Abstract: An example method of data protection in a virtualized computing system, which includes host clusters, a virtualization management server, and a network manager coupled to a physical network, each host cluster having hosts and a virtualization layer executing on hardware platforms of the hosts, is described. The method includes receiving, at the virtualization management server, a restore request; executing, at the virtualization management server in response to the restore request, restoration of a coupled backup of the virtualization management server and the network manager, the coupled backup including a backup of a first database of the virtualization management server and a backup of a second database of the network manager, the restoration including: restoring at least one of the first database and the second database from the coupled backup; repairing runtime state of at least one of the host clusters to make the runtime state consistent with the restoration.

Abstract: An example method of data protection in a virtualized computing system, the virtualized computing system including a host cluster, a virtualization management server connected, and a network manager coupled to a physical network, the host cluster having hosts and a virtualization layer executing on hardware platforms of the hosts, is described. The method includes: receiving a backup request; executing, in response to the backup request, a coupled backup of the virtualization management server and the network manager, including: creating a backup of a first database in the virtualization management server, the first database storing first configuration data for a virtual infrastructure (VI) control plane of the host cluster; creating a backup of a second database in the network manager, the second database storing second configuration data for a logical network deployed in the host cluster; and storing the coupled backup in remote storage.

Abstract: An example method of deploying a logical network platform in a virtualized computing system, the virtualized computing system including a host cluster and a virtualization management server connected to a physical network, the host cluster having hosts and a virtualization layer executing on hardware platforms of the hosts is described. The method includes receiving, at the virtualization management server, a declarative specification describing a proposed state of the logical network platform; deploying, by the virtualization management server, a network manager of the logical network platform in response to the proposed state in the declarative specification; and deploying, by the virtualization management server in cooperation with the network manager, binaries to the hosts in the host cluster.

Abstract: An example method of orchestrating a software-defined (SD) network layer of a virtualized computing system is described, the virtualized computing system including a host cluster, a virtualization management server, and a network management server each connected to a physical network, the host cluster having hosts and a virtualization layer executing on hardware platforms of the hosts. The method includes receiving, at the virtualization management server, a declarative specification describing a proposed state of an SD network for the host cluster, deploying, by the virtualization management server, virtualized infrastructure components in the host cluster in response to the proposed state in the declarative specification, and deploying, by the virtualization management server in cooperation with the network management server, logical network services supported by the virtualized infrastructure components in response to the proposed state in the declarative specification.