vCloud vApp Design and Use Case – Part 2

This article is part 2 of my vCloud vApp design considerations and use cases definition.  Part 1 can be read by clicking here.

In this article we will look at the logical design of vApp use cases.  I have spoke about these in the past in my vCloud Director Networking 101 post, but never really spoke about the specific use case.

Use Case 1 – vApp Network Isolated

This use case would primarily be used for development and test scenarios, where there is a requirement for vApps to be completely isolated.  In this scenario multiple vApps of the same configuration can be deployed without risk of conflict, since there is no external connectivity available and all network traffic within the vApp is isolated at Layer 2.

vapp-isolated-network

The characteristics of these vApps are:

• VMs are connected together on isolated vApp networks
• No connectivity between multiple vApps or to organization networks
• Same configuration can be deployed multiple times

So to recap on Use Case 1, we would typically use this type of vApp for:

• Typically restricted to development and testing
• For example LAMP stack
  –Developer accesses VMs using VM remote console

Use Case 2 – vApp Network Direct

The ‘vApp Network > Organization Network (Direct)’ use case will be used, where there is a requirement for connectivity between multiple vApps.  In this scenario multiple vApps of the same configuration can be deployed, however the end user will need to ensure they configure the vApps (in particular IP Addresses) uniquely to avoid conflict.  vApps will have connectivity to an isolated Organization network for inter vApp connectivity, but there is no external connectivity available and all network traffic within the Organization is isolated at Layer 2.  The following diagram illustrates this configuration.

direct-connected-vapp

So to list the characteristics of this vApp Use Case:

• VMs are connected together on vApp networks
• Connectivity between multiple vApps through organization internal network (Direct)
• Different configurations must be applied

and to recap on use case 2, typical use cases are:

• Varied applications.  For example LAMP stack
• VMs accessed using VM remote console (no external network)
• Access to shared infrastructure services (for example AD, DNS in another vApp)
• Communication between vApps

In Part 3 I will look at some further vApp use cases, including routed and non routed vApp networks…