Resource management

VPC management

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There are several Virtual Private Cloud providers available on the ´Marketplace´. You need to provision at least one VPC package from a suitable provider in order to be able to create virtual machines.

Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) resource package can be added by clicking to ´Marketplace´ and selecting ´Private Clouds´ from the menu to go to the list of VPC.

Currently, there are three VPC component names listed: ´Cores´, ´Ram´, and ´Storage´. For configuration of a VPC resource please fill in a suitable quantity for each component and click on the ´Add to cart´ button. Here by changing the quantities of components, you can see Prices accordingly per day, per 30 days, per 365 days, and finally the total price of the VPC.

It is mandatory to input ´Tenant name´ to order a VPC.
We also strongly suggest filling the ´Tenant description´ field.

Finally click on Add to cart and Request on the next page.

Request approval

a) If your role in the Project is ´Project Manager´ or ´System Administrator´, please ask your Organization Owner to approve the order.

b) If your role is ´Organization Owner´ you are able to complete the purchase to final approval (click the ´Purchase´ button). Hereafter the system will need a couple of minutes to execute the order. Once the system changes the state to ´Done´, your VPC is ready to use.

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Provisioned VPC resource package will be automatically enabled for the project as a VM provider. For other projects it can be enabled by the organization owner under Provider management within organization workspace.

VM management

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Projects need to have at least one VPC resource package enabled before any virtual machines can be created. You can follow this guide to add a new VPC.

VMs can be added by clicking to ’Marketplace’ and selecting ’Virtual machines’ from the menu to go to the list of Virtual Machines.

Ordering a ’Virtual Machine’ requires a VM name and selection of a VM image.
Please select the ’Image’ for a VM and click on the ’Select’ button, returning to the form.

Selecting the initial VM resource profile, the flavor, by clicking on the ’Flavor: Show choices’ selector is mandatory.
The flavor will set the initial resource profile for a VM - how much RAM, vCPU cores, and storage it will have.

Warning

VM images contain their minimum requirements information, and non-matching VM flavors are disabled automatically.

Selecting VM flavor will also update ’System volume size’ with the option to override it manually (to a higher custom value). The size of ’Data Volume’ can be customized and incremented in 1 GB steps. ’System volume’ must be at least 10 GB, whereas ’System volume’ and ’Data volume’ must be equal to or less than VPC’s total Storage.

By default, provisioned virtual machines expect users to log in using SSH keys. The initial SSH key for login should be selected by clicking on the ’SSH public key: Show choices’ selector.

Warning

There has to be at least one SSH public key added to the user profile for it to appear in the SSH key selector list.

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In order to log in to your newly created VM over SSH, you need to use a username depending on your choice of VM Image type and your SSH-RSA key-pair. By default password authentication is disabled.

Default usernames for login are as follows:
CentOS images: CentOS
Ubuntu images: Ubuntu
Debian images: Debian
FreeBSD images: FreeBSD
By default, no incoming connections will be allowed for a VM. Predefined Security Groups (firewall rules) must be linked to a VM in order to open up access (like ssh, HTTP, etc.). By clicking the ’Details’ button, you can see the details about the available ’Security Groups’. ’Security Groups’ can be added while ordering the VM or afterward by editing.

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VM create form will automatically include a ’default’ security group that enables egress (outgoing) traffic for a VM and which is required in order to reply to any of the incoming packets.

VM needs to be connected to at least one of the VPC (internal) networks and an external network via floating IP - if external/public access to VM is required.

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Floating IP is technically realized as 1:1 NAT between VM internal IP and public network IP.

We strongly suggest also adding ’VM description’. In order to provision the VM, please click on the “Add to cart” button.

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On the right pane, there will be a ’Checkout summary’ with the purchase overview and indicative VM cost (as part of the VPC package cost).

Config drive

The Automation step has an Enable config drive toggle next to the start script field. A config drive is a small read-only disk attached to the instance at boot. Cloud-init reads metadata, the SSH key and the start script from it without going through the OpenStack metadata service on the network (http://169.254.169.254).

The toggle is pre-filled from the provider default. Enable it for instances that:

have no DHCP on their tenant network,
sit on an isolated network that cannot reach the metadata service, or
must read user data before networking is up.

Leave it off for normal cases where the metadata service is reachable.

Tip

Hover the question mark next to the field for a full explanation in the UI.

VM should reach into “Active” status when successfully provisioned. The “Access” field will show the IP address to access VM over SSH (Linux) or over RDP (Windows).

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VM access over SSH or RDP should be permitted by ’Security Groups’ linked to VM.

HPC resource management

HPC resources can be added by clicking to ´Marketplace´.
Select organization and project (if not filled in yet) from the upper right corner.
selecting ´HPC´ category or some other option which represent HPC resources.
Select desired resource and click 'Deploy'.
Fill in request form fields and click 'Create' on the right.

Resource components update

If it turns out that initial limits for the resource are too low or higher than expected, then it is possible to change the limits after the resource creation. This can be done by opening the resource management section. Again, like in the resource creation phase, same approval flow applies.

Volume discounts

Some offerings have volume discounts configured on their components by the service provider. A discount reduces the price of a component once your usage reaches a threshold.

In the order form, a discount is shown live — a green − X % volume discount next to the component and a reduced total — only when it can be computed up front. That is the case when the discount applies per resource and the quantity is fixed at order time (limit-based, prepaid one-time or fixed-price components).

For everything else the exact saving cannot be known until the invoice is finalized — usage-based components (metered later), or discounts calculated on your total usage of a component across the whole organization (which depends on your other resources). In those cases the order form shows a "Volume discount applied on your invoice" note instead of a price.

In the example above, Reserved GPUs is discounted per resource, so the 15 % tier is applied live and reflected in both the component total and the Volume discount savings summary. Reserved storage is discounted on the organization-wide total, so it shows the deferred note instead — its saving is calculated when the invoice is finalized.

Either way, the discount appears as a separate line on your invoice, paired with each discounted component. See volume discounts on invoices for how to read the breakdown.