VMware Cloud on AWS: VPC Peering Enables Cost-Efficient External Storage

Since its release, a constant stream of features and innovations has kept VMware Cloud on AWS ahead in terms of the flexibility of architecture and the range of design choices it provides to its customers.

However, storage is an area where VMware Cloud on AWS has seen the most enhancements, from capability, performance, and cost points of view. Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP, in particular, provides a flexible, scalable, and performant storage option for VMware Cloud on AWS – both for multi and single-availability zone configurations.

For customers to be able to scale their storage requirements on VMware Cloud on AWS, regardless of the compute and memory needs, provides a cost-effective way to flex their environment exactly how they see fit.

Here are some excellent blogs on how you can also start using this external storage option with your VMware Cloud on AWS deployments:

In the SDDC version 1.22 release, an enhancement was introduced which allows the vSphere NFS client to open multiple network connections to each datastore mount. These connections are used on a round-robin basis and allow each vSphere host to increase the per datastore throughput.

Currently, 2 connections are supported in this configuration, allowing up to 1000 MB/s going towards each host. That capability may get more enhancements in the future so keep an eye on it.

VPC Peering!

All of the above is available and you can take advantage of it if you are running VMware Cloud on AWS today. However, I am most excited about the “VPC Peering” capability that is being announced for connectivity between VMware Cloud on AWS and Amazon FSx on NetApp ONTAP because this connectivity option will make Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP storage option much more cost-effective for its consumers.

A little bit of background: Since the service became available for consumption, connectivity of a VMware Cloud on AWS SDDC to Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP has been through a VMware Transit Connect Gateway. While it works well from connectivity and performance points of view, in cases where there’s a lot of data flowing between the two VPCs (where these services reside), egress data charges can build up quickly – as depicted in the slide below.

As data transfer charges are dependent on activity, it can cause significant cost swings unexpectedly – which can be a major concern for organizations. This VPC Peering connectivity enhancement will remove those associated costs and make the solution far more cost-effective for its users.

There are a few technical considerations to keep in mind:

The SDDC needs to be at v1.20 or higher
This is a Single-AZ option only, and
It needs to be in the same region as the SDDC

Remember that at the time of writing, this connectivity option is only being announced but you should be able to get it by the end of the year. Do keep checking with your VMware account manager to confirm when you can have it if you want to use Amazon FSx on NetApp ONTAP as external storage for your SDDC and more importantly, if you have a deployment in use already because it will reduce your running costs for the solution.

While it should become a self-serve option going forward, initially, you will need to raise a ticket with VMware Cloud on AWS Support to have the connectivity configured for you. For pre-existing deployments, once the VPC peering connectivity is established, the traffic will automatically start taking the new route to reach the SDDC and you should see the data transfer activity disappearing from the relevant VMware Transit Connect attachments.

I am excited about this VPC Peering connectivity option and it will remove a major cost concern for customers who want to take advantage of this brilliant storage option for VMware Cloud on AWS – a big win for its customers!