How are NSX-T policies applied to workloads?

NSX-T policies are primarily applied to workloads through security policies that are linked to security groups. This approach allows for a dynamic and flexible way to enforce security measures based on the properties of the workloads rather than their individual configurations.

By using security groups, workloads can be grouped based on common attributes such as VM tags, application types, or roles. This enables the security policies to be applied consistently across multiple workloads, ensuring that they adhere to the organization’s security guidelines without needing to configure each workload individually. As workloads change, such as being added or removed from groups, the associated security policies adjust automatically, providing a seamless security posture that scales with the environment.

This methodology enhances operational efficiency and reduces the risk of misconfigurations that may arise from managing policies at the individual VM level. Network segmentation rules focus more on defining how different segments of the network can communicate, while firewall settings on individual VMs and direct VM settings do not offer the centralized policy management that security groups provide.