD-WAN policy misconfigurations.

To enhance network monitoring and characterization in VCF environments, organizations can benefit from solutions that provide continuous, end-to-end visibility and actionable insights. With these capabilities, teams can complement the capabilities of native tools and address their key challenges.

How Network Observability by Broadcom can help

Network Observability by Broadcom is a network performance monitoring solution designed to deliver comprehensive insights into the quality of network links, including those traversing ISP-managed paths. The solution addresses the complexities of hybrid cloud environments by providing actionable visibility and analytics. Here's how the solution can help with network monitoring in VCF environments:

1. End-to-end visibility: Network Observability by Broadcom monitors the entire network path between VCF sites or between on-premises and cloud environments. This end-to-end visibility ensures that every hop in the network, including ISP-controlled segments, is analyzed.
2. Proactive monitoring: The solution enhances native tools by providing continuous monitoring of network performance. This allows teams to detect and address latency spikes, packet loss, or bandwidth issues before they affect workload mobility.
3. Granular metrics: Network Observability by Broadcom constantly collects detailed metrics, such as jitter, packet loss, and round-trip latency, enabling organizations to pinpoint specific network bottlenecks. These insights help IT teams resolve issues faster and make data-driven decisions about network upgrades and enhancing SD-WAN policies.
4. Historical performance analysis: The solution stores historical performance data, allowing organizations to identify recurring patterns or trends in network behavior. This is especially useful for troubleshooting intermittent issues that native tools might miss.
5. Integration with hybrid environments: Network Observability by Broadcom integrates seamlessly with hybrid and multi-cloud environments, making it an ideal solution for organizations using VCF to support hybrid cloud strategies.

The benefits of better network characterization

By leveraging Network Observability by Broadcom, organizations can realize significant benefits with operating VCF environments:

• Reduce workload motion risks: Ensure HCX workload migrations and rebalancing are completed without downtime or failures.
• Improve application performance: Maintain consistent application performance during and after migrations.
• Optimize resources: Identify underperforming network segments and allocate resources more effectively.
• Enhance business continuity: Proactively address network issues to avoid disruptions to critical workloads.

Conclusion

Monitoring and characterizing the quality of networks from end to end, especially over ISP networks, is a complex yet essential task for ensuring workload and application mobility in VCF environments. While traditional monitoring tools provide a starting point, solutions like Network Observability by Broadcom offer the visibility, granularity, and analytics needed to tackle these challenges effectively.

Equipped with the right solutions, organizations can confidently embrace hybrid cloud strategies, reduce migration risks, and unlock the full potential of VMware Cloud Foundation.