14.2 Creating, Modifying, and Deleting Service Levels

A service level defines the monthly cost for each type of host resource (vCPUs, memory, storage, and networks). For example, you might set the cost of one vCPU at $25 per month. If a workload requires two vCPUs, $50 is added to the monthly cost of the workload.

A service level can also include service objectives. Objectives typically define measurable behaviors such as host availability (uptime) or support response time and have a cost associated with them. Any service objective costs are added to the monthly cost of a workload that is deployed in the resource group.

The following sections provide instructions for managing service levels and service level objectives:

14.2.1 Creating Service Levels

Roles that Can Perform This Task: Cloud Administrator

  1. On the main navigation bar, click Resources.

  2. Click the Service Levels tab, then click Create.

  3. In the General section, provide the following details for the service level:

    Name: Specify a unique name for the service level. This name is displayed in business service workloads.

    You can use letters, numbers, and the following special characters: space, hyphen, underscore, apostrophe, percent, ampersand, and period. The maximum length is 110 characters.

    Creation Date: Displays the current date.

    Description: Provide any additional information for the service level.

  4. In the Monthly Resource Costs fields, define the cost (per month) to use the host resources:

    vCPU: Specify the cost per virtual CPU.

    Memory: Specify the cost per megabyte (MB) of memory.

    Disk: Specify the cost per gigabyte (GB) of disk space.

    Network: Specify the cost per network interface card.

  5. (Optional) Add objectives to the service level.

    1. Under Associations, click the Service Level Objectives tab.

    2. Click Add to display the Add Service Level Objectives dialog box.

    3. Select the objectives to add.

      You can Shift-click and Ctrl-click to select multiple objectives.

      If you have not yet created the objectives you want, see Creating Service Level Objectives

    4. Click OK to add the selected objectives to the Service Level Objectives list.

  6. Assign the service level to the appropriate resource groups:

    1. Under Associations, click the Resource Groups tab.

    2. Click Add to display the Add Resource Groups dialog box.

    3. Select the groups to add.

      You can Shift-click and Ctrl-click to select multiple groups.

    4. Click OK.

  7. Click Save.

14.2.2 Modifying Service Levels

Roles that Can Perform This Task: Cloud Administrator

You can modify a service level to change the resource costs and objectives. Changing a service level can impact the cost of business services currently using the service level.

  1. On the main navigation bar, click Resources, then click the Service Levels tab.

  2. Select the service level you want to modify, then click Edit.

  3. In the General section, modify the details for the service level:

    Name: Specify a unique name for the service level. This name is displayed in business service workloads.

    You can use letters, numbers, and the following special characters: space, hyphen, underscore, apostrophe, percent, ampersand, and period. The maximum length is 110 characters.

    Creation Date: Displays the current date.

    Description: Provide any additional information for the service level.

  4. In the Monthly Resource Costs fields, define the cost (per month) to use the host resources:

    vCPU: Specify the cost per virtual CPU.

    Memory: Specify the cost per megabyte (MB) of memory.

    Disk: Specify the cost per gigabyte (GB) of disk space.

    Network: Specify the cost per network interface card.

  5. Add objectives to the service level:

    1. Under Associations, click the Service Level Objectives tab.

    2. Click Add to display the Add Service Level Objectives dialog box.

    3. Select the objectives to add.

      You can Shift-click and Ctrl-click to select multiple objectives.

      If you have not yet created the objectives you want, see Creating Service Level Objectives

    4. Click OK to add the selected objectives to the Service Level Objectives list.

  6. Remove objectives from the service level:

    1. Under Associations, click the Service Level Objectives tab.

    2. In the Service Level Objectives list, select the objectives you want to remove.

      You can Shift-click and Ctrl-click to select multiple objectives.

    3. Click Remove.

  7. Assign the service level to resource groups:

    1. Under Associations, click the Resource Groups tab.

    2. Click Add to display the Add Resource Groups dialog box.

    3. Select the groups to add.

      You can Shift-click and Ctrl-click to select multiple groups.

    4. Click OK.

  8. Remove the service level from resource groups:

    1. Under Associations, click the Resource Groups tab.

    2. Select the resource groups from which to remove the service level.

      You can Shift-click and Ctrl-click to select multiple groups.

    3. Click Remove.

  9. Click Save to save your changes to the service level.

14.2.3 Deleting Service Levels

Roles that Can Perform This Task: Cloud Administrator

If a service level is associated with a business service, you cannot delete the service level.

  1. On the main navigation bar, click Resources, then click the Service Levels tab.

  2. Select the service level you want to delete, then click Delete.

  3. Click Yes to confirm the deletion.

    If the service level is associated with a workload, you receive a message informing you that the service level cannot be deleted.

14.2.4 Creating Service Level Objectives

Roles that Can Perform This Task: Cloud Administrator

Service level objectives define measurable characteristics such as availability, throughput, frequency, response time, and quality. Each of these characteristics typically has multiple objectives that identify a different level of service.

For example, you might define three availability objectives (97%, 98%, and 99%) and associate them with different service levels (Silver, Gold, and Platinum). By associating different costs with the objectives, you can establish the desired cost structure for your service levels.

  1. On the main navigation bar, click Resources.

  2. Click the Service Levels tab, click Service Level Objectives, then click Create to display the Create Service Level Objective dialog box.

  3. Provide the following details:

    Name: Specify a name for the service level objective. The name should be different than any other objective name.This name not only appears to administrators but also to business service requestors when they configure workloads with service levels that include the objective.

    Monthly Cost: Specify the cost associated with the objective. If the objective does not have a cost, leave the field empty.

    Description: Provide optional text to further identify the service level objective.

    Creation Date: Displays the current date.

    Objective Type: If this objective represents workload availability, select Availability. Otherwise, select General.

    Value: If the objective type is Availability, specify the target availability as a percentage (for example, 99.9). If the objective type is General, specify an appropriate objective value.

  4. Click Save.

14.2.5 Modifying Service Level Objectives

Roles that Can Perform This Task: Cloud Administrator

  1. On the main navigation bar, click Resources.

  2. Click the Service Levels tab, then click Service Level Objectives.

  3. Select the objective you want to modify, then click Edit.

  4. Modify the following details:

    Name: Specify a name for the service level objective. The name should be different than any other objective name.This name not only appears to administrators but also to business service requestors when they configure workloads with service levels that include the objective.

    Monthly Cost: Specify the cost associated with the objective. If the objective does not have a cost, leave the field empty.

    Description: Provide optional text to further identify the service level objective.

    Creation Date: Displays the current date.

    Objective Type: If this objective represents workload availability, select Availability. Otherwise, select General.

    Value: If the objective type is Availability, specify the target availability as a percentage (for example, 99.9). If the objective type is General, specify an appropriate objective value.

  5. Click Save.

14.2.6 Deleting Service Level Objectives

Roles that Can Perform This Task: Cloud Administrator

You cannot delete a service level objective that is associated with a service level. Remove the objective from any service levels before deleting it.

  1. On the main navigation bar, click Resources.

  2. Click the Service Levels tab, then click Service Level Objectives.

  3. Select the service level you want to delete, then click Delete.

  4. Click Yes to confirm the deletion.

    If the objective is associated with a service level, you receive a message informing you of the association.