Manage virtual datacenters

Introduction to virtual datacenters

In the virtual datacenters in myCloud view you can manage your virtual compute, network, and storage resources. Each virtual datacenter (VDC) is a separate cloud environment in a single datacenter or public cloud region. In private cloud a virtual datacenter is on a single rack so that a private network has one network tag, such as a VLAN tag, in the switch on the same rack.

To access Virtual datacenters, click the myCloud button in the main menu and then click the cloud virtual datacenters button at the top left of the screen.

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The myCloud view in the virtual datacenters section

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 you can also 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:

1. Go to myCloud view → Virtual datacenters

2. Below the V. datacenters list, click the + add button

3. Select Create a new virtual datacenter from the pull-down menu

4. For the General information:

   1. For the Location select the datacenter or public cloud region to use

   2. For the Network select from:

      1. Default: The platform creates a private network using the platform settings (from Configuration view → Network) and assigns the default network (from the enterprise or platform settings)

      2. None: The platform does not create a private network or assign the default network. This option is not available in Azure or OCI.

      3. Custom Private: The platform creates a custom private network (see details below) and assigns the default network (from the enterprise or platform settings)

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         Create a virtual datacenter with network options

   3. If your environment uses NAT, you can select:

      1. NAT network: to use for the default SNAT rule

      2. Default NAT IP: for the default SNAT rule

5. Click Save

Create a virtual datacenter with no network

When you create a virtual datacenter with the None option for the Network, the platform does not create a default private network or assign the default network of the enterprise or platform.

If there is no default 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 automatically assign an IP address.

Create a virtual datacenter with a default or custom network

When you create a virtual datacenter with Default selected for the Network, the platform creates a private network. This private network counts as part of your network allocation limits, even if the default network for the enterprise in the datacenter 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 you can define with the Custom private option. The platform will assign the private network as the default network if there is no other enterprise default network.

Create a virtual datacenter with a custom private network

To create a Custom private network, complete the Network section of this dialog.

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.

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 level

• When editing limits, you cannot set the hard limits below the existing resource usage, except for Local hard disk

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.

After you create the virtual datacenter, you can edit it to change the default values.

To set the default network for a virtual datacenter, see the section below.

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 standard cloud users. For example, you can give users read-only access. You can only apply restricted roles to users that can have their VDCs restricted, which are users without the No VDC restriction privilege.

To limit access to a virtual datacenter for cloud users:

1. Go to myCloud → Virtual datacenters

2. Create, edit, or onboard a virtual datacenter

3. Go to Roles

4. For the Role, select a more restrictive role to replace user roles within this virtual datacenter.
   For example, to give cloud users read-only access, select the ENTERPRISE_VIEWER role

5. To create exceptions to the VDC role:

   1. Select a Username and an exception Role for the user

   2. Click Add

6. When you finish creating or editing the virtual datacenter, click Save

The exception will activate all privileges that are 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 any selected private network) and you can work with its virtual resources. 

Create a virtual datacenter using the API

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: 

1. Go to Virtual datacenters → Edit → Defaults

2. For the Default firewall, select an appropriate firewall
   
   

To manage tags for a virtual datacenter: 

1. Go to Virtual datacenters → Edit a virtual datacenter → Tags

2. Add tags

   For more details see Edit resource tags.

Set the default network for all virtual datacenters

By default, the platform automatically creates a default private network for each virtual datacenter. So if you deploy a VM without assigning a NIC, the platform will add one from the default network.

To configure the default networks before you create a virtual datacenter:

1. To define the default private network for all virtual datacenters in the platform, go to Configuration view → Network

2. To set the default network for all virtual datacenters in an enterprise: edit the enterprise and go to Datacenters, edit a datacenter and go to Default network. You can select the platform’s default private network or an external network of the enterprise

When you change these values, the new values will apply to new virtual datacenters.

Set a default network after you create a virtual datacenter

After you create a virtual datacenter, you can configure the default network to be a private network, an external network, or a public network.

To set a network as the default, you will require privileges to access this network in the virtual infrastructure.

To assign a network as the default for a virtual datacenter do these steps:

1. Go to Virtual datacenters

2. Select a virtual datacenter and go to Network

3. Select the network type, such as Private, External, or Public

4. Create a new private network or edit any network

5. Select the Default network checkbox

   • The new default network will replace any previous default network

   • The new default network will apply to all VMs deployed after you set it

   • For a public network, obtain IP addresses before you deploy a VM

   • For an external network, your administrator must create IP addresses in infrastructure for your VMs before you deploy a VM

The platform will mark the default network with a star symbol.

Onboard from public cloud

See Onboard from public cloud

Pages related to virtual datacenters

The following pages are related to the management of virtual datacenters

• Administration of virtual datacenters:

  • Manage networks

  • Manage firewalls

  • Manage load balancers

  • Administer and troubleshoot VMs

• How users can work with VMs

  • Manage virtual machines

  • Configure virtual machines

  • Manage scaling groups

  • Manage virtual appliances