Secure and Seamless Cloud Application Migration with F5 Distributed Cloud and Nutanix
Introduction F5 Distributed Cloud (XC) offers SaaS-based security, networking, and application management services for multicloud environments, on-premises infrastructures, and edge locations. F5 Distributed Cloud Services Customer Edge (CE) enhances these capabilities by integrating into a customer’s environment, enabling centralized management via the F5 Distributed Cloud Console while being fully operated by the customer. F5 Distributed Cloud Services Customer Edge (CE) can be deployed in public clouds, on-premises, or at the edge. Nutanix is a leading provider of Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI), which integrates storage, compute, networking, and virtualization into a unified, scalable, and easily managed solution. Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2) extend on-premises data centers to public clouds, maintaining the simplicity of the Nutanix software stack with a unified management console. NC2 runs AOS and AHV on public cloud instances, offering the same CLI, user interface, and APIs as on-premises environments. This article explores how F5 Distributed Cloud and Nutanix collaborate to deliver secure and seamless application services across various types of cloud application migrations. Whether migrating applications to the cloud, repatriating them from public clouds, or transitioning into a hybrid multicloud environment, F5 Distributed Cloud and Nutanix ensure optimal performance and security at all times. Illustration F5 Distributed Cloud App Connect securely connect distributed application services across hybrid and multicloud environments. It operates seamlessly with a platform of web application and API protection (WAAP) services, safeguarding apps and APIs against a wide range of threats through robust security policies including an integrated WAF, DDoS protection, bot management, and other security tools. This enables the enforcement of consistent and comprehensive security policies across all applications without the need to configure individual custom policies for each app and environment. Additionally, it provides centralized observability by providing clear insights into performance metrics, security posture, and operational statuses across all cloud platforms. In this section, we illustrate how to utilize F5 Distributed App Connect with Nutanix for different cloud application migration scenarios. Cloud Migration In our example, we have a VMware environment within a data center located in San Jose. Our goal is to migrate the on-premises application nutanix.f5-demo.com from the VMware environment to a multicloud environment by distributing the application workloads across Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2) on AWS and Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2) on Azure. First, we deploy F5 Distributed Cloud Customer Edge (CE) and application workloads on Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2) on AWS as well as Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2) on Azure. F5 Distributed Cloud App Connect addresses the issue of IP overlapping, enabling us to deploy application workloads using the same IP addresses as those in the VMware environment in the San Jose data center. Next, we create origin pools on the F5 Distributed Cloud Console. In our example, we create two origin pools: nutanix-nc2-aws-pool for origin servers on NC2 on AWS and nutanix-nc2-azure-pool for origin servers on NC2 on Azure. To ensure minimal application services disruption, we update the HTTP Load Balancer for nutanix.f5-demo.com to include both new origin pools, and we assign them with a higher weight than the existing pool vmware-sj-pool so that the origin servers on Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2) on AWS and on Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2) on Azure will receive more traffic compared to the origin servers in the VMware environment in the San Jose data center. Note that web application firewall (WAF) nutanix-demo is enabled. Finally, we remove vmware-sj-pool to complete the cloud migration. Cloud Repatriation In this example, xc.f5-demo.com is deployed in a multicloud environment across AWS and Azure. Our objective is to migrate the application back to the Nutanix environment in the San Jose data center from the public clouds. To begin, we deploy F5 Distributed Cloud Customer Edge (CE) and application workloads in Nutanix AHV. We deploy the application workloads using the same IP addresses as those in the public clouds because IP overlapping is not a concern with F5 Distributed Cloud App Connect. On the F5 Distributed Cloud Console, we create an origin pool nutanix-sj-pool with the origin servers originating from the Nutanix environment in the San Jose data center. We then update the HTTP Load Balancer for xc.f5-demo.com to include the new origin pool, and assign it with a higher weight than both existing pools: xc-aws-pool with origin servers on AWS and xc-azure-pool with origin servers on Azure. As a result, the origin servers in the Nutanix environment, located in the San Jose data center will receive more traffic compared to origin servers in other pools. To ensure all applications receive the same level of security protection, web application firewall (WAF) nutanix-demo is also applied here. To complete the cloud repatriation, we remove xc-aws-pool and xc-azure-pool. The application service experiences minimal disruption during and after the migration. Hybrid Multicloud Our goal in this example is to bring xc-nutanix.f5-demo.com into a hybrid multicloud environment, as it is presently deployed solely in the San Jose data center. We first deploy F5 Distributed Cloud Customer Edge (CE) and application workloads on Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2) on AWS as well as on Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2) on Azure. We create an origin pool with origin servers originating from each of the F5 Distributed Cloud Customer Edge (CE) sites on the F5 Distributed Cloud Console. Next, we update the HTTP Load Balancer for xc-nutanix.f5-demo.com so that it includes all origin pools: nutanix-sj-pool (Nutanix AHV in our San Jose data center), nutanix-nc2-aws-pool (NC2 on AWS), and nutanix-nc2-azure-pool (NC2 on Azure). Note that web application firewall (WAF) nutanix-demo is applied here as well so that we can ensure a consistent level of security protection across all applications no matter where they are deployed. xc-nutanix.f5-demo.com is now in a hybrid multicloud environment. F5 Distributed Cloud Console is the centralized console for configuration management and observability. It provides real-time metrics and analytics, which allows us proactively monitor security events. Additionally, its integrated AI assistant delivers real-time insights and actionable recommendations of security events, enhancing our understanding of the security events and enabling more informed decision-making. This enables us to swiftly detect and respond to emerging threats, thereby sustaining a robust security posture. Conclusion Cloud application migration can be complex and challenging. F5 Distributed Cloud and Nutanix collaborate to offer a secure and streamlined solution that minimizes risk and disruption during and after the migration process, including those migrating from VMware environments. This ensures a seamless cloud application transition while maintaining business continuity throughout the entire process and beyond.
