Network Prerequisites

Network Prerequisites for VCF 9

Required VLANs

VLAN Purpose	Description	MTU
Management	Core management components (vCenter, SDDC Manager, NSX Manager)	1500 (min)
VM Management	Tenant/VM workload traffic	1500 (min)
vMotion	VM live migration between ESXi hosts	9000
vSAN	Storage traffic for vSAN clusters	9000
Host TEP	NSX Host Overlay tunnel endpoints	1600 (min), 9000 (recommended)
Edge TEP	NSX Edge tunnel endpoints	1600 (min), 9000 (recommended)
Uplink VLANs	Tier-0 gateway BGP peering (2-4 VLANs typical)	1500

Minimum of 5 VLANs required for VCF Fleet Deployment. Each network type requires unique subnets and gateways—cannot share between Management and VM_MANAGEMENT.

IP Address Requirements

Management Domain Components:

vCenter Server: 1 IP (+ 1 temporary IP during upgrades)
SDDC Manager: 1 IP
NSX Manager Cluster: 3 IPs + 1 VIP
ESXi Hosts: 1 management IP per host
Control Plane: Block of 5 static IPs required

Network Pools (Auto-assigned):

vMotion: 1 IP per host
vSAN: 1 IP per host
Host TEP: 2+ IPs per host (from IP pool)
Edge TEP: IPs from dedicated pool

VPC Networking:

VPC External IP Blocks: /16 recommended (non-overlapping with physical network)
Private Transit Gateway Blocks: /16 recommended (not advertised externally)

All IPs are static. DHCP only supported for NSX Host Overlay (TEP) VLAN if configured.

MTU Requirements

Network Type	Minimum MTU	Recommended MTU
Management	1500	1500
VM Management	1500	1500
vMotion	9000	9000
vSAN	9000	9000
NSX Overlay (TEP)	1600	9000
Physical Switch Ports	9216	9216

GENEVE encapsulation requires minimum 1600 MTU for header space. Configure jumbo frames end-to-end on physical and virtual infrastructure consistently.

Physical Network Requirements

Switch Port Configuration:

Individual trunk ports (NOT in LAG/port-channel/LACP)
MTU 9216 on all ports
Allow required VLANs
Flow control: receive on

Multi-Chassis Technologies:

VLT, VSX, MC-LAG supported between switches
No LACP/LAG on individual host uplinks

Example Dell OS10 Config:

interface ethernet1/1/44
  no shutdown
  switchport mode trunk
  switchport trunk allowed vlan 1023-1040
  mtu 9216
  flowcontrol receive on

Spanning Tree:

Ensure PortFast/Edge on host ports
Use RSTP or MST for fast convergence
Verify no ports blocked on VCF VLANs

Subnet Sizing

Network Type	Minimum	Recommended	Notes
Management	/24	/24	~50 IPs for management domain
VM Management	/24	/22	Scale based on workload VMs
vMotion	/24	/24	1 IP per host, typically <50 hosts
vSAN	/24	/24	1 IP per host
Host TEP	/24	/23	2+ IPs per host
Edge TEP	/24	/24	Based on Edge node count
VPC External	/16	/16	Split across VPCs as needed

Plan for growth: vSAN supports max 32 hosts per cluster (24 recommended). Network pools should accommodate all planned workload domains.

DNS Requirements

Forward and reverse DNS records required for all FQDNs
Every FQDN must resolve to unique IP
Critical for VCF management components

Network Prerequisites