Networking Guide

When transferring corporate data and customer information, using Direct Connect provides increased
security; for example, you require that vCloud Air appear as an extension of your MPLS network or as
a secure access location on your corporate network.
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Increased network and application performance due to higher available bandwidth
Direct Connect can be connected to a dedicated virtual circuit, enabling high-throughput and low-
latency connections for performance-sensitive applications.
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Potentially lower cost as the data rate to and from your vCloud Air increases
Direct Connect allows multiple endpoints to share a dedicated link, simplifying the support of branch
and remote offices within the same vCloud Air instance.
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Increased flexibility
A high-throughput, low-latency connection enables custom architectures in which vCloud Air connects
to specialized network, storage, or compute hardware and appliances. Using Direct Connect expands
the ways companies can leverage the extended the capacity of vCloud Air.
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Built in high availability architecture
Direct Connect is configured for high availability with link aggregation group (LAG) redundancy and
redundant switches.
Reasons to Order Direct Connect
Ordering a direct network connection to connect to vCloud Air is often necessary when you are using your
cloud in the following ways:
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You plan to run the following types of Web sites by using vCloud Air:
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High-traffic Web sites with a database or storage on the premises
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E-commerce applications with PCI Express compliance requirements
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You plan to run applications in vCloud Air that have the following characteristics:
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Are time-sensitive
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Do not allow external access
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Are regulated
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Consist of front-end Web services that connect to back-end main frames
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Are packaged and host internal applications
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You have specific compliance requirements, such as requirements against using VPN ports or private
connectivity requirements for government compliance.
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You are running sensitive workloads where network traffic should not pass through the Internet.
Ordering a direct cross connection from your customer cage to vCloud Air in the same data center is often
necessary when you have the following requirements:
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You want to use vCloud Air as a capacity extension.
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You require specialized equipment (such as, hardware-based networking, routing, and security
solutions, hardware-based application monitoring solutions, or specialized storage or servers) as part of
your cloud-based application deployment.
VMware does not support customer deployment of hardware-based appliances for vCloud Air.
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You want to manage your data (due to privacy or compliance requirements) but still have the data in
close proximity to your applications running in the cloud. You require a high-speed cross connection
between vCloud Air and your storage solutions (located in your customer cage in the same data center).
VMware vCloud Air Networking Guide
42 VMware, Inc.