In the previous chapter, we covered basic network operations under the VMkernel built network virtualization. We covered and understood the various virtual network components and their implementation, and also how to create VLANs. Security policies being one of the major crucial aspects of network management, was also covered, along with load balancing.

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to understand the features and use cases for VMware NSX. NSX is the latest offering from VMware and is very new to the market. However, it is an incredibly powerful tool to configure and manage virtual networks. We will begin with understanding NSX and what it does, review the steps involved in its installation, and make our way through access layer deployment in a data center. We will also find out how routing and switching works in NSX, and how can a firewall be implemented on a network managed by NSX. Anyway, network virtualization is a very complex...