Requires the deployment of an NSX Edge cluster to host the Tier-0 gateway.

It can be configured during the deployment of the workload domain.

It supports stateful services configuration.

It is suitable for environments that require a streamlined network with limited NSX networking

services.

In VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0, the networking architecture introduces specialized

connectivity modes to cater to different organizational needs, with Centralized Connectivity Mode

being a primary option for streamlined deployments. This mode is fundamentally anchored to the

physical infrastructure via localized resources rather than distributed components across the entire

cluster.

The most critical technical requirement for this mode is that it requires the deployment of an NSX

Edge cluster to host the Tier-0 gateway. Unlike distributed models, centralized connectivity funnels

North-South traffic through specific Edge nodes that serve as the demarcation point between the

virtual overlay and the physical Top-of-Rack (ToR) switches. This centralization is what enables the

next key characteristic: it supports stateful services configuration. Because traffic is anchored to

specific Service Routers (SR) on Edge nodes, stateful operations such as NAT, Load Balancing, and

stateful firewalls can maintain session persistence, which is not natively possible in a purely

distributed Active/Active ECMP environment without specialized configuration.

From a lifecycle perspective, this mode is highly integrated into the SDDC Manager workflows and

can be configured during the deployment of the workload domain. This allows architects to define

the networking posture of a new domain at "Day 0," ensuring that the necessary Edge resources and

Tier-0/Tier-1 hierarchies are provisioned automatically to meet the domain's specific requirements.

Finally, Centralized Connectivity Mode is suitable for environments that require a streamlined

network with limited NSX networking services. It provides a "cloud-lite" approach to networking,

offering the necessary isolation and security of NSX without the complexity of managing a full-scale

distributed fabric. This makes it an ideal choice for smaller workload domains, specialized labs, or

legacy application environments that do not require the massive scale of a distributed transit

gateway but still need robust stateful security and simplified North-South egress.

Step 1: Delete both the active and standby Global Managers. Ensure there are no Global Manager

appliances up in any other clusters.

Step 2: Deploy a new Global Manager with the same IP address/FQDN as the old active Global

Manager.

Step 3: Restore the active Global Manager from backup.

Step 4: Deploy an additional new Global Manager on another site and onboard it to the restored

Global Manager.

In a VMware Cloud Foundation multi-site deployment using NSX Federation, the Global Manager

(GM) manages the global networking configuration across multiple sites. If the entire GM cluster

(Active and Standby) fails, the following architectural principles apply:

Cleanup (Step 1): Before initiating a restore, the environment must be "cleaned." If old, failed VMs

remain in the inventory or on the hosts, they can cause IP address conflicts or UUID mismatches

during the deployment of the new appliance. You must ensure the management plane is clear of the

original failed nodes.

Identity Consistency (Step 2): When restoring an NSX appliance (Local or Global) from backup, the

new appliance must be deployed with the exact same IP address and FQDN as the original active

node. This is critical because the existing Local Managers (LMs) at each site already have established

thumbprints and communication channels tied to that specific identity.

The Restore Operation (Step 3): Once the "seed" appliance is deployed, the restore process is

triggered through the NSX Manager UI/API. This process re-populates the database with the global

segments, firewall rules, and Tier-0/Tier-1 configurations.

Restoring Redundancy (Step 4): The backup only contains the configuration of the cluster. It does not

"restore" the standby VM itself. High Availability (HA) must be manually re-established by deploying

a second GM appliance at the secondary site and joining it to the newly restored Global Manager

cluster to act as the standby.

To identify why there is no data ingress into a workload domain, an administrator must understand

the specific path external traffic takes. For a workload domain configured with a Tier-0 gateway and a

Tier-1 gateway (Distributed Routing only), the ingress traffic flow follows a hierarchical path from the

physical network through the NSX logical components to the virtual machine.

Ingress Traffic Flow Sequence

The correct sequence of steps for external network traffic to ingress the workload domain and reach

the virtual machine is as follows:

Uplink for the Tier-0 Service Router (SR): Traffic enters the NSX environment from the physical

network through the physical-to-logical interface on the Edge node.

Inter-Tier interface of the Distributed Router (DR) of the Tier-0 gateway: After being received by the

Service Router, the packet is routed internally within the Tier-0 gateway to its distributed

component.

Inter-tier interface of the Distributed Router (DR) on the Tier-1 gateway TEP on the Edge: The Tier-0

gateway routes the packet to the Tier-1 gateway. In this specific scenario, since the Tier-1 is

"Distributed Routing only," this logical transition occurs on the Edge node participating in the

transport zone.

TEP on the destination host: The Edge node encapsulates the packet (typically via Geneve) and

tunnels it across the physical fabric to the specific ESXi host where the target virtual machine is

currently residing.

Downlink interface of the Tier-1 Distributed Router (DR) to the segment to which the workload VM is

attached: On the destination host, the packet is de-encapsulated. The local Tier-1 DR instance

identifies the correct logical segment (VNI) for the destination IP.

NSX portgroup representing the destination segment on the destination host dvfilter and vNic of the

workload VM: The packet is delivered to the virtual switch port, passes through any applied

Distributed Firewall (dvfilter) rules, and finally reaches the virtual machine's network interface card

(vNIC).

For the VDI solution requiring dedicated DHCP for desktop pool segments and static addresses for

management components, the correct sequence of steps to configure DHCP is as follows:

Set the DHCP Config on vdi-tier-1 to DHCP Server and attach a new DHCP Server Profile with an IPv4

DHCP Server Address. This establishes the Tier-1 gateway as the local DHCP service provider for its

attached segments.

On vdi-seg-02, in the DHCP Config set the DHCP Type to Gateway DHCP Server. This instructs the

segment to use the DHCP server service configured on its parent Tier-1 gateway.

On vdi-seg-02, in the DHCP Config set the DHCP Range and DNS Servers. Defines the specific IP pool

and network settings for the first desktop pool.

On vdi-seg-03, in the DHCP Config set the DHCP Type to Gateway DHCP Server. Instructs the second

desktop segment to also leverage the Tier-1 DHCP service.

On vdi-seg-03, in the DHCP Config set the DHCP Range and DNS Servers. Defines the IP pool for the

second desktop pool.

On vdi-seg-01, in the DHCP Config set the DHCP Type to DHCP Relay. Since management components

use static addresses provided by an external mainframe-based solution or dedicated physical

infrastructure, a relay is used rather than a local server to ensure proper network isolation and policy

enforcement for the physical mainframe application.

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In a modern VCF 9.0 environment using the Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) model, North-South traffic

follows a specific hierarchical path. When a VM, such as Sa-transit-web-01, initiates an ICMP request

to an external destination (the Student Desktop), the packet must traverse the VPC's internal routing

before exiting to the physical network.

The first hop is the VPC Tier-1 Gateway. This gateway manages the localized subnets within the VPC.

In this architecture, the VPC Tier-1 is typically configured with a default route ($0.0.0.0/0$) pointing

to the Transit Gateway (TGW). The gateway address 100.64.0.0 represents the provider-side interface

of the Router Link connecting the VPC to the Transit Gateway. Thus, the command output showing

the default route to 100.64.0.0 belongs to the VPC Gateway.

The second hop is the Distributed Transit Gateway DR. The Transit Gateway acts as the aggregation

point for multiple VPCs and provides the bridge to the physical datacenter fabric. The command

output for this object shows a default route with a gateway of 0.0.0.0, indicating it is directly peered

or using a specific unnumbered interface to reach the physical router. Additionally, it identifies the

specific physical router IP (172.20.13.254/32) as a known local next-hop, which is a common

characteristic of the Transit Gateway's forwarding table when performing North-South transitions.

Finally, the Transport Node (ESXi Host) is where the physical packet capture occurs. As the packet

exits the virtual environment, it is placed on a physical uplink (vmnic1). The packet capture output

confirms the transformation of the traffic: it shows the source IP of the VM (or its translated NAT

address 172.20.13.65) reaching out to the destination 172.20.10.10. The inclusion of ipproto 0x01

(ICMP) and the specific MAC addresses confirms that the packet has successfully traversed the NSX

overlay and is now a standard Ethernet frame on the physical wire.