Virtualization concepts and terms

This section defines terms in this guide. For more information, also refer your virtualization vendor’s documentation.

Agent – The SA Agent is software that runs on a server and enables SA to manage the server. The SA Agent must be installed on physical and virtual servers for full management capabilities on servers.

Clone – (n.) A virtual machine created by copying another virtual machine. The clone is identical to the original machine in that it has the same operating system, software, patches as well as CPU, memory and network resources. (vb.) The action of making a copy of a virtual machine.

Cluster – A group of hosts that share resources and can be managed as a unit. You can create virtual machines that run on and share the resources of the cluster. When you add a host to a cluster, that host’s resources become part of the cluster’s resources. The cluster provides a way to manage the resources of the hosts within it. Clusters also enable high availability and load balancing.

Datacenter – The top level container for a set of VMware virtualization resources. A datacenter contains hosts, clusters, resource pools, datastores, and virtual machines. These items can also be organized in folders.

Datastore – A VMware container of storage elements used to allocate storage to virtual machines.

Folder – A location and a container in the virtualization inventory where virtualization objects are stored and accessed. Folders also provide access control based on permissions. The SA Library also uses folders to organize and control access to other items such as patches, patch policies, software packages, and so forth.

Guest Customization – The process of modifying a new virtual machine to make it unique. This may include setting the host name, domain name, time zone, and static IP address. Guest customization is typically one step in deploying a VM from a VM template or in cloning a VM.

Guest Operating System – The configuration setting indicating the operating system running on the virtual machine. Note that this setting may be different from the actual operating system running on the VM.

Guest Tools – The virtualization vendor’s software that runs on a virtual machine and improves integration and performance of the VM. Guest tools perform operations such as synchronizing system clocks and providing a heart beat back to the Virtualization Service. Also called VMware Tools in VMware and Virtual Machine Additions in SCVMM.

Best Practice: Always install the guest tools on all your VMs for best integration.

Host – A server that uses virtualization software to run VMs. A host provides CPU and memory resources, and access to storage and networks for VMs.

Host Groups – In SCVMM, containers you can create to group a set of virtual machine hosts for easier management. Host groups are hierarchical and can contain other host groups.

Hypervisor – A software program that provides the ability to run VMs and typically runs on physical server. May also be called a host.

IaaS - Infrastructure as a Service is a provisioning model in which an organization outsources the equipment used to support operations, including storage, hardware, servers and networking components. The service provider owns the equipment and is responsible for housing, running and maintaining it. The client typically pays on a per-use basis.

Management Path – The method by which SA manages a server. Three management paths are available: agent managed, VS managed and iLO managed. Servers can be managed by more than one management path.

• Agent Managed - Servers managed by the SA Agent. The SA Agent provides the most management capabilities.
• VS Managed - Servers managed by a Virtualization Service such as VMware vCenter Server or Microsoft SCVMM.
• iLO Managed - Servers managed by HPE Integrated Lights Out. For more information, see www.hp.com/go/iLO.

NIC – Network interface card.

OpenStack - OpenStack is a cloud computing project aimed at providing IaaS. It is free and open-source software released under the terms of the Apache License. The project is managed by the OpenStack Foundation, a non-profit corporate entity established in September 2012 to promote OpenStack software and its community.

OpenStack controller node - Server on which you have installed your OpenStack controller and keystone services.

Project – In OpenStack, a project is a logical grouping of VMs that defines quotas and access to VM images.

PXE - The Preboot Execution Environment, or PXE, is an environment in which to boot computers using a network interface independently of data storage devices or installed operating systems.

Resource Pool – In VMware, a way to divide the resources of a host or a cluster into smaller pools. A resource pool contains a set of CPU and memory resources that all the VMs running in the resource pool share. Resource pools provide the ability to balance workloads across the resource pool.

SCVMM – System Center Virtual Machine Manager, Microsoft’s management tool for managing hypervisors and virtual machines.

vCenter Server – VMware’s Virtualization Service for managing ESX and ESXi hypervisors, and virtual machines.

Virtualization Containers – Any container of virtualization resources including clusters, datacenters, folders, host groups, hypervisors, resource pools, and virtualization services.

Virtualization Service – A platform for centrally managing virtual resources such as hypervisors and virtual machines. Examples are VMware vCenter Server and Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM).

Virtual Machine (VM) – A software version of a computer, consisting of an operating system, storage, networking and applications, just like a physical computer. In OpenStack, a VM may be called an “instance.”

VM Template – A specification for a virtual machine. You can create a virtual machine from a VM template and you can create a VM templates from a virtual machine. A VM template typically includes an OS Build Plan for installing an operating system, patch policies that specify patches to be installed, software policies that specify software to be installed, application configurations that specify how the software should be configured, and the SA Agent for managing the virtual machine. VM templates allow you to control what type of virtual machines get created and they allow you to keep your virtual machines in compliance.