5.1

Table Of Contents
Create a Network Pool
Network pools referenced by organization vDCs provide support for isolated and routed vApp networks and
organization vDC networks. To create a network pool, a system administrator must specify backing network
resources on a vCenter server registered to the cloud.
A network pool object represents a collection of vSphere network resources that are contained by a Provider
vDC and available to be associated with organization vDCs backed by that Provider vDC. All network pools
created on a vCenter server are available in each Provider vDC that references the server. Traffic on each
network in a pool is isolated at layer 2 from all other networks.
Only a system administrator can create a network pool. A system administrator can modify a network pool to
change properties such as its description, but cannot change the network resources, such as virtual switches
or portgroups, that provide backing for it. After a network pool has been associated with an organization vDC
(typically when the vDC is created), network resources from the pool are consumed as needed to create isolated
or routed organization vDC networks or vApp networks in the vDC.
NOTE When you create a Provider vDC, a VxlanPoolType network pool is created automatically on the vCenter
server that backs the Provider vDC. This pool is given a name derived from the name of the containing Provider
vDC and attached to it at creation. You cannot delete or modify this network pool. You cannot create
aVxlanPoolType network pool by any other method. If you rename a Provider vDC, its VxlanPoolType network
pool is automatically renamed.
vSphere VXLAN networks are based on the IETF draft VXLAN standard. These networks support local-
domain isolation equivalent to what is supported by vSphere isolation-backed networks. In addition, they
provide:
n
logical networks spanning layer 3 boundaries
n
logical networks spanning multiple racks on a single layer 2
n
broadcast containment
n
higher performance
n
greater scale (up to 16 million network addresses)
All network pools are defined by a VMWNetworkPool element. This element can have one of several types,
specified by its xsi:type attribute. The contents of the element depend on its type. See “Create a VLAN-Backed
Network Pool,” on page 223, “Create an Isolation-Backed Network Pool,” on page 225, and “Create a
Portgroup-Backed Network Pool,” on page 227.
Prerequisites
Verify that you are logged in to the vCloud API as a system administrator.
Procedure
1 Retrieve the XML representation of the vSphere platform extensions.
Use a request like this one.
GET https://vcloud.example.com/api/admin/extension
vCloud API Programming Guide
222 VMware, Inc.