What are the Components of the VM-Series for NSX Solution?

The following tables show the components of this joint Palo Alto Networks and VMware solution. The following topics describe each component in more detail:

VM-Series Firewall for NSX

Ports/Protocols used Network Communication

VMware Components
vCenter Server	The vCenter server is the centralized management tool for the vSphere suite.
NSX Manager	VMware's Networking and Security platform must be installed and registered with the vCenter server. The NSX Manager is required to deploy the VM-Series firewall on the ESXi hosts within a ESXi cluster.
ESXi Server	ESXi is a hypervisor that enables compute virtualization.

See the Palo Alto Networks Compatibility Matrix for supported software versions.

Palo Alto Networks Components
PAN-OS	The VM-Series base image (PA-VM-NSX-8.1.zip) is used for deploying the VM-Series firewall for NSX with PAN-OS 8.1. The minimum system requirement for deploying the VM-Series firewall for NSX on the ESXi server depends on your VM-Series model. See VM-Series System Requirements for the minimum hardware requirements for your VM-Series model.
Panorama Panorama must be running the same release version or later version that the firewalls that it will manage.	Panorama is the centralized management tool for the Palo Alto Networks next-generation firewalls. In this solution, Panorama works with the NSX Manager to deploy, license, and centrally administer—configuration and policies—on the VM-Series firewall for NSX. Panorama must be able to connect to the NSX Manager, the vCenter server, the VM-Series firewalls and the Palo Alto Networks update server. The resources required by Panorama depend on the mode Panorama will run in: Legacy or Panorama ( `recommended`). New Panorama installations run in Panorama mode. Panorama installations running in Legacy mode prior to upgrade remain in Legacy mode after upgrading to 8.1. For more information about the modes and the requirements associated with each mode, see Set Up the Panorama Virtual Appliance. In Panorama Mode, set the memory, number of CPUs, and storage based on the log storage capacity of Panorama: 2TB storage—8 CPUs and 16GB memory 4TB storage—8 CPUs and 32GB memory 6 to 8TB storage—12 CPUs and 32GB memory 10 to 16TB storage—12 CPUs and 64GB memory 18 to 24TB storage—16 CPUs and 64GB memory System Disk Space: 81GB Log Storage Capacity: 2TB to 24TB In Legacy Mode, set the memory and the number of cores based on the number of firewalls that Panorama will manage: 1 to 10 firewalls: 4 cores and 4GB memory 11 to 50 firewalls: 8 cores and 8GB memory 51 to 1,000 firewalls: 8 cores and 16GB memory System Disk Space: 52GB Log Storage Capacity: 11GB (default log storage on the system disk) to 8TB (if you add a virtual logging disk)
VM-Series Firewall for NSX	The VM-100, VM-200, VM-300, VM-500, and VM-1000-HV, support NSX.