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Cluster creation and EVC activation

Stephanie R.
Updated

Learn how to create multiple clusters in your environment to segment your activities and configure their functionalities (DRS, HA, and EVC).

 

Requirements

 

Instructions

Cluster creation

In the vSphere interface menu, go to the Hosts and Clusters dashboard.

HPC_VMware_vSphere_clusterCreationEVC01.png

Right-click your Datacenter and select New Cluster.

HPC_VMware_vSphere_clusterCreationEVC02.png

In the pop-up window, name your cluster and select the relevant options you want set.
Click OK when done.

vSAN requires vSAN-compatible hosts. Find more details here on how to order them if needed.

HPC_VMware_vSphere_clusterCreationEVC03.png

 

DRS

DRS spreads the compute load across your hosts. If you activate the option, it is set to "Fully Automated" by default.

Select your cluster. In the Configure tab, select vSphere DRS and click Edit.

HPC_VMware_vSphere_clusterCreationEVC04.png

Three options are available to you:

  • Manual Mode: DRS generates both power-on placement and migration recommendations for virtual machines. Recommendations need to be manually applied or ignored.
  • Partially Automated: DRS automatically places virtual machines onto hosts at VM power-on. Migration recommendations need to be manually applied or ignored.
  • Fully Automated: DRS automatically places virtual machines onto hosts at VM power-on, and virtual machines are automatically migrated from one host to another to optimize resource utilization.

Automated modes also allow to set the sensitivity of the service, from the most conservative to the most aggressive threshold.
Click OK when done.

HPC_VMware_vSphere_clusterCreationEVC05.png

 

HA

High Availability allows for redundancy so a failing host will not impact the services running in your VMs. If you activate the option, it is set to its default settings.

To modify them, select your cluster. In the Configure tab, select vSphere HA and click Edit.

HPC_VMware_vSphere_clusterCreationEVC06.png

The response types for the different host failures can be custom-set to your needs.
Click OK when done.

HPC_VMware_vSphere_clusterCreationEVC07.png

 

EVC

EVC (Enhanced vMotion Compatibility) allows for migration of live VMs between hosts.

Before activating the functionality, check your hosts' summary pages to determine their types.

HPC_VMware_vSphere_clusterCreationEVC08.png

Select your cluster. In the Configure tab, select VMware EVC and click Edit.

HPC_VMware_vSphere_clusterCreationEVC09.png

Enable EVC for the type of CPUs your hosts hold.
Downward compatibility is assured. To help you verify the settings are working, you will see a compatibility validation at the bottom of the window.
Click OK when done.

HPC_VMware_vSphere_clusterCreationEVC10.png

NOTE: EVC activation can only happen on a cluster with no active VM running. Make sure to turn off or evacuate all VMs before doing it.

 

Go further

For more information and tutorials, please see our other Hosted Private Cloud support guides or explore the guides for other OVHcloud products and services.

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