Recently we had an internal discussion on Broadcom internal chat space about the scalability of VCF 9 environments. On a certain point the conversation shifted to the question about when to deploy a new VCF instance within an existing VCF fleet. While this topic is partially documented in the Broadcom VMware Configuration Maximums Tool, I want to clarify these limits for practical implementation and planning of your VCF 9 Fleet.
When Do You Need to Deploy a New VCF Instance?
You must deploy a new VCF 9 instance in your existing VCF 9 Fleet if any of the following limits are reached within a single VCF instance:
vCenter Limit
- Maximum of 25 vCenters per VCF instance
- 1 Management vCenter
- 24 Workload vCenters
- If you exceed 25 vCenters you must deploy a new VCF instance to continue scaling your environment
NSX Manager Limit
- Maximum of 25 NSX Manager instances per VCF instance
- Exceeding 25 NSX Manager instances requires deploying a new VCF instance
ESX Host Limit
- Maximum of 2500 ESX hosts per VCF instance
- If your environment exceeds 2500 ESX hosts, it’s time to deploy a new VCF instance
Quick Reference Slide
The limits described above were also discussed in a VCF 9 Upgrade Pathways training that I attended recently. Download or save this slide for future reference just remember that this may change as we move to newer releasers of VCF 9 so always check the Broadcom VMware Configuration Maximums Tool.
Keep monitoring the resource usage closely using VCF Operations for example. Deploy a new VCF instance as soon as you approach or exceed the limits for vCenters, ESX hosts, or NSX Managers.
For more information, you can always refer to the official VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 documentation.
Cheers!
Marek.Z
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