This topic provides answers to some frequently asked questions about Alibaba Cloud VMware Service (ACVS).
Service FAQ
Table 1 - Service FAQ
Question | Answer |
In which regions is ACVS currently available? | ACVS is currently available in three regions: China (Shanghai), China (Beijing), and China (Shenzhen). The actual sales information on the buy page prevails. |
How is ACVS charged? | ACVS is sold in the form of dedicated VMware environments (PrivateCloud instances). PrivateCloud instances are billed based on the host types by using the subscription billing method. The minimum number of hosts in an instance to be sold is three. Before you place an order to purchase a PrivateCloud instance, you can apply for a proof of concept (POC) test of a PrivateCloud instance with a single host. The POC test can last up to one month. After you activate ACVS, ACVS must be used together with other Alibaba Cloud services, such as Cloud Enterprise Network (CEN), Internet NAT Gateway, and Elastic IP Address (EIP). These services are charged by using the corresponding billing methods. For more information, see Billing overview. |
How do I activate ACVS? | you can activate ACVS on the Create a PrivateCloud page in the ACVS console. |
Do I need to pay a separate VMware software license fee to use ACVS? | ACVS is a VMware Cloud™️ service that is jointly developed by Alibaba Cloud and VMware. Alibaba Cloud provides sales, operations, and after-sales support for ACVS. Unlike on-premises VMware environments, you only need to pay the subscription fee of ACVS to Alibaba Cloud, and do not need to separately pay a license fee for VMware software. (Note 1) |
Can I use a software license of VMware SDDC purchased offline, specifically, does ACVS support the Bring Your Own License (BYOL) licensing model? | ACVS is a public cloud service that is jointly developed by Alibaba Cloud and VMware. ACVS implements the software-defined data center (SDDC) architecture of VMware on the cloud. Alibaba Cloud provides sales, operations, and after-sales support. The VMware SDDC software license is part of the service and cannot be separated. The VMware SDDC software license that you purchased offline (BYOL) is not applicable to ACVS. In addition, when you purchase a VMware SDDC software license offline, the end-user license agreement (EULA) of the VMware SDDC states that the software license only applies to your on-premises VMware environment. |
What VMware software features are included in ACVS? | ACVS currently includes the features of three types of VMware software: vSphere, NSX-T Data Center, and vSAN. |
How does ACVS ensure business security? | ACVS is built on the Alibaba Cloud infrastructure. The security protection capabilities of Alibaba Cloud are also applicable to ACVS. You can use the security features of VMware software and the security products of Alibaba Cloud for security protection based on your business requirements. |
How do I seek after-sales support for ACVS? | You can submit a ticket to contact Alibaba Cloud for after-sales support for ACVS. Alibaba Cloud will first analyze and locate the issue. If there is a suspected issue with VMware, Alibaba Cloud will contact the VMware after-sales support team and work together to solve it. (Note 2) |
Note 1: The license is the one for vSphere, NSX-T Data Center, vSAN, and other products of VMware that are included in ACVS. For other VMware products that are technically available on ACVS but are not sold by Alibaba Cloud, you must pay for the license fees of the corresponding VMware software separately.
Note 2: For other VMware products that are technically available on ACVS but are not sold by Alibaba Cloud, you need to contact the VMware after-sales support team for support. Alibaba Cloud will cooperate with you and the VMware after-sales support team to collect necessary logs and information to analyze corresponding issues.
Network FAQ
Table 2 - Network FAQ
Question | Answer |
Can VMware workloads in a PrivateCloud instance access other Alibaba Cloud services? | ACVS runs in an extended area of the data center of the Alibaba Cloud public cloud. In the data center, ACVS is connected to the Alibaba Cloud public cloud by using a dedicated network architecture. After a PrivateCloud instance is created, it can communicate with virtual private clouds (VPCs) and various Alibaba Cloud services. After you configure the NSX gateway firewall policies in NSX Manager, VMware workloads can access Alibaba Cloud services such as Elastic Compute Service (ECS). |
Can VMware workloads in a PrivateCloud instance access the Internet? | The ACVS console provides an Internet access configuration page. After you purchase an Internet NAT gateway, associate an EIP with the gateway, and configure Source Network Address Translation (SNAT) and Destination Network Address Translation (DNAT) for the PrivateCloud instance on this configuration page, VMware workloads can access the Internet. |
VMware-related FAQ
Table 3 - VMware-related FAQ
Question | Answer |
Does ACVS run vSphere nested on an ECS instance? | ACVS runs vSphere ESXi-based VMware Cloud™️ software directly on a dedicated physical server. Virtualization capabilities are provided directly by vSphere, not nested virtualization. |
How does ACVS access vCenter, NSX Manager, and other VMware management components? | In order to access the VMware management components, you must create an ECS instance or select an existing ECS instance in the VPC selected when you create the PrivateCloud instance. The ECS instance serves as a jumper server. You can connect to the jump server by using a remote desktop. In the browser of the jumper server, you can enter the URL of vCenter or NSX Manager specified in the ACVS console. Then, you can enter the username of vCenter or NSX Manager and the corresponding password that you specified when you created the PrivateCloud instance to access the VMware management component. |