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P R O D U C T   D A T A S H E E T   /   1

D A T A S H E E T

AT A G L ANCE

VMware vShield Edge, part of the vShield family  
of virtualization security products, provides 
comprehensive perimeter network security for 
virtual datacenters. vShield Edge integrates 

seamlessly with VMware vSphere™ and includes 
essential network gateway services that 
organizations can use to quickly and securely 
scale their cloud infrastructures.

KE y B EN EFITS

• Reduce cost and complexity by eliminating 

multiple special-purpose appliances, and by 
rapidly provisioning network gateway services.

• Ensure policy enforcement with built-in edge 

network security and services.

• Increase scalability and performance with one 

edge per organization/tenant.

• Simplify IT compliance with detailed logging. 
• Streamline management using a full-featured 

interface that integrates with VMware vCenter™ 
Server and leading enterprise security solutions.

VMware vShield Edge

Secure the Edge of the Datacenter

What Is VMware vShield 

Edge?

VMware vShield Edge is an edge network security solution for 
virtual datacenters that provides essential security capabilities 
such as port group isolation, network security gateway services 
and Web load balancing for performance and availability. The 
solution plugs directly into vSphere and leverages built-in 
features such as fault tolerance and high availability for 
unparalleled resiliency.

Administrators can centrally manage vShield Edge through the 
included vShield Manager console, which integrates seamlessly with 
vCenter Server to facilitate unified security management for virtual 
datacenters. vShield Edge also works in concert with VMware 
VCloud Director to automate and accelerate the secure provisioning 
of virtual datacenters in multi-tenant cloud infrastructures.

How Does VMware vShield 

Edge Work?

Network Security Gateway

Deployed as a virtual appliance, vShield Edge provides firewall, 
VPN, Web load balancer, NAT, and DHCP services to monitor 
packet headers for source and destination IP addresses. Depending 
on policy, it can deny or allow connections, initiate and terminate 
VPN sessions, perform network address translation, or inspect 
data by source/destination port and protocol type (TCP or UDP).  

Port Group Isolation

When deployed as a loadable kernel module on vSphere, port 
group isolation creates a barrier between the virtual machines 
protected by vShield Edge and the external network. This has the 
same effect as implementing VLANs but without the complexity 
of trunking switch connections and defining switch port mappings.

How Is VMware vShield 

Edge Used?

• 

Consolidate edge security hardware

 – vShield allows 

customers to provision edge security services using existing 
vSphere resources, eliminating the need for edge security 
hardware to “air gap” vSphere hosts.  

VMware vShield Edge secures traffic between virtual datacenters with built-in perimeter 
security and port group isolation.

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