vCloud Components: vCenter Chargeback
vCenter Chargeback server: Runs Web portal (Apache Tomcat server) for users and administrative
interface Abstracts vCenter Server and vCloud Director objects into the vCenter
Chargeback hierarchy Allows resource cost assignment aligned to vCloud Director resource
allocation models Generates cost and usage reports Built-in load balancer for scaling vCenter Chargeback servers
vCenter Chargeback database
Data collector: Gathers usage data Populates vCenter Chargeback
database Interface access:
Web interface VMware vSphere® Client plug-in
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vCenter Chargeback helps to accurately assign, measure, and analyze the cost of workloads in a vCloud environment. The diagram illustrates how the architectural components of vCenter Chargeback integrate with other vCloud components.
vCenter Chargeback includes four main components:
• vCenter Chargeback runs on an Apache Tomcat server instance. The user interacts with the vCenter Chargeback application through a load balancer (Apache HTTP server). vCenter Chargeback connects to a vCenter Chargeback database that stores application-specific information.
• vCenter Chargeback retrieves the virtual infrastructure inventory and the resource and network usage information through data collectors. An embedded data collector communicates with the vCenter Server database. vCloud infrastructures also use the optional vCloud Director and vCloud Networking and Security data collectors. vCenter Chargeback replicates collected data in the vCenter Chargeback database. vCenter Chargeback uses this information and the cost model and chargeback cost calculation formulas to generate cost reports.
When you install vCenter Chargeback, the vCenter Chargeback application, the load balancer, and the data collectors are installed and run on the same machine. Although the vCenter Chargeback database can also be installed on the same machine, in a real-world scenario you install the application and the database on separate machines.
• A single data collector instance replicates the information to the vCenter Chargeback database from multiple vCenter Server instances and vCloud Director databases. You can also create a cluster of vCenter Chargeback instances that share a single load balancer. Each user request is routed through the load balancer. The load balancer forwards the request to a vCenter Chargeback instance in the cluster based on the number of requests currently being serviced by each instance in the cluster. All the vCenter Chargeback instances in a cluster are connected to the same vCenter Chargeback database.
The vCenter Chargeback database stores the following chargeback-specific information:
• vCenter Chargeback hierarchy
• vCenter Chargeback users and roles
• Cost models and usage metrics
• Configuration settings. Three types of vCenter Chargeback data collectors are provided:
• vCenter Chargeback data collector (polls vCenter Server)
• vCloud data collector (polls vCloud Director)
• vCloud Networking and Security data collector (polls vCloud Networking and Security)
These data collectors collect vCenter Server inventory and vCloud Director organizational information, poll usage information, and populate vCenter Chargeback database through synchronization jobs. The first instance is installed on the vCenter Chargeback server when you install vCenter Chargeback.
The vCenter Chargeback Web interface is Web browser-based interface for users and administrators.
The vCenter Chargeback plug-in for the VMware vSphere® ClientTM provides limited vCenter Chargeback administration. Only a subset of the Web interface capabilities are available and the vCenter Chargeback hierarchy is replicated from the vCenter Server hierarchy.