Abiquo SDN integrations work with NSX network managers to provide blueprints for software defined networking that include features such as firewalls, load balancers, and NAT in private cloud datacenters.

For compatible versions of VMware NSX, see VMware.

Within Abiquo, cloud administrators use logical devices to define the network virtualization systems for datacenters and enterprises.

Features

Characteristics	VMware NSX (Gateway)	VMware NSX (NAT)	VMware NSX (ECMP)
Firewall policies	Firewalls will apply to VMs only, not load balancers	Firewalls will apply to VMs only, not load balancers
Load balancers			-
Private networks
Static routes
External networks
Public networks - IPs

Limitations

By default, Abiquo only supports the use of ONE network virtualization system per enterprise and datacenter. Abiquo will always use the most specific device for networking virtualization.

Context properties

For the NSX ECMP plugin, to enable the administrator to create more than one VDC per enterprise, you can use context properties to set the range of uplink IPs for each virtual datacenter. Uplink IPs were previously set using enterprise properties, but the administrator had to change the enterprise properties after creating each VDC in an enterprise. See Create multiple VDCs with NSX ECMP

DHCP

Abiquo supports IPv4 for DHCP and access to the Abiquo console/GUI. Abiquo supports IPv6 for DHCPv6.

Abiquo standard VLAN management requires DHCP and VLAN support on the Service Network. Abiquo includes a basic DHCP Server in the platform and it also offers dnsmasq. To provide DHCP services you can also use a DHCP relay server or separate DHCP server. If you are using an SDN solution, Abiquo can use its DHCP system.

To install a DHCP solution on a VM, the hypervisor must support listening to multiple VLANs (e.g. ESXi, KVM).

If you do not use a separate DHCP solution, install the Abiquo Monolithic Server or separate Abiquo Remote Services server on a hypervisor with VLAN support. See Network Configuration for Virtualizing Abiquo