Create and Manage Compute Resources

Compute resources are used to provide hardware resources for virtual servers, ensuring highly efficient use of available hardware, and complete isolation of virtual server processes. Compute resources can be organized into Compute zones, which make it easy to offer tiered service levels and create private clouds for specific users. this section contains information on how to create and manage compute resources.


View Compute Resource Details


Each virtual server in the cloud is hosted by a specific physical compute resource server, from which it receives CPU time, RAM and storage capacity from the data stores attached to that compute resource. 

You can view compute resource settings and hardware information.

Ensure that See all compute resources permission is on before viewing compute resource details. For more information about permissions refer to the List of all OnApp Permissions section of this guide.



On this page:

See also:


View Compute Resource Settings

To view compute resource settings:

  1. Go to your Control Panel > Admin > Settings menu.
  2. Click the Compute Resources icon.
  3. On the screen that appears, you will see the list of all compute resources in the cloud along with their details:
    • Status - whether the compute resource is online, offline or in maintenance mode
    • Label - the name of the compute resource
    • IP Address - the IP address of the compute resource
    • Enabled - whether the compute resource is enabled or disabled. If disabled, you cannot create the virtual servers on it, or migrate the VSs to this compute resource. 
    • Compute Zone - the compute zone to which the compute resource is assigned
    • Operating System - the operating system type of the virtual servers that can live on this compute resource
    • CPU Cores - number of CPU cores
    • RAM - total/free RAM (based on the compute resource type)
    • VS - the number of VSs associated to the compute resource
    • Features - , where the first icon shows compute resource's failover status, the second one - statistics collection, the third one - CloudBoot status and the fourth one - backup status (for CloudBoot compute resources only; it shows whether CloudBoot compute resource is used as a backup server)

If you are viewing the compute resources list on a narrow screen, you can customize the way the table is displayed by clicking the actions icon at the top of the table. In the drop-down list that appears, check the columns you want to be displayed and click Apply. The narrower your screen is, the more unchecked columns will be hidden from the table. If your screen is too narrow to fit all the columns you have checked, a scrollbar will appear at the bottom of the compute resources list. You can always alter you column selection later. 

Column selection is currently set for one browser. If the you have checked some columns in one browser and open the list in some other browser, the column selection will be the default one for that other browser.

To sort information by column in ascending or descending order, mouse over the particular column header and click a triangle icon.

To view a particular compute resource details, click the label of a required compute resource. On the screen that appears you'll see compute resource details (RAM usage/RAM available, IP Address,CPU MHZ/CPU cores etc.) and Activity log of this compute resource. In the Target column, you can see an identification number and a name of a compute resource, to which the appropriate action was applied. To view details of a transaction from activity log, click its Ref number.

To edit or delete a compute resource, click the Actions button next to the compute resource, then select the required action.


View Compute Resource Hardware Info

To view compute resource hardware info:

  1. Go to your Control Panel > Admin > Settings menu.
  2. Click the Compute resources icon.
  3. On the screen that appears, you will see the list of all compute resources in the cloud.
  4. Click the Actions button next to the compute resource and press Hardware Info. Also you can click the label of a specific compute resource and select Tools > Hardware Info.
  5. You will see the following details:

    • Summary Info
      This section contains the basic information about the compute resource:
      • Current Uptime - the time the compute resource has been working and available, the number of its users, and the average load
      • Total CPU - the total amount of CPU (number of cores/frequency in MHz) allocated to the compute resource
      • Memory - the total amount of memory (GB) allocated to a compute resource
      • Type - the type of the compute resource, for example, Xen, KVM, etc
      • OS - the operating system of the compute resource
      • Manufacturer/Model - the manufacturer and model of the motherboard
      • BIOS/Serial Number - the system BIOS, its serial number and release date

    • CPU
      This section shows CPU manufacturer logo and information about CPU slots. Click the CPU Details button to get detailed information about CPU from the Intel ARK database if available.

    • RAM
      This section includes information about memory slots (double data rate, memory clock in MHz, size).

    • HD
      This section shows information about the manufacturer and model of a hard disk drive and the hard disk drive capacity in GB.

    • Network
      This section contains information about network cards. Click the Info button next to the specific network to get detailed information from the Intel ARK Database if available.

  6. If hardware information is empty or incomplete, click the Update Hardware Info button in the right upper corner.
  7. Click the Edit Custom Fields button to add/edit/delete custom fields for the hardware info. For more information on how to manage custom fields, refer to the Hardware Info page. 


View Integrated Storage Settings

OnApp provides an overview of integrated storage settings enabled on compute resources available in your cloud. On the Integrated Storage Settings page, you can view information on SAN bonding mode and MTU value, information about disks assigned to cache and controller.

To view integrated storage settings:

  1. Go to the Control Panel > Admin > Settings menu and click the Compute Resources icon.
  2. On the page that appears, you will see the list of compute resources available in your cloud. Click the Actions button next to the label of a compute resource and select the Integrated Storage Settings option.
  3. You will get the following details:
    • SAN bonding mode - the type of the bonding mode
    • MTU - the maximum transportation unit size
    • Cache settings:
      • Number of cache mirrors - the number of cache mirrors for the compute resource
      • Number of cache stripes - the number of cache stripes for the compute resource
    • Controller settings:
      • Controller RAM - the controller RAM value
      • Drives per controller - the number of disks per controller virtual server. By default, the controller virtual server is created per 4 disk drives.
      • Controller DB size - the controller DB size value

Create Compute Resource


You can add more physical Compute resources at any time. To add a Compute resource:

  1. Go to your Control Panel > Admin > Settings menu.
  2. Click the Compute resources icon.
  3. Press "+" button or click the Add a new Compute resource button underneath the list of Compute resources on the screen.
  4. On the screen that appears:

    • Label - enter a Compute resource label.
    • IP Address - add an IP address.
    • Compute Resource Type - choose a Compute resource type (Xen, KVM, vCloud or VMware).

For instructions on creating a VMware Compute resource, refer to vCenter Implementation Guide.

    • Operating System Type - choose an operating system type (Any OS, Windows only or Non-Windows).

      • Any OS - when this option is selected, any VS with any Operating system will live on compute resource. By default each compute resource will be created with the Any OS option. The existing compute resources also will have the Any OS set.
      • Windows only - when this option is selected, only VSs with the operating system Windows will be living on this compute resource. This compute resource will not be available for selection when creating a Linux or FreeBSD VS, nor when migrating a VS.
      • Non-Windows - when this option is selected, only VSs with the operating system Linux or FreeBSD will be possible to create on this compute resource. This compute resource will be skipped for Windows-based VSs in VS creation wizard, or when migrating a VS. Also when failover happens, Windows-based VSs won’t migrate to this compute resource.
    • Backups IP address - add a provisioning network IP address.

    • CPU Units - adjust the slider to set the desired amount of CPU units for this Compute resource. For more info on CPU units, refer to Billing Calculation. Do not apply CPU Units for KVM Compute resources running on baremetal servers. Mind that setting a different amount of CPU units will affect your cloud configuration. It will not be possible to create Instance Package VSs on the compute zone to which you assign this compute resource.

    • Enabled - move the slider to the right to enable a Compute resource. Compute resources that are not enabled cannot be used to host VSs.
    • Integrated Storage -  move the slider to the right to enable Integrated Storage on static compute resources.
    • Collect Stats - move the slider to the right to collect statistics for this Compute resource.

    • Disable Failover - move the slider to the right to disable failover on this Compute resource (failover is automatic VS migration to another Compute resource if this one goes down).

    • Failover recipe - select a recipe to run before the failover process.

    • Power Cycle Command - arbitrary command string to be executed by IPMI from the CP server. If the command is entered, a new option "Power Cycle Compute resource" - which will execute the entered command will appear in Tools menu at Admin > Settings > Compute resources > Compute resource page.

      Currently, a command or commands should be written in one line separated by a semicolon. If the command(s) is written in two lines you will receive a "fail" response, although the transaction will be performed. The power cycle command is executed on Control Panel under user onapp, this may be any script created in bash.

  2. Click the Save button. The Compute resource will be added to the system. You can view it under the Compute resources menu. Click the Back button to return to the Compute resource Settings page.

For details how to create a CloudBoot Compute resource, refer to the Create CloudBoot Compute Resource section.

After you create a compute resource you need to add it to a compute zone of the required type. For more information on compute zone types, refer to Zone Types.



Edit Xen/KVM Compute Resource


To edit a Xen or KVM Compute resource:

  1. Go to your Control Panel > Admin > Settings menu.
  2. Click the Compute resources icon.
  3. Click the Actions button next to the Compute resource you want to edit, then click  Edit.
  4. On the screen that follows, change details as required:
    • Label - the Compute resource's name
    • IP Address - IP address of the Compute resource

    • Operating System Type - choose an operating system type (Any OS, Windows only or Non-Windows)

      Note that the compute resource won't be edited if the VSs with inappropriate operating system are present on it. Thus, it won’t be possible to set Windows only type for a compute resource if there are any Linux or FreeBSD VSs living on it. Likewise, it won't be possible to set the Non-Windows type for a compute resource, if there are Windows-based VSs living on it.

    • Backup IP address - provisioning network IP address

    • CPU units - change the amount of CPU units assigned to this Compute resource.

      Mind that setting a different amount of CPU units will affect your cloud configuration. It will not be possible to create Instance Package VSs on the compute zone to which you assign this compute resource.

    • Enabled - enable or disable the ability to install/boot virtual servers on this Compute resource
    • Collect Stats - enable or disable the ability to collect statistics for this Compute resource

    • Disable failover -enable or disable the VS migration to another Compute resource if this Compute resource is marked as offline by the Control panel server.

      • If you want to enable/disable failover for all compute resources within the compute zone, refer to Manage Failover section of this guide.
      • If you use automatic failover with write-back caching you may lose some data in the event of a failover.

    • Failover recipe - select a recipe to run before the failover process

    • Power Cycle Command - arbitrary command string to be executed by IPMI from the CP server. If the command is entered, a new option "Power Cycle Compute resource" - which will execute the entered command will appear in Tools menu at Settings > Compute resources > Compute resource page.

      Currently, a command or commands should be written in one line separated by semicolon. If the command(s) is written in two lines you will receive a "fail" response, although the transaction will be performed. The power cycle command is executed on Control Panel under user onapp, this may be any script created in bash.

  5. Click the Save button to save your changes.


Edit Integrated Storage Settings

To edit integrated storage settings:

  1. Go to the Control Panel > Admin > Settings menu and click the Compute Resources icon.
  2. On the page that appears, you will see the list of compute resources available in your cloud. Click the Actions button next to the label of a compute resource and select the Integrated Storage Settings option.
  3. Click the Edit button.
  4. On the screen that loads, edit the following parameters:
    • SAN bonding mode - choose bonding mode type from the drop-down menu
    • MTU - specify the maximum transportation unit size. You can set the frame size from 1500 to 9000 bytes
    • VLAN id - specify the ID of a VLAN number
    • Cache settings:
      • Number of cache mirrors - specify the number of cache mirrors for the compute resource
      • Number of cache stripes - specify the number of cache stripes for the compute resource
    • Controller settings:
      • Controller RAM - specify the the controller RAM value. You may calculate the amount of memory needed for a storage controller as DB size (128 MB by default) + 10 MB x vDisk parts at the controller.
      • Drives per controller - specify the number of disks per controller virtual server. You can specify from 1 to 4 disks. By default, the controller virtual server is created per 4 disk drives.
      • Controller DB size - select the controller DB size value (minimum 128 MB, maximum 256 MB)
  5. Click the Save button to save changes.

Delete Compute Resource

Compute resources can be removed from your cloud if required. A Compute resource cannot be removed until all of the virtual servers assigned to it are migrated to another Compute resource. 

To remove a Compute resource:

  1. Go to your Control Panel > Admin > Settings menu.
  2. Click the Compute resources icon.
  3. Click the Actions button next to the Compute resource you want to delete, then click Delete.