Groups (Topology Designs)

Groups are used to create scalable stacks of components in the Designer tab. Scalable stacks contain related components that can be scaled out or scaled in together. For example, you can create a Web Server group that contains the following three components in its scalable stack:

• A web application
• An Apache web server
• The server component on which the other two components are hosted

Optionally, you can expose the Instance Count of a group to subscribers who can specify the number of instances of the scalable stack that will be provisioned. For example, if an Instance Count of 2 is specified in the example above, then two instances of the Web Server group (with a combined total of six components) will be provisioned.

The groups created for a topology design are unique to that design. They are not shared across designs. A relationship can be created between two components inside a group or between a component outside a group and a component inside a group. However, relationships are not supported between components that belong to different groups.

Tasks

Manage Groups

In the Designer tab, click Manage Groups to perform the following tasks for groups:

• Create Group - Click the Create icon and provide the following information for the group:
  • Display Name - Enter a unique display name for the group.
  • Image - Select an image that will display in the Operations area of the Cloud Service Management Console and in the Marketplace Portal.
  • Color - Select a color that appears as the background for the group when it displays in the Designer tab.
• Edit Group - Click the Edit icon to change the Display Name, Image, or Color for a group.
• Delete - Select the group you want to delete and click the Delete icon. If you delete a group that contains components, the components remain in the design and the group is removed from the design.

Add Components to Groups - In the Designer tab, click a component in the design to access the menu that slides out to the right of the component. Click the Edit icon and select a Group to which the selected component will be added. A group is displayed in the Designer as a colored rectangle, which contains all components in the group.

Configure Group Properties - Click in the group's colored background or title bar, and do the following:

1. In the Properties tab, in the right pane of the Designer, set Instance Count to indicate the number of instances of the group that will be provisioned for the topology design.
2. Click Save to save property changes.

Move a Group - Click within a group and drag the group to a new location in the Designer.

View Unused Groups - An information box displays in the lower left corner of the Designer when a topology design contains any groups that are unused. Unused groups are groups that have been defined, but contain no components. Click the Show link to see the list of unused groups. Click Hide to close the list of unused groups.