VMware Cloud Sizer User Guide. VMware Cloud services

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VMware Cloud Sizer User Guide

VMware Cloud services

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You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware website at:

https://docs.vmware.com/

VMware, Inc.

3401 Hillview Ave.

Palo Alto, CA 94304 www.vmware.com

VMware Cloud Sizer User Guide

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1

Overview of VMware Cloud sizer 5

2

Working with VMware Cloud sizer 6

Access VMware Cloud Quick Sizer 6

Access VMware Cloud Advanced Sizer - Import 8 Access VMware Cloud Advanced Sizer - Manual 9

Global Settings in Sizer Tool 11

3

Create and Save Your Sizer Project in VMware Cloud sizer 13

View Logs in VMware Cloud sizer 13

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About VMware Cloud Sizer User Guide

The VMware Cloud Sizer User Guide provides information about defining and configuring SDDC sizing for VMware Cloud.

Intended Audience

This information is intended for anyone who wants use VMware Cloud to deploy and manage SDDC infrastructure in a variety of environments. The sizer tool can be accessed through VMware Cloud home page by clicking VMware Cloud Sizer.

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Overview of VMware Cloud sizer

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VMware Cloud sizer is a complimentary VMware Cloud service that estimates the resources required to run various workloads within VMware Cloud.

In addition, the VMware Cloud Services Portal includes an integrated user interface for the sizer to make the process even easier to navigate.

VMware Cloud sizer is responsible for estimating the resource utilization for any VMware Cloud deployment. The VMware Cloud sizer currently supports VMware Cloud on AWS.

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Working with VMware Cloud sizer

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The VMware Cloud sizer tool helps you to estimate cloud resources required to run various workloads in VMware Cloud.

Estimating the resources required to host a given workload within VMware Cloud is a non-trivial task largely dependent on the presented data. The service can accurately calculate project utilization and requirements with the data although the data is not always available. Therefore, the service supports several different input methodologies and sizing workflows. The VMware Cloud sizer tool has three different sizer options.

n Quick Sizer

n Advanced Sizer - Import

n Advanced Sizer - Manual

Each of the sizer options provides you with an accurate estimation that is required to run your workload. The quick sizer is helpful in providing a rough estimation whereas an Advanced Sizer - Manual provides advanced accurate information in detail for your new deployments. For more information, see Access VMware Cloud Advanced Sizer - Manual.

The VMware Cloud sizer provides a mechanism to sign in to your organization and access the different sizer options to calculate your workload estimation. The tool also provides an additional feature of creating and saving your entries as a project for your reference. For more information on creating a new project after signing into the sizer tool, see Chapter 3 Create and Save Your Sizer Project in VMware Cloud sizer.

This chapter includes the following topics:

n Access VMware Cloud Quick Sizer

n Access VMware Cloud Advanced Sizer - Import

n Access VMware Cloud Advanced Sizer - Manual

Access VMware Cloud Quick Sizer

This option provides a rough estimate using minimal information. Quick sizing is appropriate for initial sizing and quick estimates but cannot be used for final estimates. While the calculations are entirely accurate, the data input method can miss important details that can throw off a sizing recommendation by up to 20%+.

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To create a SDDC, you have to enter minimum information and other related information in the sizer tool. The tool provides appropriate results for a quick estimate only.

Procedure

1 Open https://vmc.vmware.com/sizer on a new browser.

2 Select the required Workload Type from the drop-down menu.

Workload Type Description

General The general workload type can contain a set of generic

VMs.

Databases (Oracle) A workload type based on Oracle and Microsoft

database.

Databases (Microsoft)

VDI Full Clone A full clone is an independent copy of a virtual machine

(VM). Although, it shares nothing with its master VM, but it operates entirely separately from the master VM used to create it.

VDI Instant Clone A VDI Instant clone is similar to a linked clone that uses significantly less storage space than a full clone because it accesses software on shared virtual disks.

Because of this sharing mechanism, a linked clone must always have access to the disk used for cloning. To make a linked clone, you take a snapshot of the master VM and then the cloning process creates a replica VM to use for cloning. The linked clone shares virtual disks with the replica VM. The differential— the bits of software that are unique to the linked clone—is stored in a different disk or redo disk. This arrangement allows the linked clone to occupy a smaller amount of physical disk space than the master VM but still access the software installed on the shared virtual disks. You can create hundreds of linked different disks from one replica, reducing the total storage space required.

3 Enter the Total Number of VMs.

For VDI workload types, you can consider one VM per desktop instance.

4 Enter the number of vCPU/pCore.

vCPU/pCore represents the share of virtual CPU per physical CPU. The vCPU/pCore option is not provided when you select the workload type as VDI – Full Clone and VDI Instant Clone.

5 Under Input Averages, select the required vCPUs/VM, vRAM/VM, and Utilized Storage/VM.

a vCPUs/VM - Represents the share of a virtual CPU per VM.

b vRAM/VM - Represents the amount of virtual RAM allocated per VM.

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c Utilized Storage/VM - Represents the value for total storage needs per VM. The total storage includes storage taken up by the operating system and the storage required for all the applications running on the VM.

6 You can select the Enable Stretched Clusters check box for creating a cluster.

7 Click GET RECOMMENDATION.

a Under the Recommendation section, you can view the calculation displayed for the entered resources. You can also select the Host type (AWS) from the drop-down to reflect the requirement for the selected host type. The current options provided for host type is i3 instance type and i3en instance type. For more information on host types, see VMware Cloud on AWS Host Type.

b The Additional Info section provides information related to a detailed breakdown of how the values were calculated for the resources, SDDC and Cluster, Headroom and vSAN policy, and other Sizing Assumptions that were considered. Each of the break up given in this section is based on the inputs that you have provided while calculating the resource estimation for your deployment.

8 To download the report, click Download report (PDF).

Note Your downloaded report is valid up to 30 days only.

9 To request a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for an estimated VMware Cloud on AWS SDDC, click GET TCO, and select Request TCO over email.

a Enter your Name, Company name and Contact details.

b Enter the required sizing details and click Save. Once you save, a request is created with your sizing requirements and VMware professionals will get back to you. To generate the report, the VMware Cloud sizer sends an email to the TCO team with the required details.

10 You can also build your own TCO, click Build your own TCO.

Note The sizer tool also allows you to save your entries as a project. For more information on project workflow, see Chapter 3 Create and Save Your Sizer Project in VMware Cloud sizer.

Access VMware Cloud Advanced Sizer - Import

Importing workload requirements is useful for any existing workload. Although, every sizer option provides an accurate estimate when correct information is provided, but data import ensures accurate data. Data-driven sizing is still dependent on when the data is captured. If the workload requirements are captured during a low activity period, they can miss important requirements.

Prerequisites

To import sizer requirements, ensure that you have existing RV tools or Live optics data for the tool to upload.

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Procedure

1 Open https://vmc.vmware.com/sizer/home on a new browser.

2 On the VMware Cloud sizer home page, under the Advanced Sizer, click Import under Import on-premises data.

a Click RV Tools.

3 On the Import RVTools file, click CHOOSE FILE.

a Select the required additional preferences as required and click Upload.

Note Perform similar steps from Step 1 to 2 for importing Live Optics file.

n RV Tools - RVTools is a free Windows .Net application that connects directly to any existing vSphere environment and exports a current snapshot of the inventory. This snapshot does not include storage performance requirements. It uses the vCenter API to generate an excel sheet file that contains the details on every VM in the environment.

By uploading the file, you can get more accurate sizing because the sizer contains details of every VM configurations.

n Live Optics - Live Optics is a free service from Dell EMC that can capture workload utilization over a designated period. The tool enables non-invasive agent-driven data collection of any workload and can run for a given duration. Live optics is preferred as it includes storage performance data and can be particularly helpful when dealing with high workloads. It is similar to RV Tools but slightly better as you can accurately account for performance and capacity.

Note The sizer tool also allows you to sign in to save your entries as a project. For more information on project workflow, see Chapter 3 Create and Save Your Sizer Project in VMware Cloud sizer.

Access VMware Cloud Advanced Sizer - Manual

An advanced sizer provides a final estimate when sufficient workload knowledge is given. Manual advanced sizing is appropriate for new deployments where the workload requirements are well understood. Advanced sizing require additional information but allow complete customization and are suitable when dealing with any well-understood application.

Procedure

1 Open https://vmc.vmware.com/sizer/home on a new browser.

2 On the VMware Cloud Sizer home page, under the Advanced Sizer, click Get Started under Manual.

3 Select the relevant Workload Type from the drop-down menu.

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5 Under the Sizer Input, enter the Total number of VMs and you can modify the vCPU/pCore based on your requirement.

For VDI workload types, you can consider one VM per desktop instance. vCPU/pCore represents the share of virtual CPU per physical CPU.

Note The vCPU/pCore option is not provided when you select the workload type as VDI – Full Clone and VDI Instant Clone. For more information on Workload type, see Access VMware Cloud Quick Sizer.

a Select Additional tab, when you want to enter more resource entries about the current CPU utilization, memory, storage and I/O related to your workload. Although the values entered are pre-defined by the sizer, if required, you can still continue to modify the values.

6 Enter the required Input Average.

a vCPUs/VM - Represents the share of a virtual CPU per VM.

b vRAM/VM - Represents the amount of virtual RAM allocated per VM.

c Utilized Storage/VM - Represents the value for total storage needs per VM. The total storage includes storage taken up by the operating system as well as the storage required for all the applications running on the VM.

Note The sizer provides additional feature where you can enter an average of your input values. If you are not sure of the average values, then you can enter the input totals.

7 You can add a new workload profile or duplicate the existing one. Click Add Another Workload Profile.

a To manually enter data, click Manual Data.

b To import an existing data, click Import Data > RV Tools or Live Optics. For more information on RV tools and Live Optics, see Access VMware Cloud Advanced Sizer - Import.

8 Click GET RECOMMENDATION.

a Under the Recommendation section, you can view the calculation displayed for the entered resources. You can also select the Host type (AWS) from the drop-down to reflect the requirement for the selected host type. For more information on host types, see VMware Cloud on AWS Host Type. The current options provided for host type is i3 instance type and i3en instance type.

b The Additional Info section provides information related to a detailed breakdown of how the values were calculated for the resources, SDDC and Cluster, Headroom and vSAN policy, and other Sizing Assumptions that were considered. Each of the break up given in this section is based on the inputs that you have provided while calculating the resource estimation for your deployment.

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9 To download the report, click Download report (PDF).

Note Your downloaded report is valid up to 30 days only.

10 To request a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for an estimated VMware Cloud on AWS SDDC, click GET TCO, and select Request TCO over email.

a Enter your Name, Company name and Contact details.

b Enter the required sizing details and click Save. Once you save, a request is created with your sizing requirements and VMware professionals will get back to you. To generate the report, the VMware Cloud sizer sends an email to the TCO team with the required details.

11 You can also build your own TCO, click Build your own TCO.

Note The sizer tool also allows you to save your entries as a project. For more information on project workflow, see Chapter 3 Create and Save Your Sizer Project in VMware Cloud sizer.

Global Settings in Sizer Tool

You can configure your values at a global level that are applicable for all the workloads that you want the sizer to calculate.

SDDC Appliance Size

You can select the required size from the drop-down menu. The literal size of the management appliances to be deployed.

Stretched Cluster

You can select Yes or No, if you want to use a stretched cluster to your workload profile.

Fault Tolerance

Fault tolerance refers to the vSAN Fault Tolerance configuration. By default, the sizer uses whatever is appropriate for a given cluster size based on the SLA requirements. With fault tolerance, you can override the behavior and force a particular configuration. You have the choice of setting Host Failures to Tolerate (HFT) and FTM to specific values or letting the VMC Sizer automatically determine the settings that can minimize the number of hosts in the recommendation while also complying with the VMC SLA requirements.

CPU Headroom

You can enter a valid number to define the headroom. The CPU headroom represents a reserved CPU cores in the SDDC.

Hyper-threading weight (%)

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You can configure Hyper-Threading weight percentage in Global Settings which can be considered for any host type that supports hyper-threading.

Note The global setting is applicable to manual and import method of the sizer tool.

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Create and Save Your Sizer

Project in VMware Cloud sizer 3

After signing into the VMware Cloud sizer UI, you can view all three sizer options displayed on the screen. To retrieve a possible accurate recommendation provided by the sizer tool, select any of the sizer options. You can create a project and save a sizing when logged in. The tools allows you to download a PDF report or customize an existing sizing without recreating the workload requirement.

Prerequisites

Verify that you have a signed in to VMware Cloud sizer tool.

Procedure

1 Once you have signed in, you are automatically directed to a page that contains, Quick Sizer, Advanced Sizer - Manual and Import.

2 After selecting the required sizer, enter the required workload values and get recommendation.

3 To save, click SAVE PROJECT for future reference.

4 Enter the Project Name, Customer Name, and select an associated Tag.

5 Click Save.

You can view all your entries under All Projects table.

View Logs in VMware Cloud sizer

VMware Cloud sizer logs are useful when troubleshooting failures or to view any data modification.

There are two logs in VMware Cloud sizer. You can view logs at individual and high-level projects level.

Prerequisites

Verify that you have signed in to the VMware Cloud sizer tool.

Procedure

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2 After you have signed in to view individual project details, click View Logs on the VMware Cloud sizer home page.

All project levels logs are displayed on the VMware Cloud sizer home page.

3 You can view all the projects and its associated entries as a single view on the VMware Cloud sizer home page.

The All Projects table displays information related to a project that is created. The table consists of the Project Name, an associated tag that you have added while creating a project, workload types, recommendation related to the number of hosts and host type.

You can track changes to a project at the organization level. You can verify when a project is created, modified, or deleted and by whom. The table is mostly helpful when you have to view the version number of the VMware Cloud sizer. As the new version of Sizer releases, existing recommendations are marked as outdated. To change the recommendation, click the project name on the table and you are prompted to click Get New Recommendation.

4 Click the vertical ellipsis to Edit, Delete, Duplicate, and view logs.

5 To download a report, click the PDF download icon.

VMware Cloud Sizer User Guide. VMware Cloud services