The life cycle of a virtual machine (VM) provisioning process

The life cycle of a virtual machine (VM) provisioning process includes the following stages:
Creation: The VM is created
Configuration: The VM is configured in a development environment
Allocation: Virtual resources are allocated
Exploitation and monitoring: The VM is used and its status is monitored
Elimination: The VM is eliminated

1. VIRTUAL
MACHINES
PROVISIONING
Dr
Hitesh
Mohapatra

2. Introduction
Let’sfocusontwocoreservicesthatenabletheusersto
getthebestoutoftheIaaSmodelinpublicand
privatecloudsetups,Virtualmachineprovisioningand
migrationservices.
AnalogyforVirtualMachineProvisioning:
Historically,whenthereisaneedtoinstallanewserver
foracertainworkloadtoprovideaparticularservicefor
aclient,lotsofeffortwasexertedbytheIT
administrator,andmuchtimewasspenttoinstalland
provisionanewserver.

3. What we normally virtualize?

4. Benefits

5. •Withtheemergenceofvirtualizationtechnologyand
thecloudcomputingIaaSmodel, itisjustamatterof
minutestoachievethesametask.
•Allyouneedistoprovisionavirtualserverthrough
aself-serviceinterfacewithsmallstepstogetwhat
youdesirewiththerequiredspecifications.
•Provisioningthismachineinapubliccloudlike
AWSElasticComputeCloud(EC2),or Usinga
virtualizationmanagementsoftwarepackageora
privatecloudmanagementsolutioninstalledat
yourdatacenterinordertoprovisionthevirtual
machineinsidetheorganizationandwithinthe
privatecloudsetup.
Cont.

8. What is VM provisioning?
Virtual machine
provisioning, or virtual
server provisioning, is a
systems management
process that creates a
new virtual machine
(VM) on a physical host
server and allocates
computing resources to
support the VM

9. Contd…
AnalogyforMigrationServices:
•Previously,whenevertherewasaneedfor
performingaserver’supgradeorperforming
maintenancetasks,youwouldexertalotoftime
andeffort,becauseitisanexpensiveoperationto
maintainorupgradeamainserverthathaslotsof
applicationsandusers.
•Withtheadvanceoftherevolutionized
virtualizationtechnologyandmigrationservices
associatedwithhypervisors’capabilities,these
tasks(maintenance,upgrades,patches,etc.)are
veryeasyandneednotimetoaccomplish.

10. Contd…
•Provisioninganewvirtualmachineisamatter
ofminutes,savinglotsoftimeandeffort,
Migrationsofavirtualmachineisamatterof
milliseconds:
1.Savingtime,
2.Effort
3.Makingtheservicealivefor customers
4.AchievingtheSLA/SLOagreementsandquality-of-
service (QoS)specificationsrequired.

11. VM Provisioning

12. Manual VM Provisioning and
Automatic VM Provisioning
In manual VM provisioning, the process of creating and configuring a
virtual machine is done by hand. Steps in Manual VM Provisioning:
1.Resource Allocation: Choosing and assigning CPU, memory, disk
space, and network resources for the VM.
2.Installation of OS: Manually installing an operating system (e.g.,
Windows, Linux) on the VM by using an ISO file or other media.
3.Software Configuration: Manually installing and configuring the
required software, tools, and applications.
4.Network Setup: Configuring network settings such as IP addresses,
DNS, and firewall rules.
5.Security Settings: Manually configuring user permissions, firewall
settings, and security updates.

13. Key Characteristics:
1.Time-consuming: Requires a lot of manual input and
human intervention.
2.More control: The administrator has full control over
every aspect of the VM configuration.
3.Prone to errors: Since the process is manual, there is a
higher chance of configuration mistakes.
4.Useful for small-scale setups: It’s more suited for
environments with only a few VMs where customization is
key.

14. Automatic VM Provisioning:
In automatic VM provisioning, the process of creating and configuring virtual
machines is done using automation tools, scripts, or orchestration platforms. It
reduces or eliminates the need for human intervention in most of the steps.
Steps in Automatic VM Provisioning:
1.Automated Resource Allocation: Resources such as CPU, RAM, and storage are
automatically assigned based on predefined templates or policies.
2.Template-based OS Deployment: A pre-configured OS image or template is
used to automatically deploy VMs without manually installing the OS.
3.Scripted Software Installation: Automation tools (e.g., Ansible, Puppet, Chef) or
scripts handle the installation and configuration of software and applications.
4.Predefined Network Setup: Network configurations, IP addresses, and security
rules are applied automatically based on templates or cloud orchestration rules.
5.Orchestration Platforms: Cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, and GCP offer tools
like Terraform, CloudFormation, and ARM templates for automating VM
provisioning.

15. Key Characteristics:
1.Faster and more efficient: Automation significantly reduces
provisioning time, especially for large-scale deployments.
2.Consistency and reduced errors: Since automation follows
pre-defined rules or scripts, it ensures consistency in VM
configurations and reduces human errors.
3.Scalable: Ideal for environments that require frequent or
large-scale VM deployments, such as cloud infrastructures.
4.Less control over customization: While automation provides
consistency, it may limit fine-grained customization for
individual VMs unless specifically scripted.

16. Which one you will choose Manual
VM Provisioning or Automated ?
1.Development and Testing of Specialized Software
2.Cloud Infrastructure for Web Applications (e.g., AWS, Azure, Google
Cloud)
3.One-Off Virtual Machine Setups for Special Projects
4.DevOps and Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD)
Pipelines
5.Highly Customized Virtual Desktops for a Small Team
6.Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) for Large Organizations
7.Sensitive Environments Requiring Strict Customization
8.Disaster Recovery and Backup Environments
9.Educational and Training Labs
10.Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) Providers
11.High-Performance Computing (HPC) or Big Data Environments
12.Self-Service VM Portals

17. How to choose right virtualization platform ?

18. Thevirtualizationlayerpartitionsthephysicalresourceofthe
underlyingphysicalserverintomultiplevirtualmachineswithdifferent
workloads.
Role of the Thevirtualizationlayer:
•Schedules resources and allocates physical resources
•Makes each virtual machine think that it totally owns the whole
underlying hardware’s physical resource (Preprocessor, disks,
etc.)
•Makes it flexible and easy to manage resources.
•Improve the utilization of resources by multiplexing many virtual
machines on one physical host.
•The machines can be scale up and down on demand with a high
level of resources’ abstraction.
•Enables High, Reliable, and agile deployment mechanism.
•Provides On-demand cloning and live migration.
•Having efficient management suite for managing virtual
machines.
Layer Virtualization Model

19. PrivatecloudandInfrastructureServices
•Aprivatecloudaimsatprovidingpubliccloud
functionality,butonprivateresources,while
maintainingcontroloveranorganization’sdataand
resourcestomeetsecurityandgovernance’s
requirementsinanorganization.
•Privatecloudexhibitsahighlyvirtualizedclouddata
centerlocatedinsideyourorganization’sfirewall.It
mayalsobeaprivatespacededicatedforyour
companywithinacloudvendor’sdatacenter
designedtohandletheorganization’sworkloads,and
inthiscase,itiscalledVirtualPrivateCloud(VPC).

20. Privatecloudsexhibitthefollowing
characteristics:
1.Allowserviceprovisioningandcomputecapabilityforan
organization’susersinaself-servicemanner .
2.Automateandprovidewell-managedvirtualizedenvironments.
3.Optimizecomputingresources,andservers’utilization.
4.Supportspecificworkloads.
Therearemanyexamplesforvendorsandframeworksthatprovide
infrastructureasaserviceinprivatesetups.Thebest-knownexamples
areEucalyptusandOpenNebula.
4)Itisalsoimportanttohighlightathirdtypeofcloudsetupnamed
“hybridcloud,”inwhichacombinationofprivate/internalandexternal
cloudresourcesexisttogetherbyenablingoutsourcingofnoncritical
servicesandfunctionsinpubliccloudandkeepingthecriticalones
internal.
5)Hybridcloud’smainfunctionistoreleaseresourcesfromapublic
cloudandtohandlesuddendemandusage,whichiscalled“cloud
bursting.”

21. CloudandVirtualization
StandardizationEfforts
•Standardizationisimportanttoensure
interoperabilitybetweenvirtualizationmanagement
vendors,thevirtualmachinesproducedbyeachone
ofthem,andcloudcomputing.
•DistributedManagementTaskForce(DMTF)have
producedstandardsforalmostalltheaspectsof
virtualizationtechnology.
•DMTFinitiatedtheVMAN(Virtualization
ManagementInitiative),whichdeliversbroadly
supportedinteroperabilityandportabilitystandards
formanagingthevirtualcomputinglifecycle.

22. Contd…
•VMAN’sOVF(OpenVirtualizationFormat)ina
collaborationbetweenindustrykeyplayers:Dell,HP,
IBM,Microsoft,XenSource,andVMware.
•OVFspecificationprovidesacommonformatto
packageandsecurelydistributevirtualappliances
acrossmultiplevirtualizationplatforms.VMAN
profilesdefineaconsistentwayofmanaginga
heterogeneousvirtualizedenvironment

23. CloudandVirtualization
StandardizationEfforts
•Anotherstandardizationefforthasbeeninitiatedby
OpenGridForum(OGF)throughorganizingan
officialnewworkinggrouptodeliverastandardAPI
forcloudIaaS,theOpenCloudComputingInterface
WorkingGroup(OCCIWG).
•ThisgroupisdedicatedfordeliveringanAPI
specificationfortheremotemanagementofcloud
computing’sinfrastructureandforallowingthe
developmentofinteroperabletoolsforcommon
tasksincludingdeployment,autonomicscaling,and
monitoring.

24. Contd…
•The newAPIforinterfacing“IaaS” cloud computing
facilitieswill allow:
•Consumersto interactwithcloudcomputing
infrastructure onanadhoc basis.
•Integratorsto offer advancedmanagementservices.
•Aggregatorsto offer asingle commoninterface to
multiple providers.
•Providersto offer astandardinterface thatis
compatible withthe available tools.
•Vendorsof grid/cloudsto offer standardInterfacesfor
dynamicallyscalable service’sdeliveryintheir
products.

25. VirtualMachineProvisioningand
ManageabilityVirtualMachineLifeCycle
•Virtual MachineProvisioningand Manageability Virtual
MachineLifeCycle
•The cyclestartsby a requestdelivered to theIT
department,statingtherequirementforcreatinga
newserverfora particularservice.
•Thisrequestisbeingprocessed by theIT
administration to startseeingtheservers’resource
pool,matchingtheseresourceswith requirements
•Startingtheprovision of theneeded virtual machine.
•Once it provisioned and started,itisready to provide
therequired serviceaccordingto an SLA.
•Virtual isbeingreleased; and freeresources.

26. VM Provisioning Life Cycle

28. Practice Questions
1.What is VM provisioning?
2.How does VM provisioning work?
3.What are the steps involved in provisioning a virtual
machine?
4.What are the different types of VM provisioning?
5.What is manual vs. automatic VM provisioning?
6.What is thin provisioning and thick provisioning in virtual
machines?
7.What are the main considerations when provisioning a VM?
8.What factors should be considered when deciding CPU,
RAM, storage, and network settings for a VM?
9.How do you choose the right virtualization platform (e.g.,
VMware, Hyper-V, KVM)?