--- title: "Public VCF as-a-Service - The fundamentals of Public VCF as-a-Service" description: "In this section, we will detail the essential foundations of Public VCF as-a-Service." url: https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/hosted-private-cloud/public-vcf-aas/get-concepts lang: en --- > For AI agents: the complete documentation index is available at https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/llms.txt, the full documentation bundle is available at https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/llms-full.txt. # Public VCF as-a-Service - The fundamentals of Public VCF as-a-Service ## Fundamental concepts In this section, we will detail the essential foundations of Public VCF as-a-Service. By defining these principles clearly and concisely, we will provide the necessary foundation for effective and successful Public VCF as-a-Service use. Whether it’s for administrators looking to deploy complex infrastructures or for users looking to access resources quickly, this exploration of Public VCF as-a-Service basics is a vital starting point.   ### Organizations An organization is an administrative entity that groups specific users, groups, and IT resources. Users authenticate at the organization level by providing credentials established by an organization administrator when they are created or imported. System administrators are responsible for creating and provisioning organizations, while organization administrators are responsible for managing users, groups, and catalogs specific to the organization.   ### Users and Groups An organization can have a variable number of users and groups. Users can be created directly by the organization administrator or imported from a directory service (e.g., Active Directory). Groups must be imported from the directory service. Within an organization, permissions are managed by assigning specific rights and roles to users and groups.   ### Virtual Data Centers (vDC) A virtual data center can be used to offer computing resources (virtual machines, vApp, affinity rules, etc.) to an organization (your vDC), creating an environment managed by OVHcloud where virtualized systems can be stored, deployed, and operated. It also provides storage space for ISO images. It is important to note that an organization may have multiple virtual data centers (vDCs) to meet its specific computing resource requirements (segmentation, isolation, security, etc.).   ### Organization Virtual Data Center Networks A vDC network is encapsulated within a specific virtual data center created with Public VCF as-a-Service, and is accessible to all of that organization’s vApps. This network allows an organization's different vApps to communicate with each other seamlessly. It can be configured to be connected to an external network or kept isolated and internal to the organization. Only system administrators have the privilege to create such networks, but organization administrators can manage the configurations of the organization's virtual data center networks, including the network services they offer.   ### vApp Networks A vApp network is included in a vApp and facilitates communication between the vApp’s various virtual machines. It is possible to connect a vApp network to an organization's virtual data center network, which allows the vApp to communicate with other vApps within the organization. Furthermore, if the organization’s virtual data center network is connected to an external network, it allows the vApp to communicate outside the organization as well.   ### Catalogs Organizations use catalogs to store vApp templates and media files. Authorized members within an organization can access these catalogs to use the vApp templates and the media files contained within them to create their own vApps. In addition, organization administrators can copy items from public catalogs into their organization-specific catalog.   ### Features of Public VCF as-a-Service at OVHcloud Public VCF as-a-Service has two plans: **Standard** and **Advanced**. The difference between the two plans is that the **Advanced** plan has advanced network and security features. **Warning:** **NOTE:** At this time, Public VCF as-a-Service **Advanced is not available** in the US.   #### Cluster Management **Tip:** All Cluster Management features are fully managed by OVHcloud. Features: - ESXi management / capacity planning - Hosts Failover / Proactive HA - DRS / Storage DRS - vMotion / Storage vMotion   #### Virtual Machine Management | Features | Standard | Advanced | Comments | | ----------------------- | -------- | -------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | | Create VM | ✅ | ✅ |   | | Manage Virtual Machines | ✅ | ✅ | Start, stop, suspend, delete, copy/clone | | Affinity Rules | ✅ | ✅ |   | | Anti-Affinity Rules | ✅ | ✅ |   | | VMware Marketplace | ✅ | ✅ | Allowed to deploy VMs with pre-packaged software solutions | | Create VM catalogs | ✅ | ✅ | Build your own catalog of VM templates |   #### Organization / Virtual Data Center Management | Features | Standard | Advanced | Comments | | ----------------------------------- | -------- | -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | User Management | ✅ | ✅ | Manage users in a Public VCF as-a-Service | | Identity Provider Integration - SSO | ⏳ | ⏳ | In Roadmap (via OVHcloud uIAM service) | | vCPU over-allocation | ⏳ | ⏳ | In Roadmap - Allow users to adjust the quantity of vCPU/GHz for a virtual DC Possible through **OVHcloud Control Panel or API** |   #### Networking | Features | Standard | Advanced | Comments | | ------------------------------- | -------- | -------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Routing & Switching IPv4 | — | ✅ | Network segments, distributed & non-distributed routing, Routed Network with/without NAT BGP/ DHCP/ DNS/ Static routes Cross virtual DC Networking on the same site.**Not supported:** OSPF, VRF Lite | | Public IPv4 Range | ✅ | ✅ |   | | Private Network - vRack support | ✅ | ✅ |   | | Routing & Switching IPv6 | — | ⏳ | In Roadmap | | VPN | — | ✅ | L2VPN, Policy-based IPsec VPN**Not Supported:** SSL VPN, Routed-based IPsec VPN | | Load Balancing | — | — | Not supported with native Public VCF as-a-Service network capabilities | | Advanced Load Balancing | — | ⏳ | In Roadmap |   #### Security | Features | Standard | Advanced | Comments | | -------------------- | -------- | -------- | ---------- | | Stateful Firewall | — | ✅ |   | | Distributed Firewall | — | ✅ |   | | Security groups | — | ✅ |   | | IDS / IPS | — | ⏳ | In Roadmap | | WAF | — | ⏳ | In Roadmap |   #### Data protection | Features | Standard | Advanced | Comments | | ---------------------------- | -------- | -------- | --------------------------- | | Backup as a Service | ✅ | ✅ | Veeam Managed Backup Option | | Virtual Machine Snapshots | ✅ | ✅ | 1 per VM | | Protection / Replication VMs | ⏳ | ⏳ | In Roadmap |   #### Storage | Features | Standard | Advanced | Comments | | ------------- | -------- | -------- | -------- | | NFS datastore | ✅ | ✅ |   |   #### Monitoring | Features | Standard | Advanced | Comments | | --------------- | -------- | -------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | | Aria operations | ⏳ | ⏳ | In Roadmap - Resource management Metrics, Dashboard, Reporting |   ## Go further Browse all the [Public VCF as-a-Service guides](https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/hosted-private-cloud/public-vcf-aas/landing-page-public-vcf-aas.md). Browse the rest of the [OVHcloud US documentation](https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/index.md) for guides on our other products and services. Learn more about [Hosted Private Cloud](https://us.ovhcloud.com/hosted-private-cloud/) on the OVHcloud US website.