A Closer Look at New Features of VMware Cloud Sizer

Introduction

VMware Cloud Sizer is an essential tool for capacity estimation of SDDCs in VMware Cloud on AWS. If you are new to the Sizer you can dive in by reading Feature Brief: VMware Cloud Sizer.

We are updating Sizer to cater to new features of VMware Cloud on AWS, making enhancements in sizing methodology and reporting capabilities and providing a better user experience.

In this article, we will go through the features of the latest version of VMware Cloud Sizer.

Auto Mode Sizing

In the new version of the Sizer, we are introducing an automated recommendations (auto mode) feature that is changing how customers plan new or expand SDDCs in VMware Cloud on AWS.  Auto mode is available in Advanced Sizer Non-VDI and is the default option in the Host and Storage Preference selection. So why is it important and why is it the recommended way to size your VMware Cloud on AWS SDDC?

With the addition of the M7i.metal-24xl instance VMware Cloud on AWS now supports 4 host types. You can read the Feature Brief: SDDC Host Types to learn more about all supported instances.

Having a variety of storage options including modern vSAN ESA architecture supported with i4.metal and support of external storage providers (Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP and VMware Cloud Flex Storage) SDDC sizing is becoming a complex exercise even with the use of the VMware Cloud Sizer.

Auto mode simplifies the overall process of capacity planning. Instead of performing multiple experimental sizing tests to differentiate instance types and storage options from each other, customers can just run the sizing with auto selection. With auto mode selected, the sizing calculates every possible combination of compute and storage based on workload requirements and returns whatever provides the lowest cost.

Apart from using default auto mode, customers have the flexibility to select any of the supported host instances, vSAN architecture and external storage options and run sizing with these assumptions. However, in the majority of the scenarios, auto mode sizing provides optimal results without the need for extra effort.

You can access most of the sizing features without logging in. However, by entering credentials you would have an opportunity to explore the calculation logs and review the sizing flow for the provided recommendations. If you are logged in, you can also save the project with existing workload profiles and configuration for future reference.

UI Enhancements

The new version of Advanced Non-VDI Sizer has a unified look and feel for both the manual workload profiles and profiles based on data imported from RVTools, Live Optics or VMware Aria Operations.

The new user interface has standardized “Profile info” and “Host and Storage Preference” followed by the “Right Sizing” section.

Right sizing settings are pre-filled with default values which could be altered to reflect workload profile specifics. Parameters are grouped into CPU, Memory, Storage and I/O making it easier to review and tune accordingly.

With the additional support of Migration, Disaster Recovery and Network and Security services Advanced Sizer helps customers perform capacity planning for VMware Cloud on AWS considering all details and specific use cases.

Reporting Improvements

Two new enhancements were added to the latest version of the VMware Cloud Sizer.

The “Management Cluster” tag indicates the cluster where management VMs (vCenter/NSX/HCX, etc.) are placed using a portion of the compute and storage resources. If you are looking into expanding the existing SDDC which already has a cluster running these VMs, management overhead could be excluded in the Global Settings window. In such a scenario, all resources recommended by the Sizer would be dedicated to running the VMs specified in the workload profile.

Finally, Cluster Assumptions information was added to the online recommendations and PDF report. It splits general and cluster-specific assumptions used for the sizing.  This could be particularly useful in scenarios where customers would like to have separate clusters for specific workload types with different expected requirements (such as CPU and RAM overcommit or Compression ratio).

To Conclude

Continuous development of VMware Cloud Sizer makes it a powerful yet simple-to-use tool that should be used for all capacity planning exercises in VMware Cloud on AWS.

With auto mode, UI simplification and reporting enhancement it makes sizing more transparent and clearly shows the dependency between assumptions used and results.