4. Organization Catalogs : 4.2 Populating a Catalog : 4.2.3 Global Catalog
   
4.2.3 Global Catalog
When consuming resources from a private vCloud, the provider often populates a global catalog with core operating system versions and hardware configurations that align with the organization’s current physical and virtual hardware standards. Often these hardware standards are derived from legacy physical server configurations or from virtual machine configurations adopted in previous server consolidation activities. Requirements to maintain consistency with physical standards tend to use chargeback mechanisms based on capital hardware, depreciation, and recurring maintenance as opposed to actual resource allocation costing. This is the basis for using VMware vCenter Chargeback™ with vCloud Director. As confidence in self-service catalogs increases and additional control is delegated to users, a shift to a simplified catalog becomes possible.
A public vCloud provider, on the other hand, is less likely to offer a global catalog with core operating system versions, largely because of the variance in requirements from different consumer organizations and complications associated with licensing. In some cases, a public provider might offer standard media files and standard vApp templates that are not constrained by licensing restrictions. Over time, public vCloud providers can offer more services as they try to differentiate themselves from competitors. Similarly, software vendors might look to partner with public providers to offer their applications as a service.