The solution de-couples the network functions from the physical devices, in a way that is analogous to de-coupling virtual servers (VMs) from physical servers. In order to de-couple the new virtual network from the traditional physical network, NSX natively re-creates the traditional network constructs in virtual space — these constructs include ports, switches, routers, firewalls, etc.
In the past, everyone knew what these things were. It was possible to see and touch the switch port that a server connects to, but now, this isn’t possible. Fundamentally, these constructs still exist with VMware NSX, but it is no longer possible to touch them. It is this reason, the virtual network is sometimes harder to conceptualize.
There are two different product editions of NSX: NSX for vSphere and NSX for Multi-Hypervisor (MH). It’s speculated they will merge down the road, but for many possible, or soon to be, users of NSX, it doesn’t matter, because they are used to support different use cases. VMware NSX for vSphere is ideal for VMware environments, while NSX for MH is designed to integrate into cloud environments that leverage open standards, such as OpenStack.
USE CASES FOR NSX
- Security
- Automation
- Application Continuity
- Compliance