CloudControl Use Cases
Explore how our customers are using CloudControl to simplify, accelerate and optimize their NSX deployments and Day 2 operations. CloudControl delivers a flexible, intuitive and user-friendly interface for fast infrastructure deployment, simplified IT management, and security.
ReSTNSX + VMware Cloud Foundation
VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) makes it easy to deploy and run a hybrid cloud. VCF provides integrated cloud infrastructure (compute, storage, networking, and security) and cloud management services to run enterprise applications in both private and public environments.
While VCF enables rapid deployment of workload domains through SDDC Manager, customers are not provided a framework or solution for the Day-2 NSX operational challenges such as managing each NSX/vCenter pair that are created per VCF domain. CloudControl provides administrators with a feature-rich platform that can be easily integrated into VCF as a single, unified management fabric for all VCF domains.
Bulk Object Creation
Software Defined Networking (SDN) enables unparalleled flexibility by extracting the underlying infrastructure to the software layer. By doing so, networking and security constructs become easier to deploy since there is no longer a reliance upon the physical infrastructure. VMware’s NSX platform leverages these SDN constructs but often requires IT staff to understand the API framework and maintain in-house scripting expertise to consume. ReSTNSX extracts the complexity of the API into a simple-to-use, point-and-click user interface that provides the same level of flexibility as scripting when deploying objects in bulk. IT professionals no longer require NSX scripts or any knowledge of the underlying API calls. By using ReSTNSX, Networking, Security and Virtualization specialists can take advantage of these benefits to get deployed in less time
Firewall Management
VMware NSX Data Center delivers consistent, automatable network security to workloads no matter where they live. To support such a dynamic security architecture, policy needs to be extracted into a management fabric for consistency across domains and sites. Prior to ReSTNSX, NSX security policy and objects were isolated by domain or site; Edge security was managed separately; and no migration or synch options between environments. ReSTNSX provides administrators a single, unified management fabric for all NSX domains. Customers running NSX 6.3, 6.4 or NSX-T now have an operationally consistent management interface - regardless of version or location.
Central CLI
Although VMware NSX Data Center Manager provides management of objects and policies via a centralized control plane, it lacks similar capabilities for troubleshooting. Today, administrators must have console login access to multiple devices across each NSX domain. ReSTNSX provides administrators a single, centralized and unified management fabric for all NSX domains. Command-line troubleshooting is provided natively within the ReSTNSX web interface and alleviates the need for Network, Security and Virtualization Engineers to access devices directly. Customers running NSX 6.3, 6.4 or NSX-T now have an operationally consistent management interface - regardless of version.
​Simple API Consumption
Software Defined Networking (SDN) enables unparalleled flexibility by extracting the underlying infrastructure to the software layer. By doing so, networking and security constructs become easier to deploy since there is no longer a reliance upon the physical infrastructure. VMware’s NSX platform leverages these SDN constructs but often requires IT staff to understand the API framework and maintain in-house scripting expertise to consume. ReSTNSX extracts the complexity of the API into a simple-to-use, point-and-click user interface that provides the same level of flexibility as scripting when deploying objects in bulk. IT professionals no longer require NSX scripts or any knowledge of the underlying API calls.
Syncronizaton
CloudControl provides the concept of VMware's Federation native to the product. Within a feature called Policy Engine, administrators can synchronize policies and objects between non-Federated environments such as on-prem to VMware cloud or between VMware cloud SDDCs. CloudControl will synchronize one time or on a schedule you desire.
Firewall Conversion
Need to convert Palo Alto, Cisco ASA, Fortinet or Checkpoint to NSX? Use CloudControl's point a click UI to easily convert over firewall policies and objects to NSX dFW, Tier0 or Tier1 rules
Mover
Software Defined Networking (SDN) enables unparalleled flexibility by extracting the underlying infrastructure to the software layer. By doing so, networking and security constructs become easier to deploy and can be provided as an elastic resource. VMware’s NSX platform enables such capabilities within any given NSX domain or version but lacks the controls and methodologies between environments. ReSTNSX provides a feature-rich platform for delivering consistent networking and security between disparate NSX domains of the same or different version. Customers migrating to NSX-T can also benefit from built-in analytics for object migration and translation. From migrating objects and policies between development / test / production environments, to enabling NSX disaster recovery, administrators can take advantage of many uses of the ReSTNSX platform capabilities.
Centralized Management
IT Administrators with multiple NSX Managers, being the same or different versions, encounter management barriers when trying to operationalize such an environment. Management is decentralized and is complex as each version has it’s own user interface to learn. This is especially true for customers adding NSX-T to the environment. ReSTNSX provides administrators with a feature-rich management platform that easily integrates all of these disparate NSX domains into a single, unified management fabric. The user experience between NSX-v 6.3, 6.4 and NSX-T is consistent and minimizes the learning curve of new releases. By centralizing management, migrating configurations between environments is simplified with on-box capabilities
Multi-Tenant Administration
VMware’s NSX platform makes it easy to deploy micro-segmented environments for customers needing multi-tenant traffic separation. With NSX being a converged management domain of NSX Manager and vCenter, there is no native way to provide granular Roles-Based Access Control (RBAC) to limit tenant reach. When ReSTNSX is paired with a NSX deployment, tenants are deployed in a converged management plane with unique object and policies tied to their administrative domain. This approach leverages ReSTNSX as a proxy to the environment for enforcement while eliminating the need for the tenant to have direct access to NSX and vCenter.
​NSX Reporting
As a result of the flexibility of Software Defined Networking (SDN), data center environments are ever changing. Network and security devices are dynamically being spun up and down with no easy way of knowing the current state of the environment. Compounding this issue is the complexity of separate management planes for every NSX domain with disparate user interfaces and logging locations. ReSTNSX provides Administrators, Auditors and IT Managers a unified reporting fabric to gain visibility into these disparate domains - regardless of NSX version or location. These reports provide a comprehensive inventory list with the additional benefit of daily summaries of how the environments have changed and by whom. For customers deploying ReSTNSX for multi-tenancy, tenant reports are delivered real-time showing inventory and user activity.