Introduction

IBM Cloud for VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) as a Service provides the VMware Cloud Director platform as either a dedicated (single-tenant) or shared (multitenant) managed service. IBM performs the configuration, hosting, operations, and lifecycle management of the VMware by Broadcom software so clients can quickly deploy VMware-based cloud computing environments. Compute resources are available as either dedicated or multitenant hosts that use IBM Cloud bare metal servers. Dedicated single-tenant VMware sites provide extra isolation and support multiple host configuration options to support flexible workload requirements.

For an introduction to VCF as a Service, read the overview documentation found here.

VCF as a Service uses a shared responsibility model that includes IBM-managed infrastructure and IBM-managed VMware components and services up to the hypervisor. For details about the IBM and client responsibilities, go here. The division of responsibility should be explained to clients.

IBM Cloud for VCF as a Service single-tenant is the dedicated consumption model that is offered as part of IBM’s hosted VMware Cloud Director service. It allows clients to right-size their managed infrastructure with a wide range of host profiles and storage options to choose from. It is ideally suited for production applications and regulated workloads that require isolation.

IBM Cloud for VCF as a Service multitenant is the shared consumption model that is offered as part of IBM’s hosted VMware Cloud Director service. It allows clients to request VMware VMs on-demand with no up-front commitment (billed hourly) or take advantage of guaranteed capacity and discounted pricing with the Reserved billing option (billed monthly).

The focus on this learning plan is on the VCF as a Service multitenant offering.

In the following modules you will:

  • Experience how to provision a VCF as a Service multitenant instance by using a click-through demonstration.

  • Explore managing a VCF as a Service multitenant instance by using the IBM Cloud portal and a pre-provisioned environment.

  • Explore managing a VCF as a Service multitenant site by using the IBM Cloud portal and a pre-provisioned environment.

  • Explore operating a VCF as a Service multitenant instance by using the IBM Cloud portal and the VMware vCloud Director (VCD) web console.

  • Explore monitoring a VCF as a Service multitenant instance by using IBM Cloud Monitoring.