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vCenter setup

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Connecting a vCenter to Clumio includes the following high-level steps:

  1. Connect the vCenter by entering the required information in both the Clumio UI and the vSphere client to connect Clumio to the vCenter.
  2. Deploy the cloud connector.
  3. Configure the cloud connector.

Administrative credentials are required to configure backups for VMs.

Cloud Administrator credentials are required for VMware Cloud on AWS, .

The Deploy OVF Template process in the vSphere client links Clumio to the vCenter. During this process, all of the information entered, such as IP addresses and login credentials, are validated to ensure accuracy. All of this information is stored in the cloud connector, creating a bridge between your vCenter and your Clumio account.

The Clumio cloud connector OVA comes configured with one Network Interface Card (NIC) by default. In some cases, you may need a second NIC to communicate both internally to your data center (private), and externally to the AWS cloud (public). See Add a second network interface card (NIC) for further details.

You can add a second NIC at these times:

  • Before powering on the cloud connector for the first time.
  • By powering off a cloud connector that is already configured.

If you have already deployed one Clumio cloud connector, use the Cloud Connector Settings in the Clumio UI to obtain the token. See Deploy additional cloud connectors for further details.

Bandwidth throttling for cloud connectors

You can limit network usage to ensure availability of shared resources, control costs, or to keep performance high and stable.

Clumio uses rate limiting, or bandwidth throttling for the collective use of managing outbound network traffic by Clumio the cloud connectors deployed in your data centers. Rate limiting the outbound network usage by the cloud connectors ensures that sufficient outbound network bandwidth is available for other production workloads.

Clumio has a general-purpose distributed rate limiter framework that can be used by services to enforce rate limiting of a particular shared WAN resource. This rate limiter must be distributed because all Clumio services have one or more replicas and operate as an independent master-less swarm. Integrating rate limiter into the cloud connector data services app to rate limit outbound network consumption by the Clumio SaaS.

The general framework of Clumio’s bandwidth throttling is meant to be able to rate limit other shared network WAN resources with the least amount of effort, but still ensure that the shared network resource consumption conforms to the bandwidth throttling schedule. It also allows for the creation of multiple distributed rate-limiters.

When setting up bandwidth throttling, keep the following in mind:

  • You can select one or both methods for limiting the throttling.
  • You can choose a different option for each day of the week.
  • The outbound data transfer rate is set to repeat every week.
  • If you select Limit global outbound data transfer rate to, the limit is set permanently until you change it.

Note: Clumio allows multiple cloud connector consumers per distributed rate-limiter.

Connect a new vCenter server

To connect a new vCenter, do the following:

  1. Go to VMware > vCenters, and click + Connect vCenter.
  2. Provide the IP address or FQDN for the vCenter that you want to register for use.
  3. Select the vCenter type:
    • VMware (on-premises)
    • VMware Cloud on AWS. When registering VMware Cloud on AWS, vmwarevmc.com must be part of the FQDN address.
  4. Click Next.
  5. Click the copy icon to copy the URL and the token in the Install Cloud Connector on vCenter section.
    The URL deploys the cloud connector onto your registered vCenter, and the token is required during the cloud connector deployment process to register the cloud connector with your account.
  6. Deploy the cloud connector in the vSphere client (See Deploy a cloud connector).
  7. After the cloud connector successfully connects to Clumio, click Go to vCenter Page to launch the Clumio UI for the newly connected vCenter.

Cancel a vCenter connection

Canceling the vCenter connection process clears the vCenter name or IP address and stops trying to connect the cloud connector.

If you need to cancel the vCenter connection at any time during the connections process, do the following.

  1. In the Connect vCenter window, click Start Over. A confirmation dialog appears.
  2. Click Start Over to confirm you want to end the connection process.
  3. The Connect vCenter window appears, where you can begin the connection process again if desired.

Deploy a cloud connector

After successfully registering a vCenter, you need to deploy the cloud connector, which adds it as an active cloud connector in the vCenter. At least one cloud connector is recommended per cluster.

Clumio supports both thick and thin provisioning of the VM disk. Thick provision is recommended (but not required) to minimize the impact that underlying storage capacity issues may have on the expected functionality of the cloud connector VM.

Before you begin

Refer to the following tables for information about vCenter and ESXi interoperability and VMware Cloud on AWS interoperability:
Clumio Cloud has been tested with the following VMware vCenter an ESXi versions:

vCenter VersionESXi Version
7.07.0.x

Clumio Cloud has been tested and certified on the following VMware Cloud on AWS Software-Defined Data Center (SDDC) versions:

  • SDDC version 1.8
  • SDDC version 1.9
  • SDDC version 1.10
  1. Log in to the vSphere client.
  2. Select the folder where you want to deploy the cloud connector, or create a new folder.
  3. Right click on the folder and choose Deploy OVF Template.
  4. In the URL field, enter the URL from the Connect vCenter window in the Clumio UI. Alternatively, you can enter the URL in your browser. This downloads the OVF template. Then, click Upload Files to add the OVF template.
    Note: If you see a Source Verification warning message, click Yes to continue.
  5. Enter the virtual machine name for the cloud connector. Make sure to use a unique name for the cloud connector, particularly if you are going to deploy multiple cloud connectors, i.e. Clumio-01, Clumio-02, etc.
  6. Select the location that you want to deploy the cloud connector into and click Next.
  7. Select a resource pool for the storage and click Next.
  8. Review the details of the information to ensure it is accurate, and then click Next.
  9. Select the datastore for storage for the configuration and disk space. You must use a data store. Clumio does not support using the vSANdatastore. Click Next.
  10. Select a destination network for each source network. Click Next.
  11. In the Customize Template window, enter the following information:
    1. Username and password for the vCenter.
    2. The Clumio token, which you copy from the Clumio UI.
    3. IP addresses for the Clumio cloud connector (leave blank for DHCP). Click Next.
  12. On the Ready to complete screen, verify that all the information is correct. Click Finish. The cloud connector takes a few minutes to deploy.
    The Deploy OVF Template status bar at the bottom of the screen shows the progress. A message displays confirming the successful connection.
  13. Power on the cloud connector.

Configure the cloud connector

After you deploy cloud connector, configure the cloud connector details.

  1. Log in to the VMware vCenter console via the vSphere Web client.
  2. Log in to the virtual machine’s “Web Console” with the following credentials:
    • Cloud connector console username: clumio
    • Cloud connector password: ClumioCBA
  3. If you are logging in for the very first time, change the default cloud connector password.
  4. Select one of the following options, depending on your environment:
    • Using DHCP: Configure the cloud connector with DHCP to automatically assign an IP address.
    • Manually: Configure the cloud connector to use a static IP address with the following information:
      + IPv4 address, subnet mask, and gateway that match your corporate network guidelines.
      + Name server representing the name service or DNS name. You can enter multiple name servers.
      By default, the Clumiocloud connector IP address is in the subnet 172.17.253.1/24. If your vCenter IP address falls within this range, contact Clumio Support.
  5. If your corporate network requires a web filter to connect to services hosted on the Internet, select Use HTTP Proxy and enter the following information:
    • HTTP proxy server address
    • HTTP proxy port
    • Username and password – only required if the proxy is configured to use authentication. If there are specific hosts/domains that you do not want Clumio to access via the proxy, enter them in the Bypass proxy settings for these hosts and domains field (separated by commas). Enter IPv4 addresses in the form ddd.ddd.ddd.dd. For example, 192.0.2.0, or 192.0.2.0/24 in CIDR notation. Domain names entered will match the name and all subdomains. For example, domain name example.com will cover all subdomains of example.com, such as abc.example.com and xy.example.com. Wildcards are not supported.
  6. Under Time Synchronization, choose one of the following options to configure time synchronization for the cloud connector:
    • With Host: The cloud connector synchronizes its time with the hypervisor.
      If you prefer to use NTP servers so that the cloud connector uses local network time in your region, see Configure an NTP server for more information.
    • Using NTP: Network Time Protocol (NTP) is the default time synchronization method. By default, three NTP servers are listed. Clumio attempts to use the servers in the order they are listed until one of them responds.
  7. Under vCenter, enter or update your vCenter credentials.
  8. Under Clumio Details, enter the Clumio token.
  9. Click Apply to apply the settings.

Configure an NTP server

To use your own NTP server, go to the vSphere client and do the following:

  1. Click Add to add it to the list. Use the same format as the existing NTP servers.
  2. Delete the other NTP servers to ensure that Clumio uses the server you added.
  3. A confirmation message appears indicating that Clumio has made a successful synchronization. Click OK.

Add a second network interface card (NIC)

In vSphere do the following:

  1. Make sure that the cloud connector is powered off.
  2. Right-click the cloud connector and choose Edit Settings. On the Edit Settings screen, add a second NIC, using VMXNET 3 as the adapter type.
    Make sure to note the MAC address for both NICs, as well as the port group they are associated with. This is the only way to distinguish them in the Clumio UI, and the port group determines which NIC routes the internet traffic.
  3. Power on the cloud connector.
    In the Clumio UI do the following:
  4. Use the radio button to choose which cloud connector is the Public NIC
  5. The other NIC becomes the private NIC. This will be the non-default gateway.

Deploy additional cloud connectors

If you need to deploy an additional cloud connector, use the same cloud connector URL and token that you used during the initial deployment. Note that each Cloud connector must have a unique name.

  1. Go to VMware > vCenters and click on any vCenter to access the Summary page.
  2. Click the settings icon in the upper right corner and select Cloud Connector Settings.
  3. Copy the cloud connector URL and continue with cloud connector deployment.

Updated about 2 months ago