vRealize Automation 6 with NSX – Firewall

So far we’ve talked a lot about using our automation solution to automate network deployments with NSX. But one of the best features about NSX is how we can firewall everything! Lucky for us, we can automate the deployment of specific firewall rules for each of our blueprints as well as deploying brand new networks for them. Use Case: There are plenty of reasons to firewall your applications. It could be for compliance purposes or just a good practice to limit what traffic can access your apps. ...

November 30, 2015 · 4 min · eshanks

vCNS Edge SSL VPN

A secured, remote connection to your data is a requirement for almost all network designs these days. Mobility, telecommuting and late night help desk calls have created an environment that needs to have access to the local network in a secure fashion. vCNS Edge can provide these services to your virtual infrastructure. In previous posts, I’ve walked through installing vCNS Manager and installing vCNS Edge appliances. These are prerequisites to setting up SSL VPN on the VMware vCloud Network and Security appliance.. ...

May 13, 2014 · 5 min · eshanks

vCNS Edge Network Address Translation

VMware vCloud Networking and Security (vCNS) can provide Network Address Translation (NAT) services from the vCNS Edge appliance. There are two types of NAT that the edge appliance can provide. Destination NAT (DNAT) is used to provide access to a private IP Address from a (usually) public IP Address for incoming traffic. Source NAT (SNAT) is used to translate a private IP Address into a (usually) public IP Address for outgoing traffic. This type of NAT can also be called “masquerading”. (It’s a subtle difference that we won’t go into in this post.) ...

April 15, 2014 · 4 min · eshanks

vCNS Edge DHCP

One of the most basic tasks that happens on a network is assigning IP Addresses. Once a VMware vCNS Edge appliance has been deployed, you can now hand out IP address through Dynamic Host Control Protocol (DHCP). In previous posts, I’ve walked through installing vCNS Manager and installing vCNS Edge appliances. These are prerequisites to setting up DHCP on the VMware vCloud Network and Security appliance. vCNS Edge DHCP Setup Log into your vShield Manager and click on the Datacenter. Click the “Network Virtualization” Tab where you’ll find the Edge appliance you’ve already deployed. Go to Actions and click “Manage”. ...

April 10, 2014 · 2 min · eshanks

Deploy vCNS Edge

vCloud Networking and Security has the capabilities to provide edge services inside of your virtual environment. Edge firewalls, network address translation, DHCP, routing are all things that vCNS Edge can do for you. This post goes into the steps necessary to deploy vCNS Edge. I should mention that vCNS and the previous name vShield may be used interchangeably in this article. Logical Diagram The picture below is a diagram of what our environment will look like when we’re done. We have production VMs as you might expect, and our new vCNS Edge VM. We’ve also got our new Edge network and a Shielded VM which will not be connected to the production vSwitch directly. ...

April 7, 2014 · 4 min · eshanks