VM platforms

Virtual platforms general

Virtual platform hypervisor general

Virtual platform VM guest OS

VMware switches

Amazon Web Services

 

Through the VM Platform device type, Entuity manages these VM platforms:

• Amazon Web Services
• Microsoft Azure
• VMware vCenter or ESXi
• Microsoft Hyper-V
• Oracle VM.

Entuity integrates management of virtual machines, e.g. their virtual CDROMs, virtual controllers using the same mechanisms as for managing real machines’ CDROMs and controllers. In addition, Entuity manages the VM platform, its hypervisors and virtual machines.

 

Please see this article for information on the virtualization data that Entuity polls and monitors.

 

 

Virtual platforms general

A VM Platform is an Entuity device type, and as a device type Entuity can collect standard device details, e.g. Type, location, IP Address.

 

 

Virtual platform hypervisor general

Attribute	Description
Hypervisor Product Name	product name, version and build of the VM platform. When VMs on an Oracle platform are not running, they are not associated to a hypervisor. Entuity associates these VMs to its own logical construct, an unassigned hypervisor.
Hypervisor Name	user-specified guest physical memory size.
Hypervisor Product Build	build number of the hypervisor.
Hypervisor Total Memory	total physical memory on the hypervisor.
Hypervisor Product Version	version number of the hypervisor.

 

 

Virtual platform VM guest OS

Attribute	Description
Guest OS	operating system implemented on the VM.
Memory (MB)	user-defined guest physical memory size.
Name	name of the VM.
Configuration File	location and name of the VM configuration file.
VMUUID	Universal Unique Identifier for the virtual machine. Keeping the same identifier when moving/copying a VM maintains its properties, e.g. keeps the same MAC address.

 

 

VMware switches

There are three types of VMware vSwitch:

• VMware standard vSwitch, usually deployed for standalone VMware hypervisors.
• VMware distributed vSwitch, a distributed vSwitch provided by VMware which allows multiple hypervisors to connect to a shared distributed switch and supports vMotion, DRS, etc.
• Cisco Nexus 1000v, provides the same functionality as the VMware distributed vSwitch, but with enhanced configuration options and performance operations.

 

VSwitch details

Attribute	Description
Current Ports	total number of ports currently active on the vSwitch.
Key	user-defined guest physical memory size.
Max Ports	name of the VM.
Name	location and name of the VM configuration file.
StormWorks ID	Universal Unique Identifier for the virtual machine. Keeping the same identifier when moving/copying a VM maintains its properties, e.g. keeps the same MAC address.
Type	vSwitch type, e.g. Distributed Switch, Standard vSwitch.
VM Platform Device ID	Unique VM platform identifier.
Association
Services	Services associated with the vSwitch.
SNMP Polled vSwitch	you may also manage a vSwitch as an SNMP polled device. This provides a link to the polled data.
Port Groups	port groups provide VLAN-type tagging isolation between VMs within the confines of a virtual switch. Each port group is identified by a network label, which is unique to the current host.

 

Virtual port group details

Attribute	Description
Current Ports	total number of ports currently active on the vSwitch.
Key	user-defined guest physical memory size.
Max Ports	maximum number of ports in the VM group.
Name	location and name of the VM configuration file.
StormWorks ID	Universal Unique Identifier for the virtual machine. Keeping the same identifier when moving/copying a VM maintains its properties, e.g. keeps the same MAC address.
Type	virtual port group type, e.g. Distributed Port Group, Standard Port Group.
VLAN	A port group label may have an appended VLAN identifier.
Association
Services	services associated with the vSwitch.
vSwitch	vSwitch associated with the virtual port group.
vSwitch Uplinks	uplinks associated with the virtual port group.
Connections	port group connection to the VM.

 

Virtual port group connection details

Attribute	Description
Entity	total number of ports currently active on the vSwitch.
Key	user-defined guest physical memory size.
MAC	name of the VM.
Name	location and name of the VM configuration file.
StormWorks ID	Universal Unique Identifier for the virtual machine
VLAN	a port group label may have an appended VLAN identifier.
VNIC Key	virtual NIC key.
Association
Services	services associated with the vSwitch.
Port	vSwitch associated with the virtual port group.
Virtual Machine	uplinks associated with the virtual port group.
Port Group	port group connection to the VM.
Virtual NIC	virtual NIC.

 

 

Amazon Web Services

Hypervisors and zones

These are the common attributes with the existing Hypervisor type. The other existing Hypervisor attributes are not relevant.

Attribute	Description
Hypervisor Name	user-specified guest physical memory size.
Virtualization Platform Type	virtualization platform type.

 

Virtual machine

Existing attributes that are also relevant and populated when possible:

Attribute	Description
VMUUID	Universal Unique Identifier for the virtual machine. Keeping the same identifier when moving/copying a VM maintains its properties, e.g. keeps the same MAC address.
VMMemoryMB	user-defined guest physical memory size.
VMname	name of the virtual platform.
VMGuestOS	operating system implemented on the VM.

 

Virtual machine/instance

Attribute	Description
AMI ID	AMI identifier.
Access KeyName	used in authentication and authorization to identify who is making a call and whether to allow the requested access. In AWS, these are typically the access key ID and the secret access key.
Architecture	operating system architecture.
Availability Zone	distinct location within a region that is insulated from failures in other Availability Zones. Provides inexpensive, low-latency network connectivity to other Availability Zones in the same region.
Device Name	device name.
GuestOS	operating system installed.
HypervisorType	hypervisor type.
Image Id	image ID, e.g. ami-04003319.
Instance Type	defines the memory, CPU, storage capacity, and hourly cost for an instance. Some instance types are designed for standard applications, whereas others are designed for CPU-intensive, memory-intensive applications.
Kernel	CPU kernel.
Launch Time	time and date of launch.
Life Cycle	the lifecycle state of the instance contained in the AutoScalingGroup. Instances progress through several states over their lifespan, e.g. Pending, InService, Terminating and Terminated.
Memory (MB)	memory size.
Name	name of the instance.
Platform	platform used to run the instance.
Private Address	private IP address assigned to the instance at launch.
Private DNS	private Domain Name System.
Public Address	public IP address assigned to the instance at launch.
Public DNS	public Domain Name System.
Ram Disk ID	RAM Disk identifier.
Reservation	a collection of instances started as part of the same launch request.
Virtualization Type	guest VMs can run on one or more levels above the host hardware, depending on the type of virtualization, e.g. Paravirtual virtualization, Hardware Virtual Machine virtualization.

 

Block device mapping

Mapping from volumes to device name, such as /dev/xvda.

Attribute	Description
Attached Time	time and date attached.
Block Device Name	device name.
Delete on Termination	e.g. yes or no.
Volume ID	volume identifier.

 

Volume

Attribute	Description
Create Time	time and date created.
Size (GiB)	size.
Snapshot	a user-initiated point backup of an instance, e.g. snap-98878e1d.
Volume ID	volume identifier, e.g. vol-585c3441.

 

VNIC

An Elastic Network Interface that can be attached/detached and therefore moved between Instances in a VPC.

Attribute	Description
Description	description of the VNIC, e.g. Primary network interface.
Elastic IP Address	a  fixed (static) IP address allocated in Amazon EC2 or Amazon VPC and then attached to an instance. Elastic IP addresses are associated with an account, not a specific instance.
Key	identifies an AWS account or user to AWS.
MAC	message authentication code.
OwnerId	owner ID.
Private DNS Name	private Domain Name System.
Private IP Address	private IP address assigned to the VNIC.
Requester	the person (or application) that sends a request to AWS to perform a specific action.
Subnet Id	subnet identifier.
VPC Id	VPC identifier.
Zone	zone name.

 

Security group

A named set of allowed inbound and outbound network connections created for a VPC and associated with an instance. Each security group consists of a list of protocols, ports, and IP address ranges. A security group can apply to multiple instances, and multiple groups can regulate a single instance.

Attribute	Description
Description	consists of group name and time/date created, e.g. launch-wizard-3 created 2015-04-08T11:55:34.613+01:00.
GroupId	group identifier.
Group Name	group name, e.g. launch-wizard-3.
Group Owner	group owner.

 

Virtual private cloud

A VPN is an elastic network populated by infrastructure, platform, and application services that share common security and interconnection.

Attribute	Description
CIDR Block	IP address and its associated routing prefix, e.g. 172.31.0.0/16.
Region	identifies the named set of AWS resources in the same geographical area. A region comprises of at least two Availability Zones.
VPC Id	VPC identifier.
VPC Tenancy	can be either dedicated or default.

 

Placement group

Logical grouping of instances for low latency 10Gbps high network throughput. Contained in a zone (hypervisor).

Attribute	Description
Placement Group	placement group name.
InstanceID	instance ID.

 

Region

A named set of AWS resources in the same geographical area. A region comprises of at least two Availability Zones.

Attribute	Description
Region Endpoint	URL that identifies a host and port as the
Region Name	region name

 

Subnet

A subnet can be public or private. Public subnets will contain instances with public IP addresses/elastic IPs. Private subnets will have instances with only private IPs.

Attribute	Description
Address Count	number of IP addresses contained in the subnet.
CIDR Block	IP address and its associated routing prefix, e.g. 172.31.0.0/16.
Route Table Id	route table identifier
Subnet Id	Subnet identifier
VPC Id	VPC identifier

 

VPNConnection

This specifically means the IPsec connection between a VPC and some other network, such as corporate data center, home network, or co-loaction facility.

Attribute	Description
VPNConnection	VPNConnection.
Customer Gateway	customer gateway.
Virtual Private Gateway	virtual private gateway.
Type	VPN connection type.
VPC	virtual private cloud.

 

Static route

Static routes are non-propagated routes, which are statically defined for VPNs.

Attribute	Description
CIDR	IP address and its associated routing prefix, e.g. 172.31.0.0/16.
Source	static route source.

 

Route table

Each subnet must be associated with a route table but not vice-versa. In the absence of an explicit route table, the subnet is associated with the Main route table (the Main route table can itself be explicitly defined). Route tables have route entries for the local subnet and any gateway (internet gateway or virtual private gateway and propagated VPN routes).

Attribute	Description
Route Table Id	route table identifier, e.g. rtb-8ad921e3.
VPC Id	VPC identifier, e.g. vpc-090bf560.

 

Route

A route is a CIDR block or IP Address and a Gateway (target). It can point to the publicly visible deisgnated NAT instance.

Attribute	Description
Destination CIDR	the CIDR address block used for the destination match, e.g. 172.31.0.0/16.
Gateway	the ID of an Internet gateway or virtual private gateway attached to your VPC.
NAT VM	the ID of a NAT instance in your VPC.
NAT VM Owner	name of the NAT VM owner.
NIC	ID of the NIC.
Originator	originator of the route, e.g. CreateRouteTable.
Route Table Id	route table identifier.
VPC Conn Id	VPC connection ID.

 

Customer gateway

A customer gateway is a physical device or software on the customer side of a VPN.

Attribute	Description
Customer Gateway	customer gateway.
IP Address	IP address.
Type	gateway type.

 

Elastic IP

A fixed (static) IP address that you have allocated in Amazon EC2 or Amazon VPC and then attached to an instance. Elastic IP addresses are associated with your account, not a specific instance. They are elastic because you can easily allocate, attach, detach, and free them as your needs change. Elastic IP addresses allow an instance to be accessed from outside the VPC Subnet.

Attribute	Description
Instance Id	instance identifier.
Network Interface Id	network interface ID.
Owner	owner of the elastic IP.
Private IP	private IP address.
Public IP	public IP address.