VMware Aria Operations (formerly vRealize Operations) integrates with VMware Cloud Foundation 5.2 to monitor the Management Domain, including SDDC Manager, vCenter, NSX, and ESXi hosts. When deployed via VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle in VCF-aware mode, Aria Operations nodes must be sized to handle the monitoring workload effectively. The node size (Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large) determines resource capacity (CPU, memory, disk) and the number of objects (e.g., VMs, hosts) it can monitor. Let’s determine the minimum requirement:
Aria Operations Node Sizing in VCF 5.2:
Small: 4 vCPUs, 16 GB RAM, monitors up to 1,500 objects or 150 hosts. Suitable for small environments.
Medium: 8 vCPUs, 32 GB RAM, monitors up to 6,000 objects or 600 hosts. Suitable for medium to large environments.
Large: 16 vCPUs, 64 GB RAM, monitors up to 15,000 objects or 1,500 hosts. For large-scale deployments.
Extra Large: 24 vCPUs, 128 GB RAM, monitors over 15,000 objects or 1,500 hosts. For very large or dense environments.
VCF Management Domain Context:
The Management Domain in VCF 5.2 typically includes:
4-7 ESXi hosts (minimum 4 for HA, often 6-7 for resilience).
Management VMs (e.g., SDDC Manager, vCenter, NSX Managers, Aria Suite components).
Typically, fewer than 50-100 objects (VMs, hosts, networks) in a standard deployment.
Aria Suite Lifecycle in VCF-aware mode deploys Aria Operations to monitor this domain, integrating with SDDC Manager for automated discovery and configuration.
Evaluation:
Small: Can monitor up to 150 hosts or 1,500 objects. For a Management Domain with ~7 hosts and <100 objects, this is sufficient capacity-wise but not the recommended minimum in VCF-aware mode due to integration overhead and future growth.
Medium: Supports up to 600 hosts or 6,000 objects. This size is recommended as the minimum for VCF deployments because it accommodates the Management Domain’s complexity (e.g., NSX, vSAN metrics) and allows headroom for additional monitoring (e.g., future Workload Domains).
Large/Extra Large: Overkill for a single Management Domain, designed for multi-domain or large-scale environments.
VMware Guidance:
The VMware Aria Operations documentation and VCF integration guides specify that in VCF-aware mode (via Aria Suite Lifecycle), theMediumnode size is the minimum recommended for effective monitoring of a Management Domain. This ensures performance for real-time analytics, dashboards, and integration with SDDC Manager, even if the initial object count is low. The Small size, while technically feasible for tiny setups, is not advised due to potential limitations in handling VCF-specific metrics and scalability.
Conclusion:The minimum Aria Operations Analytics node size requirement when Aria Suite Lifecycle is in VCF-aware mode isMedium(Option C). This balances resource needs with effective monitoring for the VCF 5.2 Management Domain.
References:
VMware Cloud Foundation 5.2 Architecture and Deployment Guide (Section: Aria Operations Integration)
VMware Aria Operations 8.10 Sizing Guidelines (integrated in VCF 5.2): Node Size Recommendations
VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle 8.10 Documentation (VCF-aware mode requirements)
