Goodbye to Platform Services Controller (PSC) From Future vSphere Release.

VMware is deprecating the external Platform Services Controller deployment model and with future vSphere releases there won’t be an option to deploy the external PSC . External Platform Services Controller will be vailable only for update releases .

PSC was first introduced in vSphere 6.0 and couple of purposes fulfilled by this . Actually  PSC reduced deployment options and complexity by offering a simpler two node architecture. Addition to that PSC provided more than just single sign-on (SSO) authentication. It also managed licensing, tags & categories, global permissions, and custom roles. PSC also had  the certificate authority for the vSphere SSO domain. Finally all these components are being replicated across a vSphere SSO domain and PSC also enhanced the experience with previous version of linked mode which included all the vSphere SSO Domain capabilities mentioned. When a vCenter Server gets registered to a vSphere SSO Domain, it inherits enhanced linked mode.

While the PSC did simplify the vSphere SSO domain, it also introduced complexity. As the gateway to the vSphere SSO Domain, its availability became important. It included no native availability and required the use of load balancers to add HA. Customers had to manage and maintain more nodes for enhanced linked mode. The PSC also had an embedded deployment option but did not support enhanced linked mode so linking embedded PSC deployments was not an option. Then there were SSO Sites and the choice of where to place the PSC during a deployment to ensure the best performance. So again, the choices and flexibility have created confusion and management complexity.

Going forward the embedded deployment will be the only way to deploy vCenter Server.This will provide an easier vCenter Server lifecycle which means easier deployments, upgrades, and fewer nodes to manage.

With vSphere 6.5 Update 2 and vSphere 6.7 enhanced linked mode support for embedded PSC deployments are available . So, customers could now get all of the features and benefits of using external PSCs but without the complexity of extra nodes or load balancers. Customers who already are using external PSC deployments, a new utility is introduced in vSphere 6.7 Update 1. The converge utility allows customers with an external PSC deployment to migrate to an embedded PSC deployment.

Customers can protect vCenter Server and its embedded PSC using a native availability solution – vCHA (vCenter High Availability) – all without external components or load balancers. Also included in vSphere 6.7 Update 1 is the repoint tool. A stand-alone embedded deployment can join or leave a vSphere SSO Domain. This helps provide flexibility for data center moves, acquisitions, or mergers.

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