Oracle Cloud VMware Solution FAQs
General
What is Oracle Cloud VMware Solution?
Oracle Cloud VMware Solution (OCVS) provides VMware vSphere clusters built from bare metal Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). Customers use OCVS to create and manage VMware-enabled software-defined data centers (SDDCs) in OCI. OCI's VMware software bundle contains vSphere, vSAN, NSX, vCenter, and HCX to support compute, storage, and network needs for use cases such as data center migration, expansion of on-premises capacity, disaster recovery, and virtual desktop infrastructure.
In which OCI regions is Oracle Cloud VMware Solution available?
Oracle Cloud VMware Solution is available in all OCI public cloud regions (commercial, government, sovereign) or a dedicated region in your data center.
Is Oracle Cloud VMware Solution a managed VMware service?
No. Oracle Cloud VMware Solution is a customer-managed service that gives you full administrative access and control of a VMware SDDC, just like your on-premises VMware environment.
Supported shapes
Which bare metal OCI shapes support Oracle Cloud VMware Solution?
- BM.DenseIO.E4 and BM.DenseIO.52. - These shapes provide local NVMe storage.
- BM.Standard.E5, BM.Standard.E4. BM.Standard3, and BM.Standard2. - These shapes do not provide local NVMe storage and require OCI Block Volume storage.
- BM.GPU.A10.4. - This shape is designed for hardware-accelerated GPU workloads.
What are the models of CPU, GPU, and other specifications (number of cores, memory, networking bandwidth) for each of these shapes?
- BM.Standard.E5, BM.Standard.E4, andBM.DenseIO.E4 are based on AMD CPUs.
- BM.Standard3, BM.Standard2, and BM.DenseIO.52 are based on Intel CPUs.
- BM.GPU.A10.4 is based on Intel CPU and NVIDIA GPU.
For more information on models of CPU and GPU, number of cores, memory, and networking bandwidth, please visit the OCVS documentation page.
Deployment
Which versions of VMware vSphere does Oracle Cloud VMware Solution support?
Oracle Cloud VMware Solution supports vSphere 7.0 and vSphere 8.0. Please visit the OCVS documentation page for version name and version number of each component (ESXi, vCenter, NSX, HCX, others).
What is the maximum number of ESXi hosts that can be deployed?
The maximum number of ESXi hosts you can create in a cluster depends on the bare metal OCI shapes that support Oracle Cloud VMware Solution. BM.DenseIO.E4 and BM.DenseIO.52 support up to 64 ESXi hosts. BM.Standard.E5, BM.Standard.E4, BM.Standard3, and BM.Standard2 support up to 32 ESXi hosts.
What is the minimum number of ESXi hosts that can be deployed?
The minimum number of ESXi hosts you can create in a cluster depends on the bare metal OCI shapes that support OCVS. OCVS supports a single ESXi host SDDC for a single node SDDC when using BM.DenseIO.E4 and BM.DenseIO.52. All other shapes require a minimum of three ESXi hosts for a multihost SDDC.
How many single host SDDCs can I provision?
A single host SDDC is limited to a global maximum of 10 across tenancies and regions.
Can I run a single host SDDC indefinitely?
Yes, but there are limitations as shown below. A single host SDDC is intended as a lower-cost entry point for testing, workload validation, and migrating to a full production deployment.
What are the key limitations for a single host SDDC?
- Single host SDDCs don't expire, but they're limited to the hourly and monthly billing options.
- Oracle support is limited to commercially reasonable support. VMware support is available only for the first 60 days for a single-node SDDC deployment.
-
The following features are not supported, since they require more than
one host
- Distributed management components
- High availability (HA) for VMware clustering
- Distributed resource management (DRM) for VMware clustering
- Please refer to the service descriptions (PDF) for the limitations of single host SDDCs.
Is Oracle responsible for patching and managing the customer’s Oracle Cloud VMware Solution SDDC?
No. With Oracle Cloud VMware Solution, the customer gets complete administrative control over a VMware SDDC, similar to their on-premises VMware environment. As such, the customer or the customer’s operating partner is responsible for operations and maintenance.
Is it possible to use Oracle Bring Your Own License (BYOL) to license Oracle Cloud VMware Solution components?
No. The BYOL VMware license model is not supported for Oracle Cloud VMware Solution.
What is the Oracle licensing policy for running Oracle software on Oracle Cloud VMware Solution?
The licensing policies for running Oracle software on virtualized environments, including Oracle Cloud VMware Solution, are subject to the Oracle Partitioning Policy (PDF).
How can I migrate workloads to Oracle Cloud VMware Solution?
There are many ways to migrate your workloads to Oracle Cloud VMware Solution based on your requirements and configuration. Use VMware HCX for complex migration projects. Use vMotion between VMware vCenter Servers to migrate your workload live. Please see this Solutions Playbook for more details.
What is the rolling upgrade?
The rolling upgrade provides automation, tools, and procedures to enable Oracle Cloud VMware Solution deployments installed with VMware vSphere versions 6.x or older to upgrade to VMware vSphere 8.x. The upgrade includes a download link for binaries and licenses. Please refer to the Oracle Cloud VMware Solution documentation for detailed step-by-step instructions. Note that a direct upgrade from VMware version 6.x to 8.X is not supported. Customers with the 6.x version must upgrade to VMware 7.x, then upgrade from VMware 7.x to VMware 8.x.
Can I use vSphere Lifecycle Manangement (vLCM) to upgrade OCVS-deployed SDDC from 7.x to 8.x?
No, you should not use vLCM to upgrade from 7.x to 8.x or 6.x to 7.x. The OCVS rolling upgrade process provides the relevant licenses and binary required to update your SDDC. The rolling upgrade is the supported method to upgrade your existing SDDC deployments.
What is the download link for the rolling upgrade?
Once an SDDC upgrade is complete, the Details page provides you with the links for binaries and licenses. The download link is a preauthenticated, read-only object storage bucket URL that points to the vCenter component bundle and NSX-T Data Center bundle.
What is the process to get the binaries I need to upgrade or patch VMware bundles?
If you need assistance with any binaries or licenses, please submit a ticket at My Oracle Support.
How do I upgrade ESXi hosts?
Once an SDDC upgrade is complete, select each host from the list of ESXi hosts to be upgraded and upgrade it to the latest version. The new host that’s created will have the existing configuration. Once you’ve migrated workloads from the old hosts to the new hosts, you must delete the old hosts. The new host will be billed hourly; there’s no minimum eight-hour charge on this host, unlike with the regular hourly SKU. Any term commitments assigned to the old host will be moved to the new host when the old host is deleted and will include the same terms as the original.
What happens if I don’t delete the old ESXi hosts?
You’ll receive a notification for the old hosts to be deleted; the new hosts will be billed hourly until the old hosts are deleted.
Multiple clusters
What is the multicluster feature?
Customers of Oracle Cloud VMware Solution can create multiple clusters within a single SDDC. This feature offers many advantages, including simplified management, workload separation, and cost efficiency. Please visit this multicluster page for detailed instructions.
How many clusters can be created in a single SDDC?
You can create up to six clusters in a single SDDC including the Unified Management cluster.
Can a single vCenter manage all the clusters in an SDDC?
Yes. A single vCenter deployed in the Unified Management cluster can manage all clusters deployed in that SDDC.
Can I have multiple vCenters in a single SDDC?
No. You can have only a single vCenter managing all clusters in an SDDC.
Can I vMotion workloads across clusters?
Yes, vMotion across clusters is supported. Users can restrict vMotion across clusters modifying OCI network security groups.
Will storage be segregated across clusters?
Yes. You can create additional workload clusters that have a different shape than the original Unified Management cluster.
Can I add hosts with different shapes in the same cluster?
When creating a cluster, you must deploy a minimum of three node production clusters of the same shape and core. After provisioning, you can add hosts with different shapes that are compatible with the original shape selected.
Can I deploy different vSphere versions in the same cluster?
Yes. You can choose an ESXi software version within the SDDC’s major VMware software version when adding a host.
What is the supported shape matrix when adding hosts in the same cluster?
| Initial host shape configuration of the cluster | Shapes available for added hosts |
|---|---|
| BM.DenseIO2.52 | BM.DenseIO2.52, BM.Standard3.64, BM.GPU.A10.4 |
| BM.Standard2.52 | BM.Standard2.52, BM.Standard3.64, BM.GPU.A10.4 |
| BM.Standard3.64 | BM.Standard3.64, BM.GPU.A10.4 |
| BM.GPU.A10.4 | BM.Standard3.64, BM.GPU.A10.4 |
| BM.DenseIO.E4.128 | BM.DenseIO.E4.128, BM.Standard.E4.128 |
| BM.Standard.E4.128 | BM.Standard.E4.128 |
| BM.Standard.E5.192 | BM.Standard.E5.192 |
Storage
What size block volume can I provision with OCI Block Volumes?
You can provision block volumes from 50 GB to 32 TB in increments of 1 GB.
How many block volumes can I attach to a host?
You can attach up to 32 block volumes per host.
What is the maximum performance in a block volume supported by Oracle Cloud VMware Solution?
Currently, the maximum performance supported is up to 50 volume performance units (VPUs).
What are the features of OCI Block Storage that aren't supported in Oracle Cloud VMware Solution?
Multipathing, backup policies, auto-performance, cross-region replication, and VPUs above 50 are not supported by Oracle Cloud VMware Solution.
What type of storage can I use with Oracle Cloud VMware Solution?
BM.DenseIO.E4 and BM.DenseIO.52 have vSAN with local NVMe as storage. Storage can be extended by adding additional hosts or external storage such as OCI Block Volumes or NFS.
BM.Standard.E5, BM.Standard.E4. BM.Standard3, and BM.Standard2 use OCI Block Volumes as the primary data store. You can extend the storage capacity by adding additional OCI Block Volumes or NFS.
How many hosts can be added to a single block volume?
You can add up to 32 ESXi hosts to a single block volume.
Do I need a device path when I set a block performance VPU?
Yes, you need a device path when you select a block volume beyond 20 VPUs. You can assign any device path.
Billing
How is pricing structured for Oracle Cloud VMware Solution?
For general questions on pricing, see the Oracle Cloud VMware Solution pricing page.
What are the different commitment pricing options?
The different commitment terms are hourly, monthly, one year, and three years. Monthly commitment is available only for BM.DenseIO.E4 and BM.DenseIO.52.
What is the minimum commitment term?
Oracle Cloud VMware Solution supports a minimum commitment term of eight hours using the hourly commitment option.
What happens when I delete the host before the end of the commit period?
If the host is deleted before the end of the commit period, the host will continue to be billed for the duration of the commitment.
Will I see separate line items for infrastructure and VMware software fees?
No, Oracle Cloud VMware Solution is billed via a single SKU per host in each customer’s usage reports. The charge covers both infrastructure and VMware license access.
Can I reuse commitment from a deleted node?
Yes. You can reuse the commitment while provisioning the host of the same shape and core count. The term of the commitment will remain unchanged.
Can I swap billing commitments between two hosts?
Yes. You can swap billing commitments between two active hosts.
Do you have to pay for HCX Enterprise when upgrading from HCX Advanced to HCX Enterprise?
You must pay for HCX Enterprise in Dense shapes (DenseIO.52 and DenseIO.E4.128) only when you upgrade from HCX Advanced.
How do I upgrade from HCX Advanced to HCX Enterprise?
BM.DenseIO.E4 and BM.DenseIO.52 include HCX Advanced, which lets you migrate fewer workloads with some application downtime. You can upgrade to HCX Enterprise to migrate many mission-critical workloads with zero downtime. For more information, see Upgrading an SDDC's HCX License.
BM.Standard.E5, BM.Standard.E4. BM.Standard3, and BM.Standard2 include an HCX Enterprise license at no extra cost.
Monitoring and observability
Will I be able to monitor Oracle Cloud VMware Solution guests with on-premises VMware monitoring tools?
Yes. Customers should observe VMware's guidance and recommendations for the monitoring tools in question.
What Oracle Cloud telemetry data related to compute and networking will be available for troubleshooting?
Standard Oracle Cloud telemetry isn’t available because no agent is installed in the ESXi bare metal instance. However, customers can get compute and network telemetry data from VMware directly in ESXi, vCenter, and NSX-T administrative interfaces or via the APIs provided as part of these offerings.
Support
What is the OCI/VMware support model?
Oracle provides tier 1, tier 2, and tier 3 customer support.
For which VMware products will Oracle provide support?
Oracle provides support for vSphere, vCenter, vSAN, and NSX.