This page addresses the chargeback model for UMBC staff or faculty to request the generation of a virtual machine for academic, research, or other university purposes. For staff or faculty wishing to host a physical machine within DoIT Computer Room racks, please see the page dedicated to Rack Space.
Overview
The DoIT server hosting strategy is to offer managed virtual servers instead of hosting or managing physical servers. Virtual server hosting allows a single physical server to be partitioned into multiple “virtual machine” (VM) servers, each with the appearance and capabilities of running on its own dedicated machine. Each virtual server can run its own operating system (Windows or Linux), is assigned its own hostname and may be independently administered, configured and rebooted without impact on other virtual servers.
Features and benefits
Virtual servers offer many benefits
- Virtual servers typically have a lower total cost of ownership than physical servers hosted in DoIT data centers.
- Virtual servers use less power and cooling, support University sustainability goals and improve resource utilization in the data center.
- Virtual servers are less affected by hardware failures and maintenance requirements.
- Provisioning a virtual server is much faster than provisioning a physical server.
Not all applications are well-suited for virtualization
- Some computation and/or transaction -intensive applications are not appropriate for virtualization
- Some applications that require a lot of storage (in TBs) are not appropriate for virtualization
- Large scale database servers or data warehouse applications are not appropriate for virtualization
Some applications require resources beyond the limits of the offered virtual server sizes. DoIT can assist in reviewing a particular application or service and determining if it is suitable for virtualization.
Service details
Support includes the hosting, setup and management of the virtual server. Virtual servers are hosted in secure DoIT data centers with UPS-backed power. Virtual servers are backed up by the DoIT Central Backup service.
DoIT Responsibilities
- Virtualization environment installation and management
- Hardware installation and management
- Operating system support
- Assistance with application installation
Client Responsibilities
- Software license management
- Programmatic and application specific support
- All other non-operating system related support
Supported Operating Systems
- Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2022
- Red Hat Enterprise (most current minor release, 64 bit)
- Ubuntu (current LTS release, 64 bit), this requires an advanced server charge
- Operating system requires manual install/maintenance due to lack of internal automation around this OS
Virtualization technology
- Virtualization Layer: VMWare vSphere
- Physical Servers: Dell R740 / R750
- Storage: Pure storage arrays with data replication
Annual Rates (as of FY 2022)
For you to participate in the DoIT virtual server service we will work with you to determine what size virtual server and what level of operating system support is required.
Step 1. Choose Your Server Needs
| Charges | Cost | Notes |
| Basic server charge | $750 | Base charge that includes installation, support, and maintenance of the server and 24/7 monitoring |
| Advanced server charge | $1500 | Base charge that includes installation, support and maintenance of the server and 24/7 monitoring. This charge applies to operating systems marked as ‘advanced’ above. |
| CPU | $70 per vCPU | CPU amount can be 1 vCPU or any even number upto 16 vCPU maximum. |
| RAM (memory) | $30 per 2GB | RAM can be allocated upto 64GB maximum. Please make sure that you take into consideration OS and application requirements. |
| Enterprise Storage | $40 per 10GB | The recommendation is to have at least 50GB for OS volume in addition to the application needs. OS and applications must be on this storage |
| Research Storage | $300 per 1TB | This storage is on resilient equipment, but it is not backed up, and it is not replicated between multiple physical locations. |
Step 2. Choose your preferred operating system
DoIT provides 24×7 base operating system support (install, configure, update, patch) including security, backup, performance tuning and server troubleshooting. DoIT does not provide application or database support.
Step 3. Initiate your request via RT
Navigate to the menu item above “User Support” > “Request Help”.
Once logged in, select the “Research Computing Action” that is “VM Hosting” and “Request a new VM”.
In the Notes/Comments area, please list the options you would like and give a brief description of the work this VM will perform.
Questions?
Any questions related to these prices can be directed to the same RT form mentioned above. DoIT UNIX Infrastructure and Research Computing Staff will get back to you within two business days.
Rate Examples
Base-level Virtual Server: A departmental file server might require a ‘base’ level virtual server (1 CPU, 2 GB RAM) with 50GB OS and 50GB application drives. Total annual charges for this server would be $1,250.
| $750 | Base Virtual Server charge |
| $70 | 1 vCPU charge |
| $30 | 2GB RAM charge |
| $400 | 100GB storage charge |
| $1,250 | Total annually |
Mid-level Virtual Server: A web or application server with peak load requirements might require a ‘mid’ level virtual server (2 CPUs, 4GB RAM, 50GB OS and 100GB application drives). Total annual charges for this server would be $1,550.
| $750 | Base Virtual Server charge |
| $140 | 2 vCPU charge |
| $60 | 4GB RAM charge |
| $600 | 150GB storage charge |
| $1,550 | Total annually |