Workload Management is a feature of VMware vRealize Operations that enables self-driving operations management for hybrid and multi-cloud environments. It uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to monitor, analyze, and automate the performance, capacity, cost, and configuration of applications, infrastructure, and services12.
Workload Management allows administrators to set a goal for workload optimization, which defines how vRealize Operations balances the resource utilization across clusters and data centers. The goal can be one of the following options34:
Balance: This option proactively moves workloads so that the resource utilization ensures maximum headroom for all resources. This means that vRealize Operations tries to distribute the workload evenly across the clusters and data centers, and avoid resource contention or overcommitment. This option is suitable for scenarios where workload performance is the first priority, and where there is a need for extra space for growth or spikes in demand.
Moderate: This option minimizes the workload contention by moving workloads away from clusters and data centers that are experiencing high resource utilization. This means that vRealize Operations tries to reduce the risk of performance degradation or SLA violations by ensuring that there is enough capacity to meet the workload demand. This option is suitable for scenarios where workload availability and reliability are the main goals, and where there is a moderate tolerance for resource imbalance or inefficiency.
Consolidate: This option proactively minimizes the number of clusters and data centers used by workloads by moving workloads to the clusters and data centers that have the lowest resource utilization. This means that vRealize Operations tries to optimize the resource efficiency and reduce the operational cost by freeing up unused or underutilized resources. This option is suitable for scenarios where workload consolidation and cost optimization are the primary objectives, and where there is a high tolerance for resource contention or overcommitment.
Workload Management relies on VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) and VMware Storage DRS to perform the workload optimization actions. DRS is a feature that automatically balances the compute resources and power consumption across the hosts in a cluster. Storage DRS is a feature that automatically balances the storage resources and I/O load across the datastores in a datastore cluster .
To enable Workload Management to move a storage resource, such as a virtual disk or a virtual machine, Storage DRS must be enabled for the cluster that contains the storage resource. Storage DRS can be enabled or disabled at the cluster level, and can be configured with different automation levels, such as manual, fully automated, or partially automated .
If Storage DRS is not enabled for the cluster, Workload Management cannot move the storage resource, as it does not have the permission or the mechanism to do so. This is the underlying reason for the problem. The other options are not relevant for moving a storage resource. DRS is only responsible for moving the compute resources, such as CPU and memory, not the storage resources. Storage DRS can be configured for both intra-datacenter and cross-datacenter migrations, not only for cross-datacenter migrations. The automation level of DRS does not affect the ability of Workload Management to move the storage resource, as long as Storage DRS is enabled.
1: vRealize Operations - VMware 2: vRealize Operations Manager User Guide 3: Workload Optimization Details - VMware Docs 4: Workload Optimization in vRealize Operations Manager : [Distributed Resource Scheduler - VMware Docs] : [Storage DRS - VMware Docs] : [Enable or Disable Storage DRS for a Datastore Cluster - VMware Docs] : [Set the Automation Level for Storage DRS - VMware Docs] : [vRealize Operations Manager Installation and Configuration Guide] : [vRealize Operations Manager Concepts Guide] : [vRealize Operations Manager Administration Guide] : [vRealize Operations Manager Customization and Extensibility Guide] : [vRealize Operations Manager Troubleshooting Guide] : [vRealize Operations Manager API Programming Guide] : [vRealize Operations Manager Certification Exam Guide]
