VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts is a jointly engineered on-premises as-a-service solution, which is powered by VMware Cloud Foundation, that runs VMware’s enterprise-class Software-Defined Data Center (SDDC) software on next-generation, dedicated Amazon Nitro-based EC2 bare-metal instances provisioned in AWS Outposts.

To get started, a group of experts from VMware and AWS will help you understand your specific requirements and sizing needs. After gaining access to the VMware Cloud Service console and creating an account. You can simply choose VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts and start an order. New and existing customers can purchase VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts directly through VMware or AWS. 

Designed for customers who wish to leverage cloud model on-premises for reasons such as latency, data gravity, data sovereignty/compliance or data center modernization needs. For customers looking for agility and innovation of cloud, but at the same time need to have control on their data and applications as they are used to, VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts provides cloud operating model in their data centers. For detailed use cases, please check out the solution brief.

VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts uses the same SDDC components of vSphere, vCenter, VSAN and NSX as that of VMware Cloud on AWS. Setting up the SDDC on an Outposts infrastructure will require you to connect it to the VPC running on an AWS region.

Currently, VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts can be deployed in the following countries/ regions:
   NA - US, Canada, Mexico
   EMEA - All EU countries, United Kingdom (UK), Switzerland, Norway, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Israel, South Africa, Gibraltar, Morocco, Nigeria, Kenya, Oman, Kazakhstan, Serbia
   APAC - Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Brunei, India, Vietnam, Bangladesh
   SA - Brazil, Chile, Peru, Ecuador
   CA - Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Panama
 For questions on availability in any countries not mentioned here, please contact your VMware or AWS representative or send us an email to vmc_outposts@vmware.com

VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts deployment supports up to 10 hosts per single rack. It also includes one (1) host as a spare capacity. Spare capacity will be used for auto-remediation process to resist hardware failures.

The MTU for Service Link is up to 1300. 

VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts will come with the following components:

• AWS Outposts 42u rack
• Dedicated Nitro-based EC2 metal servers with local SSD storage (as per the order)
• VMware SDDC software - vSphere, vSAN, NSX-T, vCenter Server
• VMware HCX
• VMware Global Support

VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts is priced as a package on a per configuration basis. The configurations start with 3-hosts configuration and goes upto 8-hosts configuration. The dark capacity is included in package/pricing at no cost to the customer. It is available to purchase as 3-year subscription option. Please visit the pricing page for the latest information on pricing.

Please get in touch with VMware or AWS representative. Also check out order flow demo to learn more. You can purchase either Subscription Purchasing Program (SPP) credits or Hybrid Purchasing Program (HPP) credits and redeem those credits on the service. Please refer to the following websites for more details on these credit programs:

SPP Program Guide and HPP Program Guide.

Currently, VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts can be purchased in a number of currencies including USD and other currencies. Please contact your VMware or AWS representative or send us an email to vmc_outposts@vmware.com for more information.

Data transfer from VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts to the parent VMware Cloud on AWS supported region incurs no charge. Similar to data transfer charges in AWS Regions, data transfer out charges from the parent availability zone to the VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts is the same as in the AWS Regions. Intra-AZ, inter-AZ and VPC data transfer charges in the AWS Region, remain the same. Learn more about data transfer here.

Data transfer to and from your VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts to your local network or to the internet via the Local Gateway (LGW) also incurs no charge.

VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts is available through VMware Direct and AWS Resell Route to Market.

In terms of compute, customers will get Nitro Based I3EN.metal servers in 3+ host configurations in addition to dark capacity. In terms of storage, customers will get local SSD storage.

VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts supports Amazon Nitro Based I3EN.metal instance type.

Customers can purchase 3- 9 hosts of VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts – Per Rack.

Additional capacity can be accomplished by adding an additional rack to the deployment.

There is a 1 to 1 rack, SDDC and cluster ratio associated with VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts. In the future there will be multi-rack, multi-cluster support.

You will need power and network connections to plug in VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts units on site. There are also a set of environmental prerequisites such as those for temperature, humidity, and airflow, and transportation prerequisites such as those in terms of loading dock and weight support for the facilities. We will collect and examine all prerequisites prior to the installation.

VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts infrastructure runs on dedicated, single-tenant hosts provided by AWS in a single account. Each host is equivalent to an Amazon EC2 I3en.metal instance (96vCPUs (48 physical, 96 logical), 512 GiB RAM, and 45TiB Raw SSD storage). Each host is capable of running many VMware virtual machines (tens to hundreds depending on their compute, memory and storage requirements). Clusters can range from a minimum of 3 hosts up to a maximum of 8 hosts per cluster**. A single VMware vCenter server is deployed per SDDC environment.

** This depends on available purchased capacity and does not incorporate dark capacity 

A vCenter server instance is deployed as part of every VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts SDDC. You can connect to this vCenter Server instance to manage your VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts clusters. A VMware Cloud Console provides capabilities such as the add/remove hosts, configure firewalls and other basic networking settings configurations. It is important to note that tools that require plug-ins or extensive vSphere permissions may not function properly in VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts. VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts uses a least privilege security model in which you (and therefore their tools) do not have full administrative access.

You will need vCenter 6.5 or later running in your data center to use vCenter Hybrid Linked Mode for single pane of glass management of resources on-premises and on VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts. If you do not have VMware vSphere 6.5 or later running in your on-premises environment, you will need to run multiple vCenter instances to manage your environments: one vCenter instance on-premises and one vCenter instance in VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts.

Yes. Please check your Microsoft Product Terms for more details and any restrictions or contact your Microsoft representative.

With multi-rack capability, up to 16 racks can be added. If an additional extension of rack is needed based on your specific use case, please contact VMware / AWS sales representative to understand more about your requirement.

VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts deployment supports up to 10 hosts per single rack. It also includes one (1) host as a spare capacity. Spare capacity will be used for auto-remediation process to resist hardware failures.

For VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts, multi-cluster and multi-rack configuration supports only single SDDC.  

A maximum of 16 clusters can be created in multi-rack, multi-cluster VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts configuration.

Please contact your VMware or AWS representative or send us an email to vmc_outposts@vmware.com

Yes. There are multiple ways to migrate existing on-premises vSphere VMs to VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts. You can perform live migration of vSphere VMs via a vMotion or by leveraging VMware HCX.

If you still have Bring your Own License Rights (BYOL) rights through your MS Volume License Agreement, than you can BYOL to VMware Cloud on AWS Outpost.

When Microsoft changed the Outsourcer Management rules for dedicated outsourcers in Oct 2019, they added a definition of Listed Provider. All Amazon and AWS outsourcing solutions, and all deployments integrated in anyway using Amazon solutions are considered a Listed Provider for purposes of Microsoft Licensing. That change restrictions end customers BYOL licensing on Listed Provider Clouds.

End Customers can use their perpetual licenses on a Listed Provider Cloud if those licenses were purchased on a Volume License agreement that existed prior to Oct 1, 2019. They can also BYOL licenses that are purchased through the next agreement renewal and true ups of the pre exiting agreement. End customers can also use License Mobility through active SA to move license to an Authorized Mobility Partner, of which VMware Cloud on AWS is.

Yes. Any version of a Product that was released after Oct 1, 2019 will automatically lose BYOL to Listed Providers. For example, Windows Server 2022 is the next version of the Windows Server released after Oct 1, 2019 so there are no BYOL rights no matter when or how it is purchased.

SQL Server 2019 was released on November 2019 so it no longer has BYOL, however it does have License Mobility through active Software Assurance, so it can be deployed on VMware Cloud on AWS Outpost.

VMware Cloud on AWS has an on demand license offering that customers can purchase that will include compliant MS licenses for VMware Cloud on AWS Outpost. These license offerings are sold directly through VMware.

You can establish secure connectivity with an AWS Availability Zone via AWS Direct Connect or via Virtual Private Network (VPN) over the internet. We recommend that you establish a dedicated network connection between your on-premises network and one of the AWS Direct Connect locations, which provide consistent and low-latency connectivity to public AWS Regions.

VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts comes with AWS Outposts logical construct called the LGW - Local Gateway to connect VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts to on-premises environment.

The LGW (Local gateway) is an Outposts-specific logical construct responsible for local communication to and from the Outposts rack to the existing on-premises environment. This will allow for better local proximity and low latency workload communication.

VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts relies on connectivity to the parent AWS Region and VMware Cloud control plane. VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts is not designed for disconnected operations or environments with limited to no connectivity. However, if the control plane "service link" is down, local communication flow will still operate as normal. There will be an inability to make changes or updates to the workloads or environment during this time. We recommend that customers have highly available networking connections back to their AWS Region. 

Yes, customers have direct access to regional native AWS services over Elastic Network Interface or VMware Transit Connect.

The VMware/AWS team will work directly with customers through solution review, workshop(s), order and delivery process ensuring all requirements are met.

Specific requirements must be met when ordering a VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts:

• HVAC and Facilities
• Power
• Networking
• AWS Customer Account

Order information will be entered via the VMware Cloud console found here

After order completion, a customer will receive a completion email with a list of next steps  

For general information on the facilities, power, cooling and networking requirements, see: Outposts Site Requirements

A demo of the order process can be found here

When your VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts is installed, VMware and AWS will monitor the SDDC and the Outposts hardware as part of the AWS region. VMware will regularly perform updates, upgrades and patching on the VMware SDDC software and AWS will execute software upgrades and patches on the hardware. These updates ensure continuous delivery of new features and bug fixes, and maintain consistent software versions across the SDDC fleet and hardware. AWS will perform proactive hardware monitoring and will publish Outposts health metrics and alert VMware about units marked for maintenance. VMware will notify customers of planned maintenance and will use the auto-scaler service within VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts as needed. Outposts are composed of modular units to enable replacement processes. If there is a need to perform physical maintenance, AWS will reach out to schedule a time to visit your site.  

Support

VMware is the primary point of contact for VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts support requests. Even for any hardware issues, you can contact VMware and VMware will route that request to AWS. AWS will provide break/fix support for hardware.

Customers can us the IM chat function in the VMware Cloud console or contact VMware directly.

SDDC Health

VMware constantly monitors customer SDDC environments through automation and a team of Site Reliability Engineers (SRE). Auto-remediation is part of the VMware Cloud auto-scaler Service. The auto-scaler service within VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts monitors the infrastructure, detects failures and automatically remediates the infrastructure when a failure occurs.

Hardware Replacement 

In case of an issue with an instance(s), (Hardware failure, planned maintenance, etc), the VMware Cloud auto-scaler service will auto-remediate the problematic instance using the available dark host capacity in the rack. The customer will be notified of the issue and the remediation action via email notification. AWS will contact the customer to schedule replacement of the problematic hardware. On the agreed upon date and time of replacement, an AWS technician will deliver the replacement hardware and will replace the failed hardware. 

SDDC Upgrades and Maintenance

VMware regularly performs updates, upgrades and patches on your SDDCs. These updates ensure continuous delivery of new features and bug fixes, and maintain consistent software versions across the SSDC fleet. When an SDDC update is upcoming, VMware sends a notification email to you. Typically, this occurs 7 days before a regular update and 1-2 days before an emergency update. Delays to upgrades could result in your SDDC running an unsupported software version.

The spare capacity will be used by the auto-remediation tasks in case of a host failure. However, AWS is responsible for the physical hardware replacement which can take up to 48 hours, subject to constraints and logistics. 

While VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts requires reliable network connectivity to the nearest AWS Region, the SDDC will continue functioning if network connectivity to the AWS Region is temporarily unavailable. However, the VMware Cloud control plane will be unavailable when network connectivity is down. This means you will not be able to access SDDC configurations or other functions from the VMware Cloud Services Platform(CSP), but you can still access vCenter directly to perform VM operations and ensure your data remains safely stored on your Outpost during periods of disconnect. An Outpost Service link can only be disconnected for a maximum time of up to 6 hours. We strongly recommend regularly testing your workload to make sure it behaves properly when an Outpost is disconnected as expected. Customers will also receive notification when we detect connectivity issues, or the VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts is about to be disconnected. The ideal best practice is to have an alternative VPN connection / additional direct connect links to achieve higher network-level resilience. 

Each VMware Cloud on Outposts rack comes with an inbuilt central power shelf, that converts from AC to DC power and supplies power to servers in the rack via a bus bar architecture. With the bus bar architecture, half the power supplies in the rack can fail and all the servers will continue to run uninterrupted. VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts provides a number of different power configurations as per table 2 below. It's a best practice to plan an alternative source of power backup at your facility area and recommended to test your workloads on VMC on AWS Outposts. 

In the event of an unplanned power disruption to the rack, all components will power back on in a pre-defined order once power is re-established. External network access via the Outposts Service link is required for the VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts rack to be fully functional.  

For planned outages, please contact VMware support to plan and undertake the required shutdown procedures.  

VMware recommends ensuring redundant power supplies to the VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts rack.