Creating a vSphere DRS and HA cluster using the vSphere Web Client

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article provides steps to create a DRS and HA cluster using the vSphere Web Client.

Note: For more information, see the vSphere Resource Management Guide. This guide contains definitive information. If there is a discrepancy between the guide and the article, assume the guide is correct.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 5.1.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1

Resolution

A vSphere DRS cluster is a collection of ESX/ESXi hosts and associated virtual machines with shared resources and a shared management interface. Before you can obtain the benefits of cluster-level resource management, you must create a cluster and enable DRS. For more information, see the Creating a DRS cluster and Using DRS Clusters to Manage Resources sections of the vSphere Resource Management Guide.

vSphere HA clusters enable a collection of ESXi hosts to work together so that, as a group, they provide higher levels of availability for virtual machines than each ESXi host can provide individually. When you plan the creation and usage of a new vSphere HA cluster, the options you select affect the way that cluster responds to failures of hosts or virtual machines. For more information, see the Creating and Using vSphere HA Clusters section of the vSphere Resource Management Guide.

Note: You can create a cluster without a special license. However, you need a license to enable a cluster for vSphere DRS (or vSphere HA).

To create a cluster and enable vSphere DRS and HA using the vSphere Web Client:

1. Right-click a datacenter in the vSphere Web Client and click New Cluster.
2. Enter a name for the cluster in the Name field. This name should now appear in the vSphere Web Client navigator.
3. Select the DRS Turn ON option.
4. Select a default automation level for DRS.
   
   This table lists the various automation levels available and their actions:
   
   

   Automation level	Action
   Manual	Initial placement: Recommended host(s) is displayed. Migration: Recommendation is displayed.
   Partially Automated	Initial placement: Automatic. Migration: Recommendation is displayed.
   Fully Automated	Initial placement: Automatic. Migration: Recommendation is executed automatically.

   
   
5. Set the migration threshold for DRS.
6. Select the vSphere HA Turn ON option to enable vSphere HA. This step is optional.
   
   vSphere HA allows you to:
   
   
   • Enable host monitoring
   • Enable admission control
   • Specify the type of policy that admission control should enforce
   • Adjust the monitoring sensitivity of virtual machine monitoring
   
   
7. If appropriate, enable Enhanced vMotion Compatibility (EVC) and select the mode in which it should operate.
8. Click OK to complete cluster creation.

Note: A new cluster does not contain any hosts or virtual machines. For information on adding hosts to a cluster, see Creating a Datacenter and adding an ESXi host to the vCenter Server Inventory using the vSphere Web Client (2032896).

Additional Information

Creating a datacenter and adding an ESXi host to the vCenter Server Inventory using the vSphere Web Client