Compute zones can be used to create different tiers of service and have data stores and networks attached to them. The combination of compute resource, data store, and network groups can be used to create private clouds for customers. Compute zones have types which are inherited by the compute resources in the zone.

Create Compute Zone

Follow the below procedure to create a compute zone for any type of compute resources apart from VMware. To create a compute zone for VMware compute resources, please, refer to Create VMware Compute Zone.  

After you create a compute zone you need to attach compute resources, networks and backup servers to it.

Keep in mind that you can attach only those resources that have the same type as the compute zone. 

Do not add CloudBoot and static compute resources, as well as Xen and KVM compute resources, to one compute zone. The reason is that KVM virtual servers cannot be migrated to a Xen compute resource.

To create a new compute zone:

  1. Go to your Control Panel > Admin > Settings menu and click the Compute Zones icon.
  2. Press "+" or click the Create Compute Zone button.
  3. On the screen that follows the parameters you need to input depend on the type of the compute zone you want to create:
  4. After you fill in all the parameters, click the Save button.

Create Virtual Compute Zone

  • Label - give your compute zone a name.

  • Server type - choose the server type from the drop-down box. Choose the virtual server type to create a Xen, KVM, or CloudBoot zone. Only XEN, KVM and VMware compute resources can be attached to a zone of this type.

    The zone's type cannot be changed after the zone is created.

  • Location group - select the location group to which this compute zone will be assigned.

  • Release resource type - this option allows you to free up the compute resource resources and over-commit RAM, CPU and CPU shares by means of the virtual servers that are shut down. By default, the compute zone is created with the Memory Guarantee option enabled. In this case the over-committing cannot be used. To enable resource releasing, choose either the Ballooning or Only Started Virtual Servers option.

    • Memory guarantee - the actual free compute resource memory is calculated. All virtual servers residing on the compute resource will be able to start. 

    • Ballooning (KVM Compute resources only) - free compute resource memory is calculated with the ability to use memory over-committing. 

      A virtual server may be migrated to another compute resource if there is not enough memory for it to start up on the compute resource with the ballooning option enabled. 

      Do not use the ballooning option if there is at least one edge or storage server within the compute zone. 

      When using ballooning option it is impossible to monitor the exact free compute resource memory as it is a floating value. Therefore, some VS edit or start actions may fail.

    • Only started Virtual Servers - only the memory of running virtual servers is calculated.

  • Max VS to start at once - specify the maximum number of virtual servers that can be started simultaneously on a compute resource (5 recommended). This option ensures that virtual servers with VIP status will be booted prior to other servers.

  • Placement type - specify the compute resource selection algorithm, which will be used on virtual server provisioning and recovery, per compute zone.

    • Take HV with maximum free RAM (Sparse) - set this type to select the compute resource with maximum free RAM during the VS recovery. This option allows you to perform faster migration of virtual servers with a lesser (sparse) number of iterations during the failover.
      This option behaves in different ways, depending on the event:
      On provisioning, the round-robin algorithm will be used on compute resource selection.
      On recovery, the compute resource with maximum free RAM will be selected.
    • Take HV with minimum free RAM (Dense)- with this type the system selects the compute resource with minimum required free RAM. This option allows filling a compute resource as densely as possible before starting to use the next compute resource in the zone.

  • Failover timeout - time period for which the iterations will run during the failover if the compute resource does not respond.

  • CPU units - set the number of CPU units which will be assigned to each compute resource in this zone by default. Do not apply CPU Units for baremetal servers. 

  • Set max memory (appears only if the Ballooning release resource type is selected) - move the slider to the right to enable a max memory parameter for virtual servers within the compute zone

    When you enable the Set max memory option, the limit for VSs is calculated as follows: 

    Max Memory Limit = Memory × Compute Resource Max Memory Rate 

    Where: 

    • Memory - the amount of RAM currently allocated to a virtual server

    • Compute Resource Max Memory Rate - the default max memory rate is eight (8). To modify the default max memory rate, change a value of the kvm_max_memory_rate parameter in the on_app.yml file.

    If the calculated max memory limit is more than 90% of free RAM available on a compute resource, then the limit is equal to 90% of free RAM available on the compute resource.
    You can customize a max memory limit for a particular virtual server. For more information, refer to Set Max Memory.

  • CPU guarantee - move the slider to the right to ensure there is enough CPU on the compute zone to create a new VS. 

  • Run sysprep - move the slider to enable Windows virtual server deployment with running sysprep. If there are several simple deployed virtual servers from the same template in the cloud, having identical SIDS, joined to the Active Directory Domain, it will provoke the system conflict.

    It is not possible to set VS password when creating a Windows-based VMware virtual server without running a sysprep.

  • Extended CPU Configuration - move the slider to the right to enable extended CPU flags for all compute resources added to this compute zone.

  • Instance Package VSs - move the slider to the right if you want the zone to be used when creating Instance Package VSs only. If you enable this option, the zone will not be available in the virtual server creation wizard's Resources step for custom VSs (VSs built by setting resources manually). If this slider does not appear, this zone is inappropriate for creating Instance Package VSs.

    Note that Instance Package VSs can only be created on compute resources within compute zones where all compute resources are assigned the same amount of CPU units. If there are compute resources with different amount of CPU units set in a zone, it will not be possible to create Instance Package VSs in such zones. The reason is that CPU priority for Instance Package VSs in this configuration cannot be set to 100%, which is the default value for such virtual servers.

  • Use Local Read Path - move the slider to the right to minimize the network throughput dependency for read heavy workloads. When the Use Local Read Path option is enabled, reads go over the local software bridge to a local replica of the data rather than traverse a physical NIC + switch. This parameter is Integrated Storage related.
  • Custom Config - specify any custom commands you want to run when a compute zone is booted. 

Hot Migration Options

  • Auto-converge - select the preferable type of the auto-converge functionality:
    • Minor - auto-converge with default CPU throttling during migration
    • Moderate - auto-converge with moderate CPU throttling
    • Aggressive - auto-converge with aggressive CPU throttling

Hot Migration Options are not available when selecting Virtual Private Cloud server type.

Create Smart Compute Zone

  • Label - give your compute zone a name.

  • Server type - choose the server type from the drop-down box. Choose the smart server type to create a smart server zone. Only KVM compute resources can be attached to a zone of this type. Smart servers will be further created on such compute resources.

    The zone's type cannot be changed after the zone is created.

  • Location group - select the location group to which this compute zone will be assigned.

  • Placement type - specify the compute resource selection algorithm, which will be used on virtual server provisioning and recovery, per compute zone.

    • Take HV with maximum free RAM (Sparse) - set this type to select the compute resource with maximum free RAM during the VS recovery. This option allows you to perform faster migration of virtual servers with a lesser (sparse) number of iterations during the failover.
      This option behaves in different ways, depending on the event:
      On provisioning, the round-robin algorithm will be used on compute resource selection.
      On recovery, the compute resource with maximum free RAM will be selected.
    • Take HV with minimum free RAM (Dense) - with this type the system selects the compute resource with minimum required free RAM. This option allows filling a compute resource as densely as possible before starting to use the next compute resource in the zone.

  • Failover timeout - time period for which the iterations will run during the failover if the compute resource does not respond.

  • Run sysprep - move the slider to enable Windows virtual server deployment with running sysprep. If there are several simple deployed virtual servers from the same template in the cloud, having identical SIDS, joined to the Active Directory Domain, it will provoke the system conflict.

    It is not possible to set VS password when creating a Windows-based VMware virtual server without running a sysprep.

  • Extended CPU Configuration - move the slider to the right to enable extended CPU flags for all compute resources added to this compute zone.

  • Use Local Read Path - move the slider to the right to minimize the network throughput dependency to read heavy workloads. When the Use Local Read Path option is enabled, reads go over the local software bridge to a local replica of the data rather than traverse a physical NIC + switch. This parameter is Integrated Storage related.
  • Custom Config - specify any custom commands you want to run when a compute zone is booted. 


Create Baremetal Compute Zone

  • Label - give your compute zone a name.

  • Server type - choose the server type from the drop-down box. Choose the baremetal server type to create a baremetal server zone. Only XEN compute resources can be attached to a zone of this type. Baremetal servers will be further created on such compute resources.

    The zone's type cannot be changed after the zone is created.

  • Location group - select the location group to which this compute zone will be assigned.

  • Run sysprep - move the slider to enable Windows virtual server deployment with running sysprep. If there are several simple deployed virtual servers from the same template in the cloud, having identical SIDS, joined to the Active Directory Domain, it will provoke the system conflict.

    It is not possible to set VS password when creating a Windows-based VMware virtual server without running a sysprep.

  • Extended CPU Configuration - move the slider to the right to enable extended CPU flags for all compute resources added to this compute zone.

  • Custom Config - specify any custom commands you want to run when a compute zone is booted.

See also:

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