This page describes how to manage virtual datacenters in private cloud and public cloud
For details of how to onboard virtual datacenters and resources from public cloud, see Onboard from public cloud
Introduction to virtual datacenters
In the Virtual datacenters in myCloud view you can manage your compute, network and storage resources.
Each virtual datacenter (VDC) is a separate cloud environment in a single datacenter or public cloud region.
To access Virtual datacenters view, click the myCloud button in the main menu and then click the cloud virtual datacenters button.
To display all the virtual datacenters in specific providers, click the funnel filter button at the top of the list and select one or more providers.
Create a virtual datacenter
Before you begin:
In Azure, before you create a virtual datacenter, create a resource group and optionally create an availability set. See Manage resource groups and Manage availability sets
In Google Cloud Platform, before you create a virtual datacenter, create a global network and create a subnet See Manage global networks and subnets
To create a new virtual datacenter:
Privileges: Manage virtual datacenters
Go to myCloud view → Virtual datacenters
Below the V. datacenters list, click the + add button
Select Create a new virtual datacenter from the pull-down menu
For the General information:
For the Location select the datacenter or public cloud region to use
For the Network select from:
Default: Create a network (default private or external) using the default network settings. If the default network is an external network, also create a default private network.
None: do not create a private network
Custom Private: Create a custom private network (see details below)
If your environment uses NAT, you can select:
NAT network: to use for the default SNAT rule
Default NAT IP: for the default SNAT rule
Click Save
Create a virtual datacenter with no network
When you create a virtual datacenter, with None
selected for the Network, the platform does not create a default private network.
In private cloud, if the enterprise in the datacenter has another type of Default network, such as an external network, the platform will assign this network.
You can set the default network at Edit enterprise → Datacenters → edit datacenter → Default network.
If there is no network in the virtual datacenter, and the user tries to deploy a VM without a NIC, then the deploy will fail (because the platform cannot assign an IP address without a network).
Create a virtual datacenter with a default network
When you create a virtual datacenter, with Default
selected for the Network, the platform creates a private network and it counts as part of your network allocation limits, even if the default network for the enterprise in the datacenter is is another type of network, such as an external network.
The private network can be the Automatically-created private network
, which is called default_private_network
, or a custom private network, which will be set as the default network.
Create a virtual datacenter with a custom private network
To create a Custom private network, complete the Network section of this dialog.
Field | Description |
---|---|
Name | The name of the network to create |
Netmask | The network mask CIDR |
Network address | The network address |
Address range | The address space that the virtual datacenter can use in CIDR format. |
Gateway | The IP of the gateway of the network |
Availability zone | The availability zone where VMs attached to this network will deploy |
Primary DNS | The primary DNS of the network |
Secondary DNS | The secondary DNS of the network |
DNS suffix | The DNS suffix for the network |
To manage the networks of your virtual datacenter or to change its default network, go to Virtual datacenters → Network. See Manage networks.
Create a virtual datacenter for NSX-T
If you are using NSX-T and the tenant may have more than one tier0 configuration, you may enter NSX-T parameters when you are creating a virtual datacenter.
Property | Description |
---|---|
Edge cluster name | Name of the NSX-T Edge Cluster used to create Tier-1 VPCs. |
Allow snat destinations public | Allow traffic to internet. |
Allow dnat sources | Allow traffic from the Tier-0 specified networks. |
Allow dnat sources public | Allow traffic from internet. |
Tier0 name | Name of the NSX-T Tier-0 used to create the Tier-1 VPCs. |
Allow snat destinations | Allow traffic to the Tier-0 specified networks. |
Transport zone name | Name of the NSX-T Transport Zone (overlay) used to create segments / networks. |
Dhcp conf name | Name of the NSX-T DHCP Profile used to create Tier-1 VPCs. |
Manage resource allocation limits for a virtual datacenter
You can set hard limits and soft limits to control resource usage in the virtual datacenter.
A hard limit is the maximum amount of a virtual resource (e.g. RAM) that an entity will be allowed to consume.
A soft limit warns users and administrators that the entity is running out of a resource.
The rules for creating allocation limits are as follows:
You cannot have a hard limit only
Soft limits must always be less than or equal to hard limits
When a limit is equal to
0
, it means that there is no limit to resource usage at this levelWhen editing limits, you cannot set the hard limits below the existing resource usage, except for Local hard disk
Limit | Checked at | Description |
---|---|---|
Memory | Deployment | Total amount of RAM that may be used by VMs |
Virtual CPUs | Deployment | Total number of virtual CPU cores that may be used by VMs |
Local hard disk | Deployment | Total size of hard disk that may be used by VMs |
External storage | Configuration | Total size of external storage that may be created for VMs |
VLANs | Configuration | Total number of private networks that may be defined. |
Public /floating/ | Configuration | Total number of public IPs, floating IPs (in public cloud), |
Virtual machines | Deployment | Total number of VMs that users can deploy in the location |
DR protected VMs | Configuration | Total number of VMs that may be protected with the |
Consider a virtual datacenter with a soft limit of 1 virtual CPU and a hard limit of 4 virtual CPUs.
The user will exceed the soft limit if they deploy a virtual appliance with more than 1 CPU in the virtual datacenter.
The user will exceed the hard limit if they attempt to deploy a virtual appliance with more than 4 CPUs in the virtual datacenter.
Soft limits message
A soft-limits message popup will let the user acknowledge the message and continue their action.
By default, the message will provide details of the limits, used, and requested resources.
For example, the limits are 5 CPUs, the users have 2 CPUs in deployed VMs, and they have requested 3 more CPUs.
The platform will also display this type of message when the users exceed soft limits at another level, for example, enterprise, enterprise in provider, or enterprise in location.
Hard limits message
A hard-limits message pop-up will allow the user to acknowledge the message but the platform will stop the user action.
By default, the message will provide details of the limits, used, and requested resources.
For example, the limits are 5 CPUs, the users have 5 CPUs in deployed VMs, and they have requested 1 more CPU. Because the user will exceed the hard limit, the platform will not allow the user to obtain 1 CPU.
The platform will also display this type of message when the users exceed hard limits at another level, for example, enterprise, enterprise in provider, or enterprise in location.
Set virtual datacenter defaults
When you create a virtual datacenter, you can set some defaults according to your platform configuration.
Field | Description |
---|---|
Default datastore tier | Select the default disk service level for VM disks on the hypervisor datastore.
To clear the current tier, click the black |
Subnet | In Google Cloud Platform you must select a default subnet to deploy VMs |
After you create the virtual datacenter, you can edit it to change the default values.
Note that Abiquo may use the enterprise’s default network in the datacenter as the default network for the new virtual datacenter.
Set a virtual datacenter role to limit user access
If you are able to manage user roles, you can limit user access to a virtual datacenter for users that can have their virtual datacenters restricted (usually ordinary cloud users). For example, you can give users read-only access.
Privileges: Manage roles, No VDC restriction
To limit access to a virtual datacenter for cloud users:
Go to myCloud → Virtual datacenters
Create, edit, or onboard a virtual datacenter
Go to Roles
For the Role, select a more restrictive role to replace user roles within this virtual datacenter.
For example, to give users read-only access, select theENTERPRISE_VIEWER
roleTo create exceptions to the VDC role:
Select a Username and an exception Role for the user
Click Add
When you finish creating or editing the virtual datacenter, click Save
The exception will enable all privileges that are included in both the user's role and the exception role. It is not possible to grant additional privileges using a VDC role.
After you have entered Allocation limits, Defaults, and Role, click Save.
The platform will create the virtual datacenter and the default private VLAN and display it in the Virtual datacenters view.
Create a virtual datacenter using the API
API Documentation
For the Abiquo API documentation of this feature, see https://wiki.abiquo.com/api/latest and the page for this resource VirtualDatacentersResource.
Edit a virtual datacenter
When you edit a virtual datacenter, it is similar to creating a virtual datacenter, but you can also set a default firewall and edit tags.
To set a default firewall for the virtual datacenter:
Go to Virtual datacenters → Edit → Defaults
For the Default firewall, select an appropriate firewall
To manage tags for a virtual datacenter:
Go to Virtual datacenters → Edit a virtual datacenter → Tags
Add tags
For more details see Edit resource tags.
Set a default network for a virtual datacenter
By default, the platform automatically creates a default private network for each virtual datacenter. If you deploy a VM without assigning a NIC, the platform will add one from the default network.
After you create a virtual datacenter, you can configure the default network to be a private network, an external network, or a public network.
You can also pre-configure a default network for each enterprise in a datacenter to use in all their virtual datacenters.
To set a network as the default, you will require privileges to access this network in the virtual infrastructure.
Privileges: Manage virtual datacenter network elements, Access public network tab,
Manage public network elements, Access external network tab, Manage external network elements
To assign a network as the default for a virtual datacenter do these steps:
Go to Virtual datacenters → select virtual datacenter → Network
Select the network type, such as
Private
orPublic
Create or edit a network
Select the Default network checkbox
This default will override the platform default network and the network set for the enterprise in the datacenter
The new default network will apply to all VMs deployed after you set it
For a public network that is the virtual datacenter default, obtain IP addresses before you deploy
For an external network that is the virtual datacenter default, your administrator must create IP addresses in infrastructure for your VMs before you deploy
Onboard from public cloud
Pages related to virtual datacenters
The following pages are related to the management of virtual datacenters
Administration of virtual datacenters:
How users can work with VMs