Configuring Flow-Based Application Discovery in VCF Operations for Networks

Products

• VCF Operations for Networks

Issue/Introduction

• Guidance regarding the configuration and operational workflow for Flow-Based Application Discovery.
  
  
• The feature utilizes a machine learning algorithm analyzing multi-dimensional data (flow density, common open ports, connection ratios) to define application boundaries.
  
  
• Requirement to autogenerate application boundaries and distinct component tiers utilizing statistical analysis of East-West traffic.

Environment

VCF Operations for Networks

Resolution

Prerequisites:

Ensure the architecture satisfies the following criteria prior to executing discovery:

1. Licensing: VMware VCF Operations for Networks Enterprise edition or VCF entitlement.
   
   
2. Compute Sizing: The platform node must be deployed using the Extra Large (XL) brick size.
   
   
3. Data Baseline: The system must have discovered a minimum of 10 VMs and logged at least 100 VM-to-VM network flows.
   
   
4. Load Balancer Integration (Recommended): Integrating Load Balancers as data sources, which increases tier grouping accuracy via configuration metadata analysis.
   
   

Configuration Workflow

1. Access Discovery Engine: Navigate to Applications > Discover in the left navigation pane and select the Flows tab.
   
   
2. Define Scope and Naming:
   
   
   • Click Edit Discovery to isolate the scope (e.g., specific clusters, vCenter instances, or duration of analyzed flows).
     
     
   • Define the Application and Tier Naming hierarchy (e.g., Security Tags > VM Names). The system defaults to VM nomenclature if tags are omitted.
     
     
   • Use Regular Expressions (Regex) in the VM Names configuration to match standard enterprise naming conventions (e.g., APP-.*).
     
     
3. Set Clustering Granularity: Adjust granularity to control the clustering algorithm's aggression:
   
   
   • Coarse: Generates applications with a higher density of VMs and tiers.
     
     
   • Medium: Balances tier isolation.
     
     
   • Fine: Generates highly segmented applications with fewer VMs per tier.
     
     
4. Execute and Validate:
   
   
   • Click Submit to initiate the analysis.

• • Review the tabular output, focusing on the Confidence column. High confidence denotes strong flow correlation, requiring minimal manual override.

• • Click Save Application to commit the mapped topologies for Day 2 Network Assurance and Micro-segmentation planning.

Additional Information

Product Documentation: Refer to the official Broadcom Tech Docs for "Working with Application Discovery" at Tech Docs - Working with Application Discovery

Support Guidance:

1. If expected results are not observed during discovery, collect screenshots of the configuration and observed output.
   
   
2. Open a Support Case with the VCF Operations for Networks team referencing KB 142884 - Creating and managing Broadcom cases, including a statement contrasting observed behavior with expected behavior.