UKCloud for VMware FAQs
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UKCloud for VMware FAQs
Service
What is the service?
UKCloud for VMware is an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) offering that enables organisations to rapidly provision and scale secure virtual machines (VMs) in minutes, in a flexible and autonomous manner.
UKCloud provides this service across two security domains, Assured OFFICIAL and Elevated OFFICIAL, and with a range of service levels offering up to 99.99% availability. This choice enables customers to precisely match application and user needs to an appropriate security domain, service level and cost, instead of designing to the highest level which may not always be needed.
Can VMs have different characteristics?
Yes. We offer three VM Types: ESSENTIAL, POWER and PRIORITY.
VM characteristics are inherited from the virtual data centre (VDC) the VM is deployed in. It is not currently possible to have a VDC that has mixed VM types.
However, customers can use multiple VDCs to deliver their solution.
Are VMs contended?
ESSENTIAL VMs are contended: VMs contend for memory and processor resources.
POWER & PRIORITY VMs: UKCloud has implemented a combination of technical and process controls (for example, an ISO 20000-certified capacity management process) to ensure that these VMs don't contend for memory or processor resources.
POWER VMs operate where automated rebalancing is enabled to pre-emptively optimise performance and availability.
PRIORITY VMs differ from other VM types. Automated rebalancing is configured to reduce workload movement around the platform, reducing workload disruption.
Can a VM communicate to another VM of a different type?
Yes. VMs can communicate with each other. In some cases, customers may need to use the built-in self-service IPsec VPN functionality to create a virtual private network within our Assured cloud platform.
Can VMs types be changed?
Yes, but the customer must first export the VMs, then import them back into the VDC that has been created with the target VM type.
Can I convert from one VM type to another, without having to move VMs between vDCs?
Customers can manage the migration between VM types. Customers can also move vApps and VMs between VDCs as long as they're in the same assurance domain, for example Assured to Assured.
More complex migrations, from the Assured to the Elevated security domain, must be managed by UKCloud.
If you want to migrate a vApp larger than 1.5TiB, you'll need to engage the UKCloud support team to facilitate the process. To do so, raise a Service Request via the My Calls section of the UKCloud Portal.
What hypervisor do you use?
UKCloud's environment is built using VMware vSphere, the most ubiquitous and mature hypervisor available. Secure multi-tenancy is achieved with VMware Cloud Director.
Can I have a read-only account in vCloud for monitoring?
This is available on the UKCloud Portal under permissions that can be set by your account administrator.
Virtual machines (VMs)
Do I get root access onto the local VM?
Yes, as this is a true IaaS cloud service, you have complete control and autonomy over each VM, and so have full root or administrative access.
What VM sizes are available?
UKCloud offers a variety of T-shirt sizes to meet customers' needs. The smallest configuration is 0.5GiB and 1 vCPU. The largest is 128GiB memory with 12 vCPU.
Check the UKCloud for VMware Service Definition for more details on the currently available sizes.
Note
UKCloud for VMware does not currently support custom-sized VMs outside the T-shirt sizes, however if you require more flexibility with regards to VM sizes, we advise the use of our other multi-cloud technologies such as OpenStack, Oracle or Azure. Alternatively, you may consider the use of Dedicated Compute v2 to build custom-sized VMs.
Can I resize a VM?
Yes, you can change vCPU, RAM and storage allocations via the self-service vCloud Director/VMware Cloud Tenant Portal and vCloud API.
You can add or remove processors and memory from VMs if the OS supports the 'hot add' capability.
Increasing CPU or memory allocations may result in the VM being billed at a higher rate.
Additional VM storage can be allocated instantly and will be billed on a per GiB basis.
What is the speed of each vCPU?
This is set at 2GHz for all VMs except Micro sized VMs, which can be restricted to run at 500MHz.
What is the fastest way of importing large amounts of data onto the UKCloud platform?
The speed of data transfer to the UKCloud platform isn't guaranteed. However, during tests of the upload and download speeds, an average of 8 Mbit/s was achieved for VM import/export and 40 Mbit/s for data transferred over FTPS.
For a transfer time calculator, go to: https://techinternets.com/copy_calc?do
If you use FTPS to upload data to or download it from your environment, you can transfer up to 1TiB of data in a day.
Alternatively, we offer the Mass Transfer Facility option enabling customers to import large quantities of data via NAS, HDD or USB devices that are plugged directly into your environment. Please check the Mass Transfer Facility Service Scope or the UKCloud Pricing Guide for further details.
Does UKCloud offer encryption on the VM?
UKCloud for VMware provides always-on data at rest encryption (D@RE) in Regions 13 and 14.
In other regions UKCloud can supply licensing for HyTrust DataControl. Alternatively, you can implement encryption using the technology of your choice inside the VM's operating system.
Does your data at rest encryption solution provide FIPS 140-2 or Common Criteria certification?
We use Pure Storage for our data at rest encryption solution in regions 13 and 14, which is FIPS 140-2 and Common Criteria certified.
Is UKCloud's encryption service available for UKCloud for VMware?
Not currently as a service (see above). We're considering this as an option, so please provide feedback by sending an email to [email protected].
Is it possible to non-fast-provision vApps, and to convert current vApps into non-fast-provisioned ones?
Fast provisioning is enabled only by customer request - by default, all vApps are non-fast-provisioned. Customers can right-click on a VM and consolidate. This can also be done by raising a Service Request via the My Calls section of the UKCloud Portal.
What is Dedicated Compute?
Dedicated Compute comprises physical hosts assigned to a customer for their sole use. They're managed using the standard tools and services in the UKCloud platform.
Dedicated Compute enables customers to:
Comply with legacy licensing requirements from software suppliers whose licensing is based on a physical CPU (such as Oracle or desktop operating systems)
Build bespoke sized VMs on the UKCloud platform
Dedicated Compute uses the same storage infrastructure as the shared compute platform.
There's a longer deployment lead time for Dedicated Compute, as well as a longer contractual commitment than our shared cloud platform (one month rather than one hour).
For more details, see the Dedicated Compute v2 Service Definition.
Note
Dedicated Compute is available only in UKCloud regions 5 and 6.
Can I utilise multiple storage types with my VM?
UKCloud offers two storage types to customers:
Tier 1 which is a fast storage offering
Tier 2 which is a standard storage offering
With Tier 1 and Tier 2 storage, customers can utilise both types to deliver their solutions - including running VMs utilising disks on different storage types.
Can I change between storage types associated with the VMs I've deployed?
If a customer has both Tier 1 and Tier 2 storage profiles available, they can self-migrate between these storage types.
What happens when I switch off my VMs using the guest operating system?
If you shut down your VM using the guest OS, we will recognise this as a 'Power Off' event and you will not be billed while the VM remains in this state. Billing will resume once the VM is powered on again.
How do I change the workload type of a VDC?
To change the workload type (for example, ESSENTIAL, POWER or PRIORITY) of a VDC, you must raise a Service Request via the My Calls section of the UKCloud Portal, and the support team will make the necessary changes.
Please note this change is disruptive and UKCloud will be required to power down all VMs in the VDC during this transition.
Networking
How many IP addresses do I get?
You're initially allocated five external IP addresses with a new compute service.
You can ask for more external IP addresses by raising a Service Request via the My Calls section of the UKCloud Portal. Please note that there is a £20 charge per additional IP address.
There's no limit to the number of internal IP addresses (RFC1918) you can allocate.
How many PSN IP addresses do I get?
Customer organisations are initially allocated one external PSN IP address.
You can request additional external PSN IP addresses by raising a Service Request via the My Calls section of the UKCloud Portal should a valid business requirement arise. Please note that there is a £20 charge per additional IP address.
There's no limit to the number of internal IP addresses (RFC1918) customers can allocate.
What firewall services are available?
UKCloud controls and manages a perimeter firewall on the edge of our Assured cloud platform which securely segregates traffic. Within the UKCloud for VMware environment, we provide you with a dedicated self-managed virtual firewall that delivers typical firewall functionality such as access control lists and network address translation, as well as basic load balancing and support for VPNs.
You can also use your preferred firewall and security appliances, as long as they're compatible with the VMware virtual infrastructure used to power the UKCloud Assured cloud platform.
UKCloud also offers the additional benefits of a Distributed Firewall (DFW). An advanced security feature, DFW enables you to create security groups based on VM names, IP address and groups, which in turn enable the creation of firewall rules that are pinned to the VM. This makes firewall rules portable and simplifies the configuration and application. DFW is part of UKCloud for VMware's Advanced Management bundle.
How do I create and manage firewall rules?
Your UKCloud-provided dedicated virtual firewall is managed exclusively by you. You can set and manage firewall rules via the VMware Cloud Director tenant portal and vCloud API.
On-boarding guides and associated video tutorials are available to help customers configure and manage their firewalls.
Can I bring my own firewall?
Customers can choose to deploy the firewall technology of their choice.
This service, how to order it, and the constraints it may place on operation, is fully documented within our Knowledge Centre.
What is the Advanced Management bundle?
The Advanced Management bundle includes Distributed Firewall (DFW), Distributed Logical Router (DLR), Layer 2 VPN and vROPs Tenant Monitoring and Metrics.
Note
The Advanced Management bundle may not be available in all regions and zones.
The bundle is enabled at an organisation (vOrg) level, therefore all VMs within the organisation will be uplifted. See the UKCloud Pricing Guide for details.
How does UKCloud provide urgent maintenance notifications and incident reports?
You can view these, as well as general service status information on the UKCloud Service Status page.
Do you offer dynamic or static IP addresses?
The external IP addresses are static. Internal IPs can be assigned statically from a pool, manually or dynamically via DHCP.
Are external Domain Name System (DNS) services available?
No, we don't currently offer this service. You can implement your own DNS servers within your solution, or configure your virtual firewall to enable connectivity to an externally hosted DNS server - for example, one hosted on a government secure network such as PSN, Janet or HSCN; or one available on the Internet such as Google 8.8.8.8.
Are domain name registration services available?
No, we don't currently offer this service. Some government secure networks (such as PSN and HSCN) offer domain name registration and DNS hosting as part of their service.
For internet-facing services a third-party DNS provider will be required.
Is Network Time Protocol available for time synchronisation?
Yes, this is available for Assured OFFICIAL and Elevated OFFICIAL. See Network Time Protocol server access for details.
Can UKCloud provide SSL certificates or can existing SSL certificates be used?
UKCloud doesn't provide SSL certificates, but you can use your existing ones.
Some government secure networks (such as PSN and HSCN) provide SSL certificates as part of their service.
Do you offer load balancing?
Yes, you can configure load balancing within the service and it is included within the price.
Supported protocols: HTTP, HTTPS, TCP.
Supported algorithms: Round Robin, IP Hash, URI, Least Connected.
Can I deploy my own load balancer?
Yes, you can deploy your own load-balancing virtual appliance (for example, F5, Stingray, Zeus) if support for other algorithms is required.
In addition, UKCloud offers Neustar UltraDNS from UKCloud - an authoritative DNS and global load balancing service, which you can customise for your own specific requirements. An FAQ and Service Scope are available in the Knowledge Centre.
Storage
How much storage do I get with a VM?
A VM comes with a default amount of 60GiB of Tier 2 storage.
The exception is Micro sized VMs. These have a fixed 10GiB allocation that cannot be increased. If this allocation is exceeded, the VM is treated as Tiny.
Can I reallocate storage across VMs?
No, storage pooling isn't possible. Each VM must have a minimum of 60GiB (except Micro VMs).
You can quickly and easily allocate additional storage via the self-service VMware Cloud Director tenant portal or vCloud API. Additional storage is charged on a per-GiB basis as listed in the UKCloud Pricing Guide.
Is storage persistent?
Yes, unlike some other cloud platforms, storage is persistent.
This means that your data and VM configuration remain available to you even if the VM is switched off or restarted.
What is the Tier 1 storage solution?
Tier 1 storage is designed for the following scenarios:
Applications that require improved performance when accessing stored data such as high activity databases
Applications that have irregular usage patterns that require a consistent performance such as data warehouses or batch process applications
Existing applications can take advantage of Tier 1 storage. A migration process may be involved.
Tier 1 storage is available for use with all VM types and compatible with all protection technologies.
Talk to your UKCloud Account Director or Cloud Architect to understand if Tier 1 storage can benefit your solution.
What are independent disks?
Independent disks are a technology provided natively by VMware Cloud Director, and are included as options by default in the UKCloud service. They can only be created via the API, and cannot be created though the user interface. UKCloud has provided some advice on how to create and control them here.
Independent disks are stand-alone virtual disks that you create in organization VDCs. Administrators and users who have adequate rights can create, remove, and update independent disks, and connect them to virtual machines.
When you create an independent disk, it is associated with an organisation VDC but not with a VM. After the disk has been created in a VDC, the disk owner or an administrator can attach it to any VM deployed in that VDC. The disk owner can also modify disk properties, detach it from a VM, and remove it from the VDC. The system administrator and organisation administrator of the organisation that contains the VDC have the same rights to use and modify the disk as the disk owner.
Only one VM can be connected to an independent disk at a time.
Why have independent disks started to appear on my bill?
Previously, independent disks appeared on customer invoices when they were actively attached to a VM. This meant that customers continually mounting and dismounting independent disks may not have seen the true size of their UKCloud for VMware environment.
We have improved our reporting to advise customers of the independent disks they have currently created, and the amount of storage associated with those disks, and the monthly cost associated with those disks.
What if I use my independent disks with the same VM all the time?
We advise that you move the data in the independent disk into a disk associated with a single VM. This will enable you to take advantage of the free 60GiB of storage included with all UKCloud VMs.