Slow Template deployment - Cross Clusters slow

[abugeja]

If i provision a vm via a template within the same cluster where the template is the deployment is very fast. If I provision the VM to another cluster does that trigger a network based copy for the VM to be built.

I assume its fast on the same cluster because it triggers VAAI but when you do cross cluster it now uses a network copy instead. is that right?

[lucasbernadsky]

Hi there. If you are deploying a VM template to another vCenter or cluster, it will start to copy the files, so it may be the cause of the slowlyness. Can you try cloning the template to the new cluster and try to deploy again?

I suggest you move the template to a shared datastore between clusters so no copy is needed.

Also, consider using Content Libraries. They are great for centralizing ISOs, OVF and Templates between clusters and vCenters.

Regards

[abugeja]

Hi. Yes if we copy the template to the same cluster and clone it only takes seconds to complete. So i assume what we are seeing then is normal.

Having a shared datastore across the cluster maybe possible but i dont like doing this as i like to keep each cluster completely seperate.

How would content libraries be any different. Where are the ISOs, OVF and templates stored?

[lucasbernadsky]

With content libraries you can suscribe to a "Master" vCenter and downloads the ISOs locally. But in your case, the solution for you would be to store templates and ISOs in a shared datastore between clusters. If you cannot share datastores, then you would need to duplicate templates but that´s not a good option to maintain and scale at long term

[lucasbernadsky]

Hi there! How did it go? Could you resolve your problem?