Public VCF as-a-Service - The fundamentals of Public VCF as-a-Service

Fundamental concepts

In this section, we will detail the essential foundations of Public VCF as-a-Service.

By defining these principles clearly and concisely, we will provide the necessary foundation for effective and successful Public VCF as-a-Service use. Whether it’s for administrators looking to deploy complex infrastructures or for users looking to access resources quickly, this exploration of Public VCF as-a-Service basics is a vital starting point.

Organizations

An organization is an administrative entity that groups specific users, groups, and IT resources.

Users authenticate at the organization level by providing credentials established by an organization administrator when they are created or imported.

System administrators are responsible for creating and provisioning organizations, while organization administrators are responsible for managing users, groups, and catalogs specific to the organization.

Users and Groups

An organization can have a variable number of users and groups. Users can be created directly by the organization administrator or imported from a directory service (e.g., Active Directory).

Groups must be imported from the directory service. Within an organization, permissions are managed by assigning specific rights and roles to users and groups.

Virtual Data Centers (vDC)

A virtual data center can be used to offer computing resources (virtual machines, vApp, affinity rules, etc.) to an organization (your vDC), creating an environment managed by OVHcloud where virtualized systems can be stored, deployed, and operated.

It also provides storage space for ISO images. It is important to note that an organization may have multiple virtual data centers (vDCs) to meet its specific computing resource requirements (segmentation, isolation, security, etc.).

Organization Virtual Data Center Networks

A vDC network is encapsulated within a specific virtual data center created with Public VCF as-a-Service, and is accessible to all of that organization’s vApps. This network allows an organization's different vApps to communicate with each other seamlessly. It can be configured to be connected to an external network or kept isolated and internal to the organization.

Only system administrators have the privilege to create such networks, but organization administrators can manage the configurations of the organization's virtual data center networks, including the network services they offer.

vApp Networks

A vApp network is included in a vApp and facilitates communication between the vApp’s various virtual machines.

It is possible to connect a vApp network to an organization's virtual data center network, which allows the vApp to communicate with other vApps within the organization.

Furthermore, if the organization’s virtual data center network is connected to an external network, it allows the vApp to communicate outside the organization as well.

Catalogs

Organizations use catalogs to store vApp templates and media files.

Authorized members within an organization can access these catalogs to use the vApp templates and the media files contained within them to create their own vApps.

In addition, organization administrators can copy items from public catalogs into their organization-specific catalog.

Features of Public VCF as-a-Service at OVHcloud

Below is a comparison of the features provided by OVHcloud on its three Public VCF as-a-Service solutions.

Cluster Management

Features:

• ESXi management / capacity planning
• Hosts Failover / Proactive HA
• DRS / Storage DRS
• vMotion / Storage vMotion

Virtual Machine Management

Organization / Virtual Data Center Management

Networking

Security

Data protection

Storage

Monitoring

Go further

For more information and tutorials, please see our other Public VCF as-a-Service or Hosted Private Cloud guides. You can also explore the guides for other OVHcloud products and services.