VMware HCX introduction

The VMware® HCX™ service enables creating a seamless connection between IBM Cloud® for VMware Solutions instances and an on-premises VMware virtualized data center.

The IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions includes fully automated, rapid deployments of VMware Cloud Foundation for Classic - Automated in the IBM Cloud. These offerings complement the on-premises infrastructure and allow existing and future workloads to run in the IBM Cloud without conversion by using the same tools, skills, and processes they use on-premises.

The VMware HCX service takes this hybridity to the next step, blending instances of VCF for Classic - Automated with existing on-premises virtualized data centers. It enables the creation of seamless network extensions and bidirectional migration of workloads.

The VMware HCX components are deployed as virtual machines (VMs) in the IBM Cloud VMware target site. They allow a connection with the VMware HCX components that are installed in the peer on-premises source site.

This connection creates a loosely coupled interconnectivity between on-premises and IBM Cloud and enables capabilities, such as:

• Simple interconnectivity – logical network connections are established easily over any physical connection such as public internet, private VPN, or direct link.
• Layer 2 extension – on-premises networks are extended into the cloud. These networks include on-premises subnets and IP addressing.
• Encryption – network traffic is securely encrypted between the two sides.
• Optimized network – selects the best connection and efficiently floods the connection so that network traffic is moved as fast as possible.
• Data deduplication – as much as 50% reduction in network traffic can be achieved
• vMotion migration - a single running system can be moved between HCX enabled sites by using the VMware vMotion protocol with no service interruption.
• Bulk migration - multiple systems can be moved in parallel using VMware vSphere® Replication protocol between HCX enabled sites.
• Scheduled migration – any number of VMs can be replicated to the destination site and then activated on that site at a designated time. The replication replaces the systems that are running on the originating site.
• Migration of security policies – if NSX is used on-premises, any security policies or firewalls are moved along with the workload.