Orchestrator 9.3 System Requirements Guide – Hub and Spoke Overlays

This guide outlines the minimum system requirements for hosting Orchestrator and Stats Collector version 9.3.x, used for managing EdgeConnect gateways. It covers Processor, Memory, and Disk requirements for self-hosted Orchestrator and Stats Collector and describes sizing processes for specific network configurations.

To create the host requirement tables for the self-hosted Orchestrator and Stats collector, we assumed the following to help us get an SD-WAN fabric tunnel count:

• 4 hub-and-spoke overlays
• 2 underlays
• 1 internet breakout or SSE service
• data was accumulated with 1) backup of network statistics and 2) without backup of network statistics
• Used 1 Hub for ECs of 25, 100, 200, 300, 500
• Used 4 Hubs for ECs of 1000, 2000, and 3000

If you need to deploy Orchestrator with a different configuration, please reach out to your Aruba technical representative for assistance.

The process for selecting the appropriate system configuration for a self-hosted Orchestrator and stats collector is aided by a flow chart with steps. The chart directs users to the appropriate Orchestrator and stats collector configuration table based on the deployment size of EdgeConnect gateways.

It is important to note that as of release 9.3, the maximum number of tunnels that an SD-WAN fabric can support is 3 million. This limitation has been considered for large deployments that include over 1000 Edgeconnect gateways. The tunnel count within the SD-WAN fabric is a critical factor for the Orchestrator host requirement, which will be explained further in the document.

Step 1. Orchestrator VM requirements

The Orchestrator requires the implementation of the following without exception for proper functioning:

• CPU and Memory must be reserved for virtual appliances.
• Recommended CPU requirements of 2.4GHz or greater with hyperthreading enabled.
• These requirements do not include the resources needed by the hypervisor itself, which will require additional dedicated core CPU, memory, and storage to operate.
• For non-VMware hypervisors, an extra core should be reserved for hypervisor tasks.
• When using Hyper-V, Windows Server 2019 is needed for a virtual machine to use 8 or more virtual processors.
• Ensure the CPU hardware Virtualization Technology (VT) feature is enabled in the BIOS and the BIOS is set to maximize performance. Refer to the CPU vendor’s documentation for guidance on enabling VT in the BIOS. When using VMware vSphere, an Enterprise Plus license is needed for a virtual machine to use 8 or more virtual processors.

Step 2.Supported Hypervisor and Cloud as-a-Service

Make sure to check the hypervisor compatibility list to ensure that HPE Aruba Networking has validated the Orchestrator with the hypervisor version you plan to use or deploy.

The table shows the exact versions tested and validated by HPE Aruba Networking. Newer versions may be verified but are not officially tested.

Step 3 Determine the number of EdgeConnect gateways planned for deployment

To determine the virtual machine system requirements for the Orchestrator and stats collector, it’s important to know the number of EdgeConnect gateways that will be deployed. Additionally, collecting statistics for monitoring the network is crucial. When using the self-hosted Orchestrator, a stats collector (also known as a local stats collector) is automatically deployed during the initial deployment. This collector gathers key performance indicators and backs them up. For smaller to medium EdgeConnect deployments, the local stats collector is best suited. The local stats collector can support up to 300 gateways for hub and spoke overlays.

If there are more than 300 EdgeConnect gateways with hub-and-spoke overlays, it’s recommended to disable the local stats collector and create new ones based on the number of EdgeConnect gateways deployed. From release 9.2 of the Orchestrator, a new method for distributing a load of statistics for each EdgeConnect appliance is available. The stats collector and the EdgeConnect gateway are assigned by the Orchestrator administrator to help alleviate some performance issues. This method ensures an even load of EdgeConnect gateways across the several stats collectors. For hub-and-spoke overlays, it’s recommended to have 300 EdgeConnect gateways per stats collector.

Instructions on disabling the local stats collector and creating new ones in the Orchestrator are documented here (link). The configuration of the new stats collector depends on the number of EdgeConnect gateways to be deployed and the topology. For networks using a hub-and-spoke overlay and deploying over 300 EdgeConnect gateways, refer to Steps 5a and 5b for Orchestrator requirements.

The following table provides a guideline based on the overlay topology to provide the maximum of EdgeConnect gateways, the required CPU, and memory per stats collector.

Table: Stats Collector VM Requirements based on topology

Step 4. The two tables below will provide the recommended Orchestrator and Local Stats collector system requirements for a hub-and-spoke topology.

• Table 4a provides CPU, Memory, and Disk and includes backup of network statistics.
• Table 4b provides CPU, Memory, and Disk and does not include backup of network statistics.

Step 4a. Host Requirements Table: Orchestrator and Local Stats Collector with backup of network statistics

Ideal for small-medium deployments up to 300 EdgeConnect gateways in a hub-and-spoke topology.

Step 4b. Host Requirements Table Orchestrator and local stats collector without backup of network statistics

Step 5. The following two tables will provide the recommended Orchestrator and Stats collector system requirements when deploying over 300 EdgeConnect gateways in a hub-and-spoke topology.

• Table 5a provides CPU, Memory, and Disk and includes backup of network statistics.
• Table 5b provides CPU, Memory, and Disk and does not include backup of network statistics.

Step 5a. Host Requirements: Orchestrator and Distributed Stats Collector with backup of network statistics for statistics retention.

Step 5b. Host Requirements: Orchestrator and Distributed Stats Collector without backup of network statistics for statistics retention.

The document outlines Orchestrator host requirements for release 9.3+, covering small to large-scale deployments with hub-and-spoke overlays. For Mesh overlay topology, please refer to the Orchestrator 9.3 Sizing Guide Mesh Overlays

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