This article describes the main functions and sections of VMmanager:
- control panel;
- user;
- cluster;
- storage;
- templates, images, and recipes;
- virtual machines;
- networks;
- backup system.
Control panel
One VMmanager Cloud can manage multiple physical servers (cluster nodes). You can install the control panel on a dedicated server.
VMmanager supports multi-threading, i.e. can execute multiple requests simultaneously.
Users
A user must be signed in to work with VMmanager. There are three user levels with different permissions: a superuser, administrator, and user.
Cluster
A cluster is a group of servers with virtual machines running on them. Cluster nodes are physical servers. All cluster nodes must have the same operating system, while all storages and networks are connected to all cluster nodes automatically.
Storages
Every virtual machine requires a virtual disk: a disk image connected to the virtual machine. Virtual disks are stored in a local (LVM, file system) or a network storage.
Cloud functions
Cloud function is a fault-tolerant system that monitors the availability of cluster nodes and if one or several nodes fail, virtual machines will be recovered on available nodes of the cloud. Cloud functions can be activated provided that you have at least three cluster nodes, however, the fault-tolerance features will work only on 4 and more cluster nodes and a network storage configured.
When the cluster node where VMmanager Cloud is installed fails, the control panel will start automatically on one of the running nodes.
VMmanager Cloud fault-tolerance is based on the replication of the VMmanager database and required files.
Templates, images, and recipes
You can create new virtual machines faster with templates of virtual machines.
A template is a group of settings used to create new virtual machines. It can be RAM, number of CPUs, processor priority, disk space, etc. In a similar fashion, there are templates of operating systems (OS template) used to facilitate operating system installation.
These are sets of disk images and installation scripts, consisting of distributives and other data needed for operating system installation.
Recipes are used to accelerate the preparation of a virtual machine. They allow installing any software for specific tasks after OS had been installed on a virtual machine.
Virtual machines
With VMmanager you can create and manage virtual machines which emulate physical servers. Virtual machines have practically the same principles of operation and functionality as real servers. One physical server can run multiple virtual machines all of them working independently.
Networks
VMmanager creates a virtual network bridge which unites the network interface of a cluster node and network interfaces of virtual machines. This way it establishes static routing for virtual machines: it adds a static public IP address to the network interface of a virtual machine and specifies network mask and gateway. Furthermore, the control panel can create virtual machines with private IP addresses; in this case, NAT is used to establish access to the web.
Backup system
VMmanager Cloud has the built-in backup system for virtual machines, as well as for VMmanager itself. This system is quite flexible and is able to create backup copies of specific virtual machines and/or the control panel. Backup can be scheduled for specific time and periodicity, on a local disk or remote FTP storage. Only VMmanager administrator can create and restore backup copies.