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This page describes how to synchronize and manage hardware profiles from public cloud providers in the hybrid cloud platform. And how to create and manage hardware profiles for private cloud datacenters and public clouds without native hardware profiles. |
Introduction to hardware profiles
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Hardware profiles are a convenient way of displaying CPU and RAM values that enable you to simplify the configuration of VMs for your users. They also enable you to control available hardware configurations and to recommend suitable hardware configurations for VM templates. And you can restrict users to a set of recommended configurations for a template. Abiquo has a default set of hardware profile families for public and private cloud.
In private cloud, Abiquo supports dynamic hardware profiles for CPU and RAM, so the user can enter these values and the platform uses CPU and RAM prices for them. And the user can enter cores per socket. In public cloud, you can onboard and synchronize price lists of hardware profiles and incorporate them into your pricing models. Note that the Azure API returns a value for cores per socket but the platform does not use this value. |
Display hardware profiles
To display hardware profiles, go to one of these two sections of the UI.
Infrastructure → Public → select provider region → Hardware profiles
Infrastructure → Private → select datacenter → Servers view → Hardware profiles
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Before you create hardware profiles in private cloud, the platform will display the default hardware profile families and types.
Manage hardware profiles with the API
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API Documentation For the Abiquo API documentation of this feature, see Abiquo API Resources and the page for this resource HardwareProfilesDatacenterResource. |
Synchronize hardware profiles with a provider
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In public cloud providers with hardware profiles, when you create a public cloud region and add credentials for an enterprise, Abiquo will automatically retrieve the hardware profiles for the public cloud region.
To synchronize hardware profiles:
 By default, for each enterprise with credentials, the hardware profiles mode is enabled. By default, all hardware profiles are available to all enterprises. |
Classify hardware profiles in private cloud
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| name | Classify hardware profiles in private cloud |
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To help users to easily select the right hardware profile for their VMs, providers usually classify hardware profiles by family and type.
The platform contains one set of default families that are available in both public and private cloud.
In private cloud and in public cloud regions without native hardware profiles, you can also create your own hardware profile families and types that will be available in all of these locations.
To classify hardware profiles, first create families, then create types.
To create a hardware profile family or type:
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Go to Hardware profiles
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At the bottom of the Types list, click the + add button and select Family or Type
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Complete the dialog as shown below and click Save
Create a hardware profile family
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Create a hardware profile type
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Create a hardware profile
You can create Abiquo hardware profiles in private cloud datacenters and for public cloud providers that do not have provider hardware profiles, such as vCloud Director clouds.
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Privileges: Access infrastructure view and private DCs, View datacenter details, Manage datacenter infrastructure elements |
To create a hardware profile:
Go to Infrastructure → Private or Public
Select a location and go to Hardware profiles
Click the + add button
Enter the details of the hardware profile
Click Save
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Field
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Value
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Family
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Select a family to classify the hardware profile. The family can help users understand the main purpose of the hardware profile
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Type
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Select a type to classify the hardware profile. The type can help users understand the performance specifications of the hardware profile
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Name
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Enter a unique name for the hardware profile. Identify it to users who will select it for their VMs.
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CPU
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The number of virtual CPUs to assign to VMs using this hardware profile. The combination of CPU and RAM must be unique in the datacenter. For dynamic hardware profiles this is the default value.
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Cores per socket
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The number of cores per socket to use for supported hypervisors such as VMware. The number of CPUs must be divisible by this value. For dynamic hardware profiles this is the default value.
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RAM
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The amount of virtual RAM to assign to VMs using this hardware profile. The combination of CPU and RAM must be unique in the datacenter. Select RAM units of MB, GB or TB. For dynamic hardware profiles, this is the default value.
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Dynamic
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To allow the user to enter CPU and/or RAM values, select the Dynamic option/s. Pricing and billing of dynamic hardware profiles will include cost codes, and CPU and RAM usage pricing.
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Extra charges
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For pricing and billing, select extra charges for the hardware profile. See Create a new cost code for an extra charge in Pricing view.
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Active
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Select this checkbox to activate or deactivate the hardware profile.
The platform will only display active hardware profiles to make available to an enterprise but inactive hardware profiles may be shown if they were previously selected when active.
The platform will only display active hardware profiles for selecting the recommended profiles for a template.
Users can only work with active hardware profiles.
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Current generation
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Select this checkbox to mark that the hardware profile is compatible with current VM templates
Set prices for hardware profiles
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| name | how to synchronize hardware profiles from public cloud providers in the hybrid cloud platform. For details of how to create new hardware profiles, see Create hardware profiles |
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Set prices for hardware profiles
To set prices for hardware profiles using cost codes for extra charges:
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Privileges: Manage hardware profile extra charges |
Create cost codes for extra charges. See “Create a new extra charge” in Pricing view
For the Type select Hardware profiles or All
Set values for cost codes for extra charge values. See Create a new pricing model
When you create or edit a hardware profile:
Go to Extra charges for cost codes
Click + add and select a cost code for extra charges
Click Add
Add more cost codes for extra charges as required and Save
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Enable users to work with hardware profiles
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Provider hardware profiles
If you synchronize a public cloud region and a VM has a hardware profile that is not allowed for the enterprise, the platform will automatically allow the hardware profile
For AWS, Abiquo recommends hardware profiles based on information supplied by AWS and filters:
Virtualization type of Paravirtual or HVM
Root device type of Instance store or EBS
Architecture of I386, X86_64, or ARM64
If the provider does not support CPU and RAM as well as hardware profiles, and if there is no hardware profile that matches the CPU and RAM values, the platform cannot create a hardware profile, so the user will have to select another one
During onboarding, if there is a cost code assigned to the VM template, the platform will match the template cost code with a hardware profile cost code and assign the corresponding hardware profile
Abiquo hardware profiles
If a tenant enterprise already has VMs deployed when you enable hardware profiles, the platform will try to assign existing hardware profiles. If the templates of the deployed VMs have cost codes, the platform will match the cost codes with the cost codes of hardware profiles and assign the corresponding hardware profiles. If an existing profile is inactive, the platform will activate this profile and assign it. Otherwise, the platform will create a new hardware profile named ABQ_HP_{cpu}_{ram}_ID.
If you capture a VM, the platform will behave as for VMs that were already deployed when you enabled hardware profiles. During capture, the template has no cost code, so the platform cannot match cost codes to assign a hardware profile
VApp specs
When you create a VApp spec, the platform records the CPU and RAM of each VM. It also records the name, family, dynamic CPU, and dynamic RAM properties of the hardware profile. When you create a virtual appliance from a spec, the hardware profiles used for the VMs created by the spec are found following these criteria:
An active hardware profile that matches CPU, RAM of the VM and all the other properties.
Active hardware profiles with the same size or larger with the same family.
Active hardware profiles with the same size or larger in all families.
If more than one hardware profile is found, the hardware profiles will be ordered using the following properties:
Dynamic CPU
Dynamic RAM
Current generation
Cores per socket
The platform will select a hardware property that:
Does not have dynamic CPU and/or dynamic RAM
Is of the current generation
Has the smallest cores per socket (if applicable).
The others will appear as warnings on the Warning tab of the Spec creation dialog.
If the CPU and RAM do not match exactly with the VM, there will also be a warning.
The selected hardware profile can be changed on the Virtual machines tab
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Prevent users from working with a hardware profile
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Synchronize hardware profiles with a provider
In public cloud providers with hardware profiles, when you create a public cloud region and add credentials for an enterprise, Abiquo will automatically retrieve the hardware profiles for the public cloud region.
Provider hardware profiles are locked and you cannot edit them
In public cloud regions with provider hardware profiles that also support CPU and RAM, you can deactivate hardware profiles mode
The platform also registers if a hardware profile is Active and if it belongs to the Current generation
To synchronize hardware profiles:
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Privileges: Access infrastructure view and PCRs, View public cloud region details, Manage enterprises |
Go to Infrastructure → Public
Select Public cloud region
Go to Servers view → Hardware profiles
At the top right of the Hardware profiles section, select an enterprise with a public cloud account
Click the round arrows refresh button
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By default, for each enterprise with credentials, the hardware profiles mode is enabled. By default, all hardware profiles are available to all enterprises.
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Manage hardware profiles with the API
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API Documentation For the Abiquo API documentation of this feature, see Abiquo API Resources and the page for this resource HardwareProfilesDatacenterResource. |
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Related pages
Control access to hardware profiles at a tenant level: Configure an enterprise in a cloud location#Allowatenanttousehardwareprofiles.
Configure hardware profiles for VM templates: See Modify a VM template
Configure pricing for hardware profiles: Pricing view#Hardware profiles
Configure VMs using hardware profiles: VM general information