Consolidated and workload cluster
New deployments of Security and Compliance Readiness Bundle instances are no longer supported. You can still add or delete clusters, add or delete VMware ESXi™ servers or NFS storage, and add or remove services for existing instances. You can also view and delete your Security and Compliance Readiness Bundle instances.
Specify the following settings for the consolidated cluster.
You can select to include a separate workload cluster in the same way as you order the consolidated cluster.
Cluster name
By default, the consolidated cluster name is set to vcs-xx-management. You can also specify a new cluster name, which must meet the following requirements:
- Only lowercase alphabetic, numeric, and hyphen (-) characters are allowed.
- The cluster name must start with a lowercase alphabetic character.
- The cluster name must end with a lowercase alphabetic or numeric character.
- The maximum length of the cluster name is 10 characters.
- The cluster name must be unique within the regulated workload instance.
CPU model
You can choose the following CPU models:
- Dual Intel® Xeon® Silver 4210 processor, 20 cores, 2.2 GHz
- Dual Intel Xeon Gold 5218 processor, 32 cores, 2.3 GHz
- Dual Intel Xeon Gold 6248 processor, 40 cores, 2.5 GHz
- Dual Intel Xeon Platinum 8260 processor, 48 cores, 2.4 GHz
- Quad Intel Xeon Gold 6248 processor, 80 cores, 2.5 GHz
- Quad Intel Xeon Platinum 8260 processor, 96 cores, 2.4 GHz
RAM
You can choose the RAM size from 128 GB, 192 GB, 384 GB, 768 GB, and 1.5 TB.
Number of bare metal servers
For the consolidated cluster:
- If you are planning to use vSAN™ OSA storage, you can order 4-51 servers.
- If you are planning to use vSAN ESA storage, you can order 3-51 servers.
- If you are planning to use NFS storage, you can order 3-51 servers.
- All servers that you order have the same configuration.
For the workload cluster:
- If you are planning to use vSAN™ OSA storage, you can order 4-59 servers.
- If you are planning to use vSAN ESA storage, you can order 3-59 servers.
- If you are planning to use NFS storage, you can order 2-59 servers.
- All servers that you order have the same configuration.
Storage
Storage settings are based on your selection of the storage type.
For deployed instances, you can add NFS storage shares to an existing NFS or vSAN cluster. For more information, see Adding NFS storage to Automated instances.
NFS storage
When you select NFS storage, you can add file-level shared storage for your instance where all shares use the same settings or you can specify different configuration settings for each file share. The number of file shares must be in the range 1 - 100.
Specify the following NFS options:
- Configure shares individually - Toggle this switch on to specify different configuration settings for each file share.
- Number of shares - When you use the same configuration setting for each file share, specify the number of file shares for the NFS shared storage that you want to add.
- Size (GB) - Select the capacity that meets your shared storage needs.
- Performance - Select the IOPS (input/output operations per second) per GB based on your workload requirements.
- Add shared storage - Select to add individual file shares that use different configuration settings.
Choose performance level options according to your needs.
| Option | Details |
|---|---|
| 0.25 IOPS/GB | This option is designed for workloads that are not used often. Example applications include vaulted data, hosting large databases with legacy data, or virtual disk images of virtual memory system as backup. |
| 2 IOPS/GB | This option is designed for most general-purpose workloads. Example applications include hosting small databases, backing up web applications, or virtual machine disk images for a hypervisor. |
| 4 IOPS/GB | This option is designed for higher-intensity workloads that have a high percentage of active data at a time. Example applications include transactional databases. |
| 10 IOPS/GB | This option is designed for the most demanding workload types, such as analytics. Example applications include high-transaction databases and other performance-sensitive databases. This performance level is limited to a maximum capacity of 4 TB per file share. |
vSAN storage
If you select vSAN storage, specify the following settings.
Size for vSAN capacity disks
Select an option for the capacity disks that you need.
Number of vSAN capacity disks
Specify the number of capacity disks that you want to add.
Size for vSAN cache disks
Review the Size for vSAN cache disks value.
Number of vSAN cache disks
Review Number of vSAN cache disks.
Enable vSAN deduplication and compression
vSAN storage depends on the number of servers and your total disk capacity, and the use of deduplication and compression.
The amount of storage reduction from deduplication and compression depends on many factors, including the type of data stored and the number of duplicate blocks. Larger disk groups tend to provide a higher deduplication ratio. For more information, see Using deduplication and compression.
vSAN license (BYOL only)
Bring Your Own License (BYOL) is no longer supported except for migrations or upgrades of existing BYOL clusters. Use this feature only if you are upgrading or migrating an existing BYOL cluster.
If you are a BYOL user, provide your own vSAN license key. Toggle the BYOL switch to Enabled and enter your license key.
If your initial cluster is a vSAN cluster, any additional vSAN clusters use the same vSAN license and have the same configuration as the initial one. This statement is also true for any initial or extra clusters in the instance for which you select vSAN. The first time, you must provide the vSAN license and the edition. The next time that you select vSAN for a new cluster, the license you initially chose will be reused.
Networking type
Select Public and private network or Private network only for the consolidated cluster.
Uplink speed
The uplink speed provides two options:
- 10 Gb, which is selected by default.
- 25 Gb, which is available only for specific pods and data center locations. The following table shows the available locations for the 25 Gb uplink speed.
| Data center | Pod |
|---|---|
| SYD04 | 01 |
| SYD05 | 01 |
| TOK02 | 02 |
| TOK04 | 01 |
| TOK05 | 01 |
| Data center | Pod |
|---|---|
| AMS03 | 01-02 |
| FRA02 | 02 |
| FRA04 | 01 |
| FRA05 | 01 |
| LON04 | 01 |
| LON06 | 01 |
| MAD02 | 01 |
| MAD04 | 01 |
| MAD05 | 01 |
| PAR04 | 01 |
| PAR05 | 01 |
| PAR06 | 01 |
| Data center | Pod |
|---|---|
| TOR04 | 01 |
| TOR05 | 01 |
| WDC04 | 05 |
| WDC06 | 01 |
| WDC07 | 01 |
| Data center | Pod |
|---|---|
| DAL10 | 03 |
| DAL13 | 02 |
| DAL14 | 01 |
VLANs
Network settings are based on your selection of Order new VLANs or Select existing VLANs.
One public VLAN and two private VLANs are required for your instance order. The two private VLANs are trunked into each IBM Cloud bare metal server.
Order new VLANs
Select to order one new public VLAN and two new private VLANs.
Select existing VLANs
Depending on the IBM Cloud data center that you selected, existing public and private VLANs might be available.
When you select to reuse existing public and private VLANs, specify the VLANs and subnets:
- Public VLAN is for public network access. If you select the Allocate a new one option for this field, a new public VLAN is allocated automatically. This field is only available on the Public and private network tab.
- Public primary subnet is assigned to physical hosts for public network access. If you select the Auto assigned option for this field, a new public primary subnet is selected automatically and a new one is created if necessary. This field is only available on the Public and private network tab.
- Private VLAN is for connectivity among the data centers and services within the IBM Cloud. If you select the Allocate a new one option for this field, a new private VLAN is allocated automatically.
- Private primary subnet is assigned to physical hosts for management traffic. If you select the Auto assigned option for this field, a new private primary subnet is selected automatically and a new one is created if necessary.
- Secondary private VLAN is for VMware features such as vSAN. You can select an existing secondary private VLAN or select to allocate a new one.
Ensure that the firewall configuration on the selected VLANs does not block the management data traffic. Also, ensure that all the VLANs that you select are in the same pod. ESXi servers cannot be provisioned on mixed-pod VLANs.
Optionally, use Advanced settings to configure portable subnets for VLANs.
Use the Public VLAN, Private VLAN, or Secondary private VLAN tabs to specify the Portable subnet for each applicable purpose. If you select the Allocate a new one option for this field, a new portable subnet is allocated automatically.
Notes
- You must complete the Public VLAN, Private VLAN, or Secondary private VLAN settings before you can configure portable subnets.
- The number of portable subnets is displayed under Advanced settings after you save the portable subnet settings. Click Portable subnets settings to edit the settings.
- The saved portable subnet settings are cleared if you change the Public VLAN, Private VLAN, or Secondary private VLAN settings.
IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions takes control of the entire subnet and you can't use any IP addresses in the subnet.