VMware Cloud Director Extension for Knowledge Options is a plug-in for VMware Cloud Director that provides up knowledge and messaging providers to the VMware Cloud Director portfolio. It presents cloud suppliers and their tenants a set of information and messaging providers akin to VMware SQL with MySQL, VMware SQL with PostgreSQL, and RabbitMQ. Along with deploying and managing these providers at scale, tenants can use knowledge analytics and monitoring by means of Grafana and Prometheus to verify the well being of a service and take motion if a problem happens.
How does the Knowledge Options Extension work?
The Knowledge Options Extension works along with Container Service Extension 4.0 or later. It helps suppliers publish fashionable knowledge and messaging providers to their tenants, who in flip can use them for constructing new or sustaining present purposes.
The providers are deployed in a Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Cluster that’s managed by Container Service Extension 4.0 or later. The latter performs an important function in service deployment. There’s a service operator that’s put in in a specific tenant Tanzu Kubernetes Cluster which manages the entire lifecycle of the service from the inception to the dissolution.
Here’s a high-level diagram of the Knowledge Options Extension structure.

Set up and Configuration Overview
Knowledge Options Extension is deployed as an ova file and its plug-in will get linked with the Cloud Director occasion from the place it will likely be accessed.
There are different configuration steps alongside the way in which which should be carried out. One such is organising a container registry after the plug-in is put in. This configuration step is carried out by the supplier administrator and requires both utilizing Tanzu container registry or the supplier’s personal. This registry will probably be used for pulling the Docker photographs of the supported providers and the info options operator.
One other essential step is for the info options operator to be put in within the Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Clusters the place the info answer providers will probably be deployed. The set up is made by a Tenant Knowledge Options Operator consumer. The operator manages the creation, replace, improve, and deletion of a service on behalf of the consumer.
Use Instances
The Knowledge Options Extension can be utilized for varied functions by tenants just like the creation of database and messaging providers at scale. As soon as these providers can be found in a tenant org, each tenant consumer that has the wanted permissions can create, improve, or delete a PostgreSQL, MySQL, or RabbitMQ service. Superior settings are potential to be utilized in the course of the creation of a service, one such is enabling Excessive Availability for VMware SQL with MySQL and VMware SQL with PostgreSQL.
Along with the database and messaging service creation, tenants also can handle effortlessly their improve. As soon as a more moderen model is detected, the Knowledge Options Extension interface will point out that there’s such obtainable and immediate the consumer to take motion. The tenant directors or customers can improve the chosen service with only a click on, this fashion stopping the respective service from vulnerabilities and holding it in verify.
Consumption Metering
After the deployment, comes the utilization of the Knowledge Options Extension. Whereas it’s free for use by our companions, the providers it deploys are thought-about billable and their utilization is calculated per-core foundation.
Notice: Solely containers within the Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Cluster that preserve the deployed service will probably be thought-about billable and never the whole cluster or employee node.
VMware SQL with MySQL and VMware SQL with PostgreSQL
For VMware SQL providers, all containers with knowledge options operators and VMware SQL situations should be recognized, and the used vCPUs by the providers should be counted for reporting. The Configuration of vCPUs in Kubernetes is reported as milliCores. To calculate the variety of vCPUs, divide the reported milliCores by 1000.
VMware RabbitMQ
Solely configured Kubernetes vCPU Useful resource Limits for Containers with RabbitMQ Nodes should be recognized for reporting. Configuration of Kubernetes vCPU Useful resource Limits could also be reported as milliCores. To calculate the variety of vCPUs, divide the reported milliCores by 1000.
The metering of the info options service is at present not automated and requires some handbook steps from the suppliers. For checking which containers run a VMware SQL or RabbitMQ service, you should use the Kubernetes CLI software kubectl to establish them. For extra info, verify the VMware Product Utilization Information.
An alternative choice for checking the service utilization is by using VMware Chargeback for checking the utilization of providers per tenant.
After the calculations are made, the supplier should manually enter the numbers into the VMware Commerce Portal.
Consumption Reporting
For reporting the consumption of the Knowledge Options providers, the supplier will first have to submit a one-off order within the Commerce Portal for all the info and messaging providers they plan to make use of. The consumption of the deployed providers will should be crammed in a separate row within the month-to-month billing order (MBO) within the Commerce Portal.
The info providers which have HA enabled can have their replicas billable in case they’re engaged in a sizzling catastrophe restoration web site and billable solely in case of catastrophe for chilly DR websites. Please seek advice from VMware Product Information for readability on what cold and hot DR websites are.
Conclusion
Undoubtedly, the Knowledge Options Extension is a long-coveted plug-in for VMware Cloud Director. It was created with the thought to ship the Tanzu Knowledge Options to Cloud Director. Now it is a truth for some providers, although others nonetheless stay on the roadmap.
With Knowledge Options Extension we purpose at enriching the Cloud Director portfolio of providers and enabling suppliers to ship extra providers to their tenants which is able to increase their digital transformation.
For extra info on the Knowledge Options Extension necessities and deployment, verify its product documentation. To search out solutions to questions concerning the deployment, improve, utilization, and metering of the extension, learn the next FAQ.
For some other questions, verify our cloud supplier Slack channel.