San Diego VMware Cloud Service: AIS BusinessCloud1

We Make VMware Cloud Service Easy… For You

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AIS BusinessCloud1 is a powerful public cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) offering that uses the popular and flexible VMware cloud service software suite, chosen for its widespread adoption, enterprise functionality, superior roadmap, and robust support ecosystem.

VMware is the market leader in virtualization and has about 400,000 customers, including 100% of the Fortune 500 and global Fortune 100.

AIS BusinessCloud1 features state-of-the-art hardware from market leaders Arista, Cisco, Dell, and NetApp.

We’ve integrated this infrastructure for business cloud services with our redundant optical network between facilities in San Diego, Phoenix, and Los Angeles for maximum security, performance, and flexibility.

There are two basic pricing models, both of which include real-time support and easy access to the secure, browser-based self-provisioning portal for full command over all resources: Pay-as-You-Go and Allocated Resources.

AIS BusinessCloud1 network, compute, and storage resources are provided in the form of a Virtual Data Center (vDC) which is completely isolated for each client.

From the secure, browser-based AIS BusinessCloud1 control portal, clients have full command over all their resources: Network, Compute, and Storage.

We’ve integrated this infrastructure for business cloud services with our redundant optical network between facilities in San Diego, Phoenix, and Los Angeles for maximum security, performance, and flexibility.

Using the vCloud Director pop-out console utility, clients can access any of their virtual machine control consoles.

This tool may be used even if a virtual machine itself has no network connectivity.

The vCloud Director self-provisioning system requires no human intervention, which means tasks are completed quickly with fewer errors.

Dual Arista 7000 Series switches and dual Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series switch/routers provide redundant Internet connectivity for client Virtual Data Centers — or more conveniently, Layer 3 VPN access to clients’ colocation or corporate facilities.

It is this secure Layer 3 VPN connectivity that makes it particularly easy and powerful for AIS colocation clients to use AIS BusinessCloud1 services as a seamless extension of their existing networks.

Compute resources consist of Dell servers packed with fast processors and RAM – with each server being the equivalent in processing power to more than 100 standard servers.

These AIS BusinessCloud1 compute platforms use on-board SSD and network attached storage (NAS) for data instead of traditional disk drives.

Since cloud performance is completely dependent upon data access, each remote host has dual, redundantly-configured 10Gbps links to the NAS devices for maximum availability and throughput.

AIS provides two grades of NetApp storage: high-performance SAS for transactional data and robust SATA for standard data storage.

The NetApp system is fully redundant and has additional features to enhance performance and efficiency, such as:

  • NetApp Flash Cache
  • Proprietary WAFL file system

AIS BusinessCloud1 has a full array of networking options to accommodate all security requirements:

  • 100% Private Network: all operations kept internal to the client’s Virtual Data Center
  • Firewalled Access to internal or external networks (VMware vShield)
  • Internet Access via client colocation or corporate facilities
  • Direct Internet Access

Clients may also configure unlimited, completely isolated internal networks with VMware’s built-in security features.

VMware vCloud Director 5.1 Home & My Cloud

VMware vCloud Director 5.1 Catalogs

VMware vCloud Director 5.1 Administration

Creating VMware vCloud Director 5.1 Templates

Building VMware vCloud Director 5.1 Vapps

Adding VMware vCloud Director 5.1 VMs, Installing OS

Modifying VMware vCloud Director 5.1 VMs

Installing VMware vCloud Director 5.1 Windows VMware Tools

Installing VMware vCloud Director 5.1 Linux VMware Tools

Creating VMware vCloud Director 5.1 Snapshots

Official VMware vCloud Director 5.1 Snapshot Video

Official VMware vCloud Director 5.1 Edge Gateway Video

  1. How do I upload an ISO?
  2. How do I create a new VM?
  3. How do I install VMware Tools on my VM?
  4. How do I check to see if I have VMware Tools installed on my VM?
  5. The IP address assigned to my VM in vCloud is not being applied to my VM. How do I get vCloud to configure my VM automatically?
  6. What is the difference between Resource Allocation and Utilization?
  7. How do I check to see my current resource pool utilization?
  8. How do I check the resource allocation for all my vApps (including vApps that are powered off)?
  9. I accidentally allocated the wrong amount of hardware resources to my VM. How do I change them?
  10. How do I add firewall rules to my NAT network?
  11. Basic Connectivity Troubleshooting
  12. vCloud Director 5.1 User’s Guide
  13. I have an issue that has not been covered. How do I contact support?


1. How do I upload an ISO?

Catalogs –> My Organization’s Catalogs –> Select the ”Media” tab –> Click “Upload”.

Click “Browse…” and navigate to the location of the ISO on your local computer.

Give the ISO a name and then click “Upload”.

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2. How do I create a new VM?

My Cloud –> vApps –> Click “Build New vApp…”

Give the new vApp a name and click “Next”.

Click “New Virtual Machine…”

Give the VM a name and the hardware specifications that you desire then click “OK”.

Click “Next”.

Assign the VM whatever Network type and assignment method you wish then click “Finish”.

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3. How do I install VMware Tools on my VM?

My Cloud –> vApps –> Click the vApp –> Select the “Virtual Machines” tab –> Right click the VM –> Select “Install VMware Tools”

(This will only insert a VMware tools CD into the VM. You still need to go into the VM and install the Tools.)

Open the VM console (Right click the VM and select “Popout Console”).

Windows: After a minute, the CD should pop up in an AutoPlay window. Select the “Run setup64.exe” or “Run setup.exe” option and follow the prompts to install the tools.

Linux: You will need to mount the CD, copy “VMwareTools-8.6.0-446312.tar.gz” (VMware tools version number subject to change) to the local machine, untar the file, then install “vmware-install.pl”.

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4. How do I check to see if I have VMware Tools installed on my VM?

My Cloud –> vApps –> Click the vApp –> Select the “Virtual Machines” Tab –> Right click the VM and select “Properties”.

If you see a number next to “VMware Tools:” then you have VMware tools installed as shown below.

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5. The IP address assigned to my VM in vCloud is not being applied to my VM. How do I get vCloud to configure my VM automatically?

You must make sure that you have VMware tools installed on the VM. Once VMware tools are installed you can enable Guest OS Customization and then Power on the VM and Force Recustomization.

To Enable Guest OS Customization:

My Cloud –> vApps –> Click the vApp –> Right click the VM –> Click “Properties” –> Select the “Guest OS Customization” tab –> Check the “Enable guest customization” tab –> Click OK.

To Force Recustomization:

Right click the VM and select “Power On and Force Recustomization”.

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6. What is the difference between Resource Allocation and Utilization?

You are allocated a total amount of resources which can be utilized. Only VMs that are powered on count towards your utilization so it is possible to over allocate resources (ex: You have 2GB of total memory allocation but you create two VMs with 2GB Memory each).

However, if you over-allocate your resources you will only be able to power on VMs until you reach your allocation limit.

If you attempt to power on VMs that would put you over your allocation limit, you will receive an error stating that the VM cannot be powered on.

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7. How do I check to see my current resource pool utilization?

Administration –> Cloud Resources –> Virtual Datacenters –> Right click the vDC and select “Properties”.

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8. How do I check the resource allocation for all my vApps (including vApps that are powered off)?

Administration –> Cloud Resources –> Virtual Datacenters –> Double click the vDC.

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9. I accidentally allocated the wrong amount of hardware resources to my VM. How do I change them?

My Cloud –> vApps –> Click the vApp –> Select the “Virtual Machines” tab –> Ensure the VM is powered off then Right click the VM and click “Properties” –> Select the “Hardware” tab –> Adjust the desired resources and click “OK”.

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10. How do I add firewall rules to my NAT network?

Administration –> Cloud Resources –> Click the desired vDC –> Select the “Org VDC Networks” tab –> Right click the desired network –> Configure Services… –> Select the “Firewall” tab.

Click “Add…” and input rules as desired.

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11. Basic Connectivity Troubleshooting

  • Is VMware Tools installed and have you performed the “Power on and force Recustomization” step?
  • Can you resolve domain names (ex: ping www.google.com)?
  • Can you ping an external IP address (ex: ping 8.8.8.8)?
  • Does the IP address listed in vCloud Director match the one in the VM (ex: no VMs with the IP address 169.254.x.x)?
  • Is there a firewall blocking the connection (ex: Windows Firewall or IPTables)?
  • Does the VM’s NIC have a network associated with it in vCloud (ex: EXT, NAT, or INT)?
  • Is the vApp “Fenced”? (My CloudàvAppsàClick the vAppàSelect the “Networking” tabàis there a check in the box next to “Fence vApp”? There shouldn’t be if the vApp is supposed to have external connectivity.

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12. vCloud Director 5.1 User’s Guide

Click here to download the VMware vCloud Director 5.1 User’s Guide.

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13. I have an issue that has not been covered. How do I contact support?

You can contact AIS Cloud Support via the following methods:

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AIS BusinessCloud1 was designed with security, performance, and reliability in mind.

  • No single point of failure; rigorously architected for maximum availability
  • Integrated VMware network widely considered best-in-class
  • Redundant network storage optimized for performance
  • Self-healing systems architecture with automated failover
  • High-speed network access provided via the AIS optical network

This is truly a secure, reliable, enterprise-class cloud service offering.

Additional AIS Cloud Service Resources

Presentation: 7 Essentials of AIS BusinessCloud1


Contact AISto learn more about AIS BusinessCloud1.