Virtual Private Cloud OnDemand User's Guide
Table Of Contents
- vCloud Air - Virtual Private Cloud OnDemand User's Guide
- Contents
- About This User's Guide
- Introducing Virtual Private Cloud OnDemand
- Navigating Virtual Private Cloud OnDemand
- Working with Virtual Machines
- Virtual Machine Overview
- Overview of Storage Tiers
- vApp Overview
- End User Virtual Machine Access
- Sort and View Virtual Machines
- Create a Virtual Machine from a Template
- Create a Virtual Machine Without Using a Template
- Virtual Machine Power Operations
- Edit Virtual Machine Properties
- Adjust Virtual Machine Resources
- Add a Disk to a Virtual Machine
- Set Storage and Runtime Leases for a vApp
- Manage Virtual Machine Properties in vCloud Director
- Connect a Virtual Machine to a Network
- Change Network Assignments for a Virtual Machine
- Connect a Virtual Machine to the Internet
- Log Into a Virtual Machine Guest OS with the Console
- Virtual Machine Monitoring
- Work with Virtual Machine Snapshots
- Managing Your Public Cloud Environment
- Capacity for Virtual Private Cloud OnDemand
- Geographical Locations
- About Gateways and Networks
- Virtual Data Center Overview
- Create a Virtual Data Center
- Edit or Delete a Virtual Data Center
- Virtual Data Center Permissions
- Catalogs and Templates Overview
- Manage Catalogs in vCloud Director
- Role-based User Account Management
- Add a User to Your Service
- Edit User Details
- Delete a User from Your Service
- Reset a User's Password
- Managing User Groups
- Metering Resource Usage
- Index
Virtual Machine Overview
A virtual machine is a software computer that, like a physical computer, runs an operating system and
applications.
The virtual machine consists of a set of specification and configuration files and is backed by the physical
resources of a host. Every virtual machine has virtual devices that provide the same functionality as physical
hardware, while being more portable, more secure, and easier to manage.
Virtual machines have a guest operating system on which you can install and run any software supported
by that operating system. A guest operating system is an operating system that runs inside a virtual
machine. You can install a guest operating system in a virtual machine and control guest operating system
customization for virtual machines created from templates.
For more information about virtual machines in the vSphere platform, see Introduction to VMware vSphere
Virtual Machines in the vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Guide.
Virtual Machines in Virtual Private Cloud OnDemand
VMware built Virtual Private Cloud OnDemand on the vSphere and vCloud platforms. Therefore, you
consume it the same way that you consume your existing on-premises vSphere environments. If you are
running an on-premises vSphere environment, you can connect your private clouds to
Virtual Private Cloud OnDemand seamlessly.
NOTE For information about the capacity maximums for virtual machines in
Virtual Private Cloud OnDemand, see “Capacity for Virtual Private Cloud OnDemand,” on page 48.
An existing VMware vSphere infrastructure is not required to use Virtual Private Cloud OnDemand.
Virtual Private Cloud OnDemand includes the following features to deploy new virtual machines to the
public cloud:
n
A two-step wizard to deploy virtual machines using the VMware Public Catalog
n
Access to vCloud Director to create your own virtual machine templates and customize virtual machine
configuration
n
The ability to upload your own media and manage your private catalog by using vCloud Director
NOTE Virtual Private Cloud OnDemand provides single-sign on access to vCloud Director; installing
vCloud Director locally is not required to use Virtual Private Cloud OnDemand.
The following technical details apply to virtual machines deployed to the public cloud with
Virtual Private Cloud OnDemand:
n
Virtual machines have a guest operating system on which you can install and run any software
supported by that operating system. In vCloud Director, you can install VMware Tools, insert DVDs
and floppy disks, and remotely connect to virtual machines.
n
In the vSphere ESXi architecture, the console's operating system has been removed and all of the
VMware agents run directly on the VMkernel.
Infrastructure services are provided natively through modules included with the VMkernel. Other
authorized third-party modules, such as hardware drivers and hardware monitoring components, can
run in the VMkernel.
Only modules that have been digitally signed by VMware are allowed on the system.
vCloud Air - Virtual Private Cloud OnDemand User's Guide
28 VMware, Inc.