Scenario: Create a private cloud

This article provides instructions for creating a private cloud in System Center - Virtual Machine Manager (VMM).

You can create a private cloud from a host group or from a VMware resource pool. Host groups can contain a single host type or a mix of Hyper-V and VMware ESX hosts.

Note

You must be a VMM administrator or a member of the delegated Administrators user group with a scope that includes the host groups you'll use for the cloud.

Before you start

• You need to have the VMM fabric in place. Learn more.
• You should have one or more Hyper-V or VMware virtualization hosts in the fabric. If you're creating a cloud from a VMware resource pool, a vCenter Server and the VMware ESX host or host cluster that contains the VMware resource pool must be available in the VMM fabric.

  • If you want to provide self-service users the ability to store virtual machines to the VMM library, then create a library share or create a folder in a library share that will serve as the storage location. Learn more.

    Note

    Self-service users must have the Store and re-deploy permission to store their virtual machines.

  • You can add independently created library shares as read-only library shares in the VMM when you run the Create Cloud Wizard. For example, outside the VMM, you can't create the \\VMMServer01\Finance\StoredVMs path and then add the \\VMMServer01\Finance library share to the VMM library.

  • The self-service user role data path is specified when you create a self-service user role or modify the properties of a self-service user role.

  • If you want to assign read-only shares to the private cloud, where administrators can store read-only resources such as .iso files that they want to make available to self-service users, make sure that one or more library shares exist that you can assign as the read-only library shares.

    Note

    Self-service users must have the Author permission to access the resources.

  • The library shares that you designate as read-only resource locations for the private cloud must be unique when compared to the library share or shares that are used for stored virtual machines and for the user role data path that is specified for a self-service user role. For example, if the user role data path for a self-service user role is \\VMMServer01\Finance, you can't create a stored virtual machine path of \\VMMServer01\Finance\StoredVMs. However, if the user role data path is \\VMMServer01\Finance\FinanceUserRoleData, you could specify \\VMMServer01\Finance\StoredVMs as the stored virtual machine path, as the full path is unique. You could also create entirely separate library shares.

Create a private cloud from a host group

1. Select VMs and Services > Create > Create Cloud to open the Create Cloud Wizard.

2. In General, specify a Name and optional description for the cloud.

3. Specify whether the cloud will support shielded VMs.

4. In Resources > Host groups, select the groups you want to add to the cloud. Then select Next.

5. In Logical Networks, select each logical network that you want to make available to the private cloud, and then select Next.

   Note

   Only logical networks that are associated with the physical network adapters on hosts in the selected host groups appear in the list.

6. In Load Balancers, select each load balancer that you want to make available to this private cloud, and then select Next.

   Note

   Only load balancers that are associated with the selected host groups appear in the list.

7. In VIP Templates, select each VIP template that you want to make available to the private cloud, and then select Next.

8. In Port Classifications, select each port classification that you want to make available to the cloud, and then select Next.

9. In Storage, if you have storage managed by VMM, select each storage classification that you want to make available to the private cloud, and then select Next.

   Note

   Only storage classifications for storage pools that are assigned to the selected host groups appear in the list.

10. In Library > Stored VM path, browse and select the library share you want to use for the self-service users to store VMs. Select OK.

11. In Read-only library shares > Add, select one or more library shares where administrators can provide read-only resources to cloud users. Select OK and then select Next.

12. In Capacity, set capacity limits for the private cloud, and then select Next. You can either accept the default values, or clear the Use Maximum check boxes and set quotas for the following resources:

    Quota Type	Description
    Virtual CPUs	Sets a limit on processing capacity within the private cloud that is equivalent to the capacity that can be provided by a specified number of CPUs. Applied against running virtual machines. Setting a CPU quota doesn't guarantee contiguous capacity; it only guarantees total CPU capacity available among hosts in the private cloud.
    Memory	Sets a quota on memory (in gigabytes) that is available for virtual machines that are deployed on the private cloud. Applied against running virtual machines only. Setting a memory quota doesn't guarantee contiguous capacity. For example, the private cloud might have 2 GB of memory available on one host and 2 GB of memory on the other.
    Storage	Sets a quota on storage capacity (in gigabytes) that is available to virtual machines that are deployed on the private cloud. For dynamic virtual hard disks, quota calculations are based on maximum size.
    Custom quota (points)	Sets a quota on virtual machines that are deployed on the private cloud based on the total quota points that are assigned to the virtual machines through their virtual machine templates. Quota points are an arbitrary value that can be assigned to a virtual machine template based on the anticipated size of the virtual machines. Custom quotas are provided for backward compatibility with self-service user roles that were created in VMM.
    Virtual machines	Limits the total number of virtual machines that can be deployed on the private cloud.

13. In Capability Profiles, select each virtual machine capability profile that you want to add, and then select Next. Select the capability profiles that match the type of hypervisor platforms that are running in the selected host groups. The built-in capability profiles represent the minimum and maximum values that can be configured for a virtual machine for each supported hypervisor platform.

14. In Replication Groups, select the replication groups for the private cloud, and select Next.

15. In Summary page, confirm the settings, and then select Finish.

View status in Jobs and ensure the job is complete.

To verify that the private cloud was created, check VMs and Services > Clouds. You can also verify in Library > Cloud Libraries, to view the read-only library shares.

Assign Storage QoS Policies while creating a cloud

1. Follow the steps until 14 in the above procedure.

2. In Storage QoS Policies, select the policies that you want to assign to this cloud.

3. Proceed with rest of the steps and complete the wizard.

Create a private cloud from a VMware resource pool

1. Select VMs and Services > Create > Create Cloud to open the Create Cloud Wizard.

2. In General, specify a Name and optional description for the cloud.

3. In Resources, select VMware resource pools > Next.

4. In Logical Networks, select each logical network that you want to make available to the private cloud, and then select Next.

5. In Load Balancers, select each load balancer that you want to make available to the private cloud, and then select Next. Only load balancers that are associated with the selected host groups appear in the list.

6. In VIP Templates, select each VIP template that you want to make available to the private cloud, and then select Next.

7. In Storage, select Next. VMM doesn't manage or assign storage classifications assigned to ESX hosts.

8. In Library > Stored VM path, browse and select the library share you want to use for self-service users to store VMs, and select OK.

9. In Read-only library shares > Add, select one or more library shares where administrators can provide read-only resources to cloud users. Select OK and then select Next.

10. In Capacity, set capacity limits for the private cloud, and then select Next. You can either accept the default values, or clear the Use Maximum check boxes and set quotas for the following resources:

    Quota Type	Description
    Virtual CPUs	Sets a limit on processing capacity within the private cloud that is equivalent to the capacity that can be provided by a specified number of CPUs. Applied against running virtual machines. Setting a CPU quota does not guarantee contiguous capacity; it only guarantees total CPU capacity available among hosts in the private cloud.
    Memory	Sets a quota on memory (in gigabytes) that is available for virtual machines that are deployed on the private cloud. Applied against running virtual machines only. Setting a memory quota does not guarantee contiguous capacity. For example, the private cloud might have 2 GB of memory available on one host and 2 GB of memory on the other.
    Storage	Sets a quota on storage capacity (in gigabytes) that is available to virtual machines that are deployed on the private cloud. For dynamic virtual hard disks, quota calculations are based on maximum size.
    Custom quota (points)	Sets a quota on virtual machines that are deployed on the private cloud based on total quota points that are assigned to the virtual machines through their virtual machine templates. Quota points are an arbitrary value that can be assigned to a virtual machine template based on the anticipated size of the virtual machines. Custom quotas are provided for backward compatibility with self-service user roles that were created in VMM.
    Virtual machines	Limits the total number of virtual machines that can be deployed on the private cloud.

11. In Capability Profiles, select ESX Server, and then select Next. The built-in capability profiles represent the minimum and maximum values that can be configured for a virtual machine for each supported hypervisor platform.

12. In Summary page, confirm the settings, and then select Finish.

View status in Jobs and ensure the job is complete.

To verify that the private cloud was created, check VMs and Services > Clouds. You can also verify in Library > Cloud Libraries to view the read-only library shares.

Assign storage QoS policies to a private cloud

System Center - Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) supports storage QoS policies on a private cloud.

The VMM fabric admin can now offer the storage QoS policies in the cloud. Tenant admins and self-service users can consume these while deploying the VMs and services. This will enable the cloud providers to guarantee and/or limit the amount of storage performance as per the subscription opted by the tenants.

The fabric admin can now offer storage QoS policies while authoring the VMM private clouds. After which the authorized users (admin and self-service users) with access to this cloud can consume the available QoS policies for provisioning VMs and Services on the cloud.

Note

A cloud with at least one QoS policy offered won't allow the deployment of disks without a policy. This helps in preventing the cloud consumers to pick infinite resources with a null policy. Also, the change in IOPS by self-service users won't be allowed after this release to avoid the same scenario of selecting unauthorized performance.

Storage QoS Policies option in the Create cloud wizard helps the fabric admin to select the list of policies that should be made available for the cloud consumers.

follow these steps:

1. Follow the create a private cloud from a host group procedure until step 14.
2. In Storage QoS Policies, select the policies that you want to assign to this cloud.
3. Proceed to step 15; complete the remaining steps.
4. Review the summary and select Finish.

Note

This list contains only those policies that are available in scope of all the clusters selected in the Resources section of the cloud wizard. This helps the self-service user to choose between the available plans, even after the VM is placed.

  On Upgrade

1. After the upgrade, the existing clouds won't have any QoS policy in their offering. Admin needs to update the cloud with the policy offerings.
2. The existing VMs on the cloud, which have disks with a QoS policy already assigned, will go to inconsistent state. Their policy stays intact, but the VMM UI displays it as blank. Admins can either remove those policies or offer these in the affected clouds.
3. Proceed with the rest of the steps and complete the wizard.

Assign private clouds to user roles

After you create a private cloud, you can assign the private cloud to one or more user roles.

1. In VMs and Services, select the private cloud that you want to assign.
2. Right-click the selected cloud, and select Assign Cloud.
3. Select an existing user role, or select Create a user role and assign this cloud to create a new one.