3. vCloud Management Architecture : 3.1 Management Cluster
   
3.1 Management Cluster
The management cluster hosts all of the necessary vCloud infrastructure components. Separating infrastructure components from resources used for end-user workloads improves manageability of the vCloud infrastructure.
Figure 4. vCloud Management Cluster
 
Core Management components include:
*VMware vCenter Server or VMware vCenter Server appliance.
*VMware vCenter Server database.
*VMware vCloud Director cells.
*VMware vCloud Director database.
*VMware vCloud Networking and Security Manager (one per resource group vCenter Server.)
*VMware vCenter Chargeback Manager
*VMware vCenter Chargeback database.
*VMware vCenter™ Update Manager.
*VMware vCenter Orchestrator.
*VMware vCloud Networking and Security Edge Gateway appliances are deployed automatically by vCloud Director through vCloud Networking and Security Manager as needed and reside in the resource groups, not in the management cluster.
The following management cluster components are optional:
*VMware vCenter Server Heartbeat™.
*Cloud provisioning portal capability.
*VMware vCloud Connector.
*VMware vFabric™ RabbitMQ™.
*VMware vFabric Application Director.
*VMware vFabric™ Hyperic® HQ.
*VMware vSphere Management Assistant.
*VMware vCenter Operations Manager.
*VMware vCenter Configuration Manager.
*VMware vCenter Infrastructure Navigator.
*VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager.
*Databases for optional components.
Optional components are not required by the service definition but are highly recommended to increase the operational efficiency of the solution.
The management cluster can also include virtual machines or have access to servers that provide infrastructure services such as directory (LDAP), timekeeping (NTP), networking (DNS, DHCP), logging (syslog), and security. See Service Definitions for detailed sizing considerations.
Component databases, if running on the same platform, can be placed on the same database server if sized properly. For example, the databases used by vCloud Director, vCenter Server, and vCenter Chargeback Manager can run on the same database server, with separate database instances for each component.
Both the management cluster and resource groups reside at the same physical site to provide a consistent level of service. This minimizes latency issues that could arise in a multi-site environment if workloads move between sites over a slower or less reliable network. See section 8, Multi-Site Considerations for considerations associated with connecting vCloud instances that reside at different sites.