This page explains the elements that constitute a Nutanix cluster as delivered by OVHcloud and how it functions on the OVHcloud infrastructure.
Main characteristics
A Nutanix cluster consists of a stack of OVHcloud services:
Dedicated servers (three minimum) are connected within the vRack, which is an L2 network, the host's (node) private network.
Two VLANS are used, VLAN 0 for public internet and VLAN 1 for Nutanix infrastructure (Hosts, CVMs, Prism Element, and Prism Central.
The public IP address of each node is not accessible since the Additional IP is dedicated to Internet access. This access is ensured by the "OVHGateway, " a dedicated VM created by OVHcloud on your cluster.
The load balancer is used to expose the Prism Central WebUI to the public Internet. For security reasons, you can restrict the WebUI to the IP addresses of your organization.
Sizing
Your cluster requires some features to work properly. After delivery, your cluster will have five VMs (for a three-node cluster). Each node will have a "CVM". In the cluster, you will find two more VMs: Prism Central and the OVHgateway.
Prism Central
Prism Central is deployed in the "small" configuration.
It can furthermore work in two modes: "Alone" (one VM) or "Scale" (three VM). It can manage up to 2,500 VMs in general.
-
Alone mode: 6 vCPUs, 26 GB of memory, and 500 GiB of storage. -
Scale mode(for better resiliency and more capacity): 18 vCPUs, 78 GB of memory, and 1500 GiB of storage (combined).
In case of doubt, choose the "Alone" mode. You can always switch to "Scale" mode later.
CVMs
All CVMs require 32 GB of minimum memory and 12 vCPUs for each node. You will need to increase these values if you add new features to your cluster.
OVHgateway
The OVHgateway provides Internet access to the cluster via the Additional IP address.
This VM has two network cards (in the vRack), one for the private network on VLAN 1 and the other for the public Internet on VLAN 0.
The VM uses NAT to route traffic from the private network to the Internet. You can therefore use it for outgoing traffic but not for incoming traffic.
OVHgateway has a lightweight design, using 1 vCPU, 1 GB memory, and a 1 GiB disk.
Prism Central Access
Once the cluster is delivered, OVHcloud provides you with an FQDN for your cluster.
Access to Prism Central is available under https://<fqdn>:9440. This access is provided through the load balancer.
You can also access Prism Central through OVHcloud Control Panel by:
- Click Hosted Private Cloud from the top navigation bar.
- Select Nutanix, then All my clusters from the left-hand navigation menu.
- Under the General Information tab, click
Access Prism Central.
Go further
For more information and tutorials, please see our other Nutanix support guides or explore the guides for other OVHcloud products and services.