Create and Manage Compute Zones

Compute zones can be used to create different tiers of service and have data stores and networks attached to them. The combination of сompute 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. This section provides information on how you can create and manage compute zones.

View Compute Zones 

To view сompute zones:

  1. Go to your Control Panel > Admin > Settings menu and click the Compute Zones icon.

  2. The screen that appears will show all zones currently set up in the cloud along with the following details:

    • Label - compute zone's name
    • Zone type - type of the zone: Virtual, Smart, Baremetal, or VPC

    • Location group - the location group to which the compute zone is assigned

  3. To view a particular compute zone details, click the label of a required zone.
To view the list of compute zones via the Control Panel menu, click the Compute resources menu in the left pane.



On this page:

See also:


View Compute Zone Details


To view details of a compute zone:

  1. Go to your Control Panel > Admin > Settings menu and click the Compute Zones icon.
  2. Click the label of the zone you're interested in. The screen that follows shows details of that zone:

    • Label - the compute zone’s name.
    • Location group - the location group where this zone is located.
    • Max VS to start at once - the maximum number of VSs which can run simultaneously in this zone.
    • Placement type - the compute resource selection algorithm, which will be used on virtual server provisioning and recovery.
    • Failover timeout - the time period (in minutes) for which the iterations will run during the failover if the compute resource does not respond.
    • Release resource type - shows which option is set for over-commiting RAM, CPU and CPU shares. 
    • Extended CPU Configuration - shows whether the Extended CPU Configuration is enabled for this zone.
    • Assigned Compute resources - the list of compute resources assigned to the zone.
    • Unassigned Compute resources - the list of compute resources in the cloud that are not assigned to the zone. This list depends on the compute zone type. Only compute resource that can be assigned to a compute zone of this type, will be shown here. For the details see the Zone Types doc.


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:
    Create Virtual Compute Zone
    Create Smart Compute Zone
    Create Baremetal Compute Zone
  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 (in minutes) 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 the slider is disabled and 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.

  • CPU Model Configuration - select the type of CPU model configuration

    • Default KVM - regular CPU model configuration with no default CPU flags
    • Extended CPU Configuration - CPU model with a set of extended CPU flags that can be applied to new and existing VSs in a zone
    • Passthrough Host CPU - CPU model with a set of default and additional flags automatically applied to existing and new VSs

  • 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. 


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 (in minutes) 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 the slider is disabled and 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.

  • CPU Model Configuration - select the type of CPU model configuration

    • Default KVM - regular CPU model configuration with no default CPU flags
    • Extended CPU Configuration - CPU model with a set of extended CPU flags that can be applied to new and existing VSs in a zone
    • Passthrough Host CPU - CPU model with a set of default and additional flags automatically applied to existing and new VSs
  • 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. 


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 the slider is disabled and 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.

  • CPU Model Configuration - select the type of CPU model configuration

    • Default KVM - regular CPU model configuration with no default CPU flags
    • Extended CPU Configuration - CPU model with a set of extended CPU flags that can be applied to new and existing VSs in a zone
    • Passthrough Host CPU - CPU model with a set of default and additional flags automatically applied to existing and new VSs
  • Custom Config - specify any custom commands you want to run when a compute zone is booted.


Add Compute Resource to Compute Zone

When adding several compute resources to a zone, you can arrange the servers running on particular compute resources into a paid service.  Besides, adding several compute resources into one zone provides the failover capabilities to your services.

Only compute resources of relevant type can be added to a zone. For more information refer to Zone Types. When you add a compute resource to a compute zone, the compute resource inherits the zone's type.

To add a compute resource to a zone:

  1. Go to your Control Panel's Settings menu and click the Compute Zones icon.
  2. Click the label of the zone you want to add a compute resource to. The screen that appears will show you the list of compute resources in the cloud, organized into two lists – those assigned to the zone already, and those that are unassigned.
  3. In the unassigned list, find the compute resource you want to add to the zone and click the Actions button next to it, then click Add.

Be careful when adding new compute resources to compute zone with Extended CPU Configuration enabled. For more information, refer to the Manage Extended CPU Flags for Compute Zone section of this guide.

Remove Compute Resource from Compute Zone

To remove a compute resource from a zone:

  1. Go to your Control Panel > Admin > Settings menu and click the Compute Zones icon.
  2. Click the label of the zone you want to remove a compute resource from. The screen that appears will show you all compute resources in the cloud, organized into two lists – those assigned to the zone already, and those that are unassigned.
  3. In the assigned list, find the compute resource you want to remove and click  in the the Actions section next to it.
  • You cannot remove a vCloud Director compute resource from a compute zone.
  • You can only remove a compute resource from a compute zone if it currently hosts no virtual servers.
  • It is possible to re-assign compute resources only between compute zones of the same type. For more information, refer to Zone Types.



Delete Compute Zone

To delete a compute zone:

  1. Go to your Control Panel > Admin > Settings menu, and click the Compute Zones icon.
  2. The screen that appears will show all zones currently set up in the cloud.
  3. Click the Actions button next to the zone you want to remove, then choose Delete to remove it from the cloud. You will be asked to confirm the deletion.