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Learn about Google Cloud VMware Engine changes such as upgrades, backward incompatible API changes, product or feature deprecations, mandatory migrations, or potentially disruptive maintenance.

For previous service announcements, see Archived service announcements.

October 11, 2022

On October 15, 2022, the VMware Engine operations team will continue the essential network infrastructure maintenance announced in the May 30, 2022 service announcement. This maintenance improves equipment robustness and applies security patches.

The planned network maintenance is limited to the Google Cloud VMware Engine network fabric. No updates or upgrades will be performed on VMware components of your private cloud as part of this maintenance.

This maintenance is carried out on the common network infrastructure that supports all private clouds in a given region. The maintenance schedule cannot be customized on a private cloud basis.

Maintenance schedule & communication

The maintenance will be carried across all zones and regions but with a specific schedule for each VMware Engine placement group. The maintenance will be rolled out during off-business hours, and lasts six (6) hours every day between 12 AM and 6 AM of the region local time zone.

Notifications

VMware Engine will send the following notifications about this maintenance to all users of the VMware Engine portal and to any email addresses that are configured to receive email alerts:

  • A general notification at least seven (7) days in advance for each of your private clouds identifying the week that it's scheduled for maintenance.
  • 24-hour and 1-hour advance notifications before the start of any impacting maintenance event.
  • A final notification upon completion of the maintenance.

Maintenance scope and impact

You can expect this maintenance to have the following scope and impact:

  • Scope: VMware Engine network fabric directly attached to your private cloud's nodes.

  • Impact: Each node might go through a minor disruption up to two times during two maintenance windows (separate days). VMware Engine nodes have a redundant uplink configuration for NSX-T Edge and the distributed virtual switches (DVS). There are three types of impact expected:

    • Network traffic impact to DVS links on ESXi nodes. We expect a network traffic impact of up to 2 seconds for the failover of an active DVS link on an ESXi node.
    • Network traffic impact to NSX-T Edge. Failover events will occur when the connected switch is upgraded. The failover to the standby entity takes up to 7 seconds for NSX-T Edge. Such failover can take place up to two times while both the redundant top of rack switches undergo maintenance. However, it's possible that the failover might need to occur only once in your private cloud.
    • Network traffic impact with uplink profile enhancement. We expect a network traffic impact of up to 3 seconds for the reconfiguration of the node uplink profile.

  • Required actions: No action is required from you. Google Cloud VMware Engine will monitor and ensure restoration of service.

  • Suggested actions: Ensure your team is aware of the maintenance and is available to validate any critical application during the maintenance process and after the process is complete. Take additional care if your workloads are sensitive to the network outages mentioned above.

Maintenance FAQs

Why are you doing the upgrade?
Our technology partners have delivered newer software versions that provide higher robustness, security, and redundancy for critical infrastructure components.
How does this maintenance improve my Google Cloud VMware Engine experience?
Keeping the network fabric up to date ensures that your production applications are always available and that Google engineers can continue to deliver new features.
Will this cause a service impact to my production applications?
Maintenance can cause an impact to the workload VMs if they cannot tolerate short gaps in connectivity.
Will any software changes be made to VMware components?
No, this network infrastructure maintenance will not have any impact on software versions of VMware components in your private cloud.
How will I know when the maintenance has been completed?
The VMware Engine operations team will send email notifications at the start of maintenance and again upon its completion.
Do I need to do anything after the maintenance?
No action is required from you after the maintenance. You can check that your applications are operating as expected during the maintenance and after maintenance is complete.
How can I get help?
If you have any questions about the upgrade or need any help after the maintenance, contact Cloud Customer Care.