Compute capacity is provided by an Oracle Private Cloud Appliance X5-2 base rack, with a number of compute nodes selected to meet the requirements of the workloads it must host. A single system contains at least 2 and up to 25 compute nodes. In function of the customer subscription, the configuration can be extended by one compute node at a time. All rack units, whether populated or not, are pre-cabled and pre-configured at the factory in order to facilitate the installation of expansion compute nodes on-site at a later time.

At the heart of the system is a pair of management nodes, configured as an active/standby cluster for high availability. The active management node takes the shared virtual IP address and runs the Oracle VM Manager and related services, which are required for the configuration and management of the virtualization platform. The active management node also runs the Oracle Private Cloud Appliance Controller Software, which is the system level management service. The Controller Software orchestrates compute node provisioning tasks from initial power-on to deployment readiness, and ensures the synchronization of essential configuration parameters between server nodes and across infrastructure components.

The core network infrastructure is a physical 40Gbit (Quad Data Rate) InfiniBand fabric with built-in redundancy. Software defined networking (SDN) is implemented on top of the InfiniBand fabric, providing dynamically allocated high-performance connectivity to physical components and virtual machines, while maintaining the traffic separation of hard-wired connections. External connectivity for the virtualization platform is provided by redundant 10Gbit Ethernet uplinks to the next-level data center switches.

A storage appliance is installed in the bottom four rack units of the base rack. This should be considered as a 'system disk' for the entire appliance, as its main purpose is to provide storage space for the Controller Software, Oracle VM Manager and system databases, software and firmware upgrade files, local package repositories, backups, and so on. Storage resources for Oracle VM repositories, virtual appliances (assemblies/templates), virtual machine disks and application data are configured on the Oracle ZFS Storage Appliance ZS7-2, which is accessed through the 10GbE public network infrastructure as well as the InfiniBand storage network.

Storage for the virtualized environment – presented as file or block based resources, accessed through storage repositories or directly attached to virtual machines – must be configured on external storage hardware. For this purpose, every Oracle Private Cloud at Customer installation includes an Oracle ZFS Storage Appliance ZS7-2, which is typically installed in a separate storage rack, but can also be installed in the compute base rack if a compact configuration is required.

Storage functionality and performance are identical for compact single-rack and scalable two-rack configurations. Co-engineered with Oracle Private Cloud Appliance, the ZFS storage appliance adds the extreme performance and efficiency required by demanding enterprise applications and unpredictable cloud workloads. It adds a usable capacity of 200TB to the system and leverages the high bandwidth and low latency of the appliance InfiniBand fabric.

The Oracle ZFS Storage Appliance ZS7-2 is physically connected to the compute base rack in two ways: through 10GbE interconnect switches inside the storage rack, and with InfiniBand cabling directly to the Fabric Interconnects. This way of connecting compute and storage hardware provides excellent redundancy and performance, as well as maximum flexibility. Flexible storage provisioning is critical to support the diverse workloads of a private cloud environment. Virtual disks in an Oracle VM repository are a convenient way to provide disk space to a virtual machine. However, many configurations also require shared storage in the form of mounted NFS volumes, and in some cases a directly attached iSCSI physical disk is preferable. The storage architecture of Oracle Private Cloud at Customer enables any desired combination.

The default storage configuration consists of a 100TB LUN-based storage repository presented to the hypervisor, and a 50TB NFS share accessible to virtual machines through a custom network. The remaining space of the 200TB capacity is held in reserve for the provisioning of iSCSI LUNs or additional repositories. Further allocation of storage resources is managed within Oracle Enterprise Manager.

The Oracle Private Cloud at Customer subscription can be expanded to include additional storage. In the case of a scale configuration, with the Oracle ZFS Storage Appliance ZS7-2 installed in a second rack, customers who need more disk space for their workloads can add high-capacity and/or high-performance storage to their subscription. The extra disk shelves are installed in the storage rack and are managed by the pair of controllers already present.