VMware NSX Advanced Load Balancer: Install, Configure, Manage plus Troubleshooting and Operations Fast Track

This five-day, fast-paced course provides comprehensive training on how to install, configure, and manage a VMware NSX Advanced Load Balancer (Avi Networks) solution. This course covers key NSX Advanced Load Balancer (Avi Networks) features and functionality offered in the NSX Advanced Load Balancer 18.2 release. The features covered include the overall infrastructure, virtual services and application components, global server load balancing, various cloud connectors.

Also covered are application troubleshooting and solution monitoring. You will be presented with various types of technical problems, which you will identify, analyze, and solve through a systematic process. Access to a software-defined data center environment is provided through hands-on labs to reinforce the skills and concepts presented in the course.

Upon completing this course, the student will be able to meet these objectives:

• Describe NSX Advanced Load Balancer architecture
• Describe the NSX Advanced Load Balancer components and main functions
• Explain the NSX Advanced Load Balancer key features and benefits
• Deploy and configure NSX Advanced Load Balancer infrastructure within Private or Public Clouds leveraging Write and No Access Cloud Connectors
• Explain, deploy, and configure Service Engines
• Explain and configure Local Load Balancing constructors such as Virtual Services, Pools, Health Monitors , and related components
• Understand and modify application behavior leveraging Profiles, Policies, and DataScripts
• Configure advanced services such as Global Server Load Balancing
• Describe and leverage NSX Advanced Load Balancer REST API interfaces and related automation capabilities
• Describe and configure NSX Advanced Load Balancer application and infrastructure monitoring
• Gather relevant information and perform basic troubleshooting of applications leveraging built -in NSX Advanced Load Balancer tooling
• Establish and apply a structured troubleshooting approach and methodology
• Identify, analyze, and troubleshoot problems related to the NSX Advanced Load Balancer infrastructure, to include control and data plane components
• Identify, analyze and troubleshoot problems related to application components such as Virtual Services, Pools and related components

The primary audience for this course is as follows:

• Experienced system administrators or network administrators
• Network professionals who have experience working with VMware NSX Advanced Load Balancer and are responsible for troubleshooting and operating Application Delivery Controllers solutions

N/A

Module 1: Course Introduction

• Introductions and course logistics
• Course objectives
• Describe the content of this course
• Gain a complete picture of the VMware certification system
• Familiarize yourself with the benefits of the VMware Education Learning Zone
• Identify additional resources

Module 2: Introduction to NSX Advanced Load Balancer (Avi Networks)

• Introduce NSX Advanced Load Balancer
• Discuss NSX Advanced Load Balancer use cases and benefits
• Explain NSX Advanced Load Balancer architecture and components
• Explain the management, control, data, and consumption planes and their respective functions

Module 3: Virtual Services Configuration Concepts

• Explain Virtual Service components
• Explain Virtual Service types
• Explain and configure basic Virtual Service components such as Application Profiles, Network Profiles, Pools, and Health Monitors

Module 4: Profiles and Policies

• Explain and deep dive on Advanced Virtual Service creation
• Explain and deep dive on Application Profiles and Types such as L4, DNS, Syslog, and HTTP
• Explain and configure advanced application HTTP Profile options
• Deep dive on Network Profiles and Types
• Explain and configure SSL Profiles and Certificates
• Explain and Configure HTTP and DNS policies

Module 5: Pools Configuration Concepts

• Explain and deep dive on Pools configuration options
• Describe available Load Balancing algorithms
• Explain multiple Health Monitor types
• Explain multiple Persistence Profiles
• Explain and configure Pool Groups

Module 6: Modifying Application Behavior

• Design and apply application solutions leveraging application profiles
• Design and apply application solutions leveraging Network and HTTP Policies and DataScripts
• Explain DataScript fundamentals
• Explain and leverage NSX Advanced Load Balancer analytics to understand application behavior
• Describe and configure Client SSL Certificate Validation
• Describe and configure Virtual Service DDoS, Rate Limiting, and Throttling capabilities
• Modify Network Profiles properties such as TCP connection properties
• Design and apply application solutions leveraging Persistence Profiles

Module 7: NSX Advanced Load Balancer Infrastructure Architecture

• Deep dive on the management, control, data, and consumption planes and functions
• Describe Control Plane Clustering and High Availability
• Describe Controller Process Sharding
• Describe Controller Sizing
• Describe Service Engine CPU and NIC Architecture
• Explain Tenants
• Deep dive and configure properties of Service Engine Groups
• Explain Service Engine Group High Availability Modes
• Describe and configure Active/Standby High Availability Mode
• Describe and configure Elastic HA High Availability Mode (Active/Active, N+M)
• Explain Service Engine Failure Detection and Self-Healing
• Describe Service Engine as a Router
• Deep dive on Virtual Service scale out options, such as Layer 2 (Native), Layer 3 (BGP), and DNS-based
• Explain Infrastructure Upgrade process

Module 8: Introduction to Cloud Connectors

• Introduce Cloud Connectors
• Review Cloud Connector integration modes
• Introduce Cloud Connector types

Module 9: Install, Configure, and Manage NSX ALB in No Access Clouds

• Explain No Access Cloud concepts
• Configure No Access Cloud integration
• Explain and Configure Linux Server Cloud
• Describe the Advanced Configuration options available in Bare-Metal (Linux Server Cloud)

Module 10: Installing, Configuring, and Managing NSX Advanced Load Balancer in VMware Environments: Cloud Configuration

• Introduce VMware integration options
• Explain and configure VMware No Access Cloud Connector
• Explain and configure VMware Write Access Cloud Connector
• Describe VMware Write with NSX-V Access Cloud Connector
• Describe VMware NSX-T integration

Module 11: AWS Cloud Configuration

• Describe NSX Advanced Load Balancer Public Cloud integrations
• Explain and demonstrate AWS Public Cloud Integration
• Describe Azure Public Cloud Integration

Module 12: DNS Foundations

• Review, discuss, and explain DNS fundamentals
• Describe NSX Advanced Load Balancer DNS and IPAM providers

Module 13: Global Server Load Balancing

• Introduce Global Server Load Balancing Concepts and Benefits
• Explain and configure NSX Advanced Load Balancer infrastructure
• Explain and configure DNS Virtual Service components
• Explain and configure GSLB Service Engine Group
• Describe and configure GSLB Sites
• Explain and configure basic GSLB Services to include pools and health monitors
• Describe GSLB Service Load Balancing algorithms
• Explain and configure Data and Control Plane-based Health Monitors
• Describe GSLB Health Monitor Proxy

Module 14: Events and Alerts

• Describe NSX Advanced Load Balancer Events
• Describe and configure NSX Advanced Load Balancer Alerts
• Describe NSX Advanced Load Balancer monitoring capabilities leveraging SNMP, Syslog and Email

Module 15: NSX Advanced Load Balancer (Avi Networks) Application Troubleshooting

• Introduce Infrastructure and Application Troubleshooting Concepts
• Describe Control Plane and Data Plane-based Troubleshooting
• Explain Application Analytics and Logs
• Describe client logs analysis
• Explain Headers troubleshooting and Packet Capture mechanism
• Leverage CLI for detailed data plane troubleshooting
• Explain Service Engine Logs
• Explain Health Monitors troubleshooting
• Explain BGP session troubleshooting
• Describe Control Plane Troubleshooting, Clustering, and Cloud Connector issues

Module 16: Troubleshooting Avi Service Engines and Advanced Troubleshooting

• Explain general Service Engine infrastructure
• Explain and leverage Analytics, Health Score and Metrics for Service Engine troubleshooting
• Explain and leverage Events and Alerts for Service Engine troubleshooting
• Leverage CLI for Service Engine troubleshooting
• Analyze Service Engine with Tech Support utility
• Leverage CLI for advanced Datapath analysis

Module 17: Monitoring NSX Advanced Load Balancer

• Explain and configure SNMP-based monitoring
• Explain and configure REST API-based monitoring
• Describe and leverage 3rd-party REST API
• Monitoring extensions (Grafana, Prometheus)

Module 18: Introduction to Avi REST API

• Introduce NSX Advanced Load Balancer REST API interface
• Describe REST API Object Schema
• Explain and interact with REST API interface, leveraging browser and command line utility
• Explain Swagger-based API documentation
• Review 3rd-party automation integrations