NSX Edge vMotion Best Practices

NSX Edge vMotion Best Practices Summary

Ref: NSX Edge vMotion best practices

• vMotion Support:
  • Fully supported for NSX-T Edge VMs since version 2.5.1.
  • Includes compute and storage vMotion.
• Why Care:
  • Edge VMs handle critical North-South traffic and services (VPN, NAT, LB).
  • Uncontrolled vMotion can cause datapath disruption if underlying network is inconsistent.
• Key Recommendations:
  1. Minimize Edge vMotion:
     • Avoid unnecessary migrations; allow only for ESXi maintenance or planned operations.
     • Use NSX Maintenance Mode before manual vMotion to prevent disruption.
  2. DRS Rules:
     • Create VM Groups for Edge VMs and Host Groups for ESXi hosts.
     • Define VM-to-Host affinity rules:
       • “Should run on hosts in group” → Keeps Edge on preferred hosts.
       • Ensures redundancy by placing Edge nodes on separate hosts.
  3. Network Consistency:
     • Ensure VLAN and MTU configuration on TOR switches is consistent across all hosts where Edge may migrate.
     • Hosts must share the same L2 domain for Edge uplinks (BGP/OSPF peers reachable from all hosts).
  4. Storage vMotion:
     • Supported, but triggers Edge vSphere Location Mismatch Alarm.
     • Resolve via NSX UI → “vSphere/Edge Appliance” → Resolve (executes Edge node refresh API).
• Benefits:
  • Prevents loss of BGP/OSPF connectivity after migration.
  • Maintains HA and redundancy for Tier-0 gateways.