source/networking/persistent_networks.rst

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Persistent Networks
-------------------

The network that you can provision without having to deploy any VMs on
it is called a persistent network. A persistent network can be part of a
VPC or a non-VPC environment.

When you create other types of network, a network is only a database
entry until the first VM is created on that network. When the first VM
is created, a VLAN ID is assigned and the network is provisioned. Also,
when the last VM is destroyed, the VLAN ID is released and the network
is no longer available. With the addition of persistent network, you
will have the ability to create a network in CloudStack in which
physical devices can be deployed without having to run any VMs.
Additionally, you can deploy physical devices on that network.

One of the advantages of having a persistent network is that you can
create a VPC with a tier consisting of only physical devices. For
example, you might create a VPC for a three-tier application, deploy VMs
for Web and Application tier, and use physical machines for the Database
tier. Another use case is that if you are providing services by using
physical hardware, you can define the network as persistent and
therefore even if all its VMs are destroyed the services will not be
discontinued.


Persistent Network Considerations
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-  Persistent network is designed for isolated networks.

-  All default network offerings are non-persistent.

-  A network offering cannot be editable because changing it affects the
   behavior of the existing networks that were created using this
   network offering.

-  When you create a guest network, the network offering that you select
   defines the network persistence. This in turn depends on whether
   persistent network is enabled in the selected network offering.

-  An existing network can be made persistent by changing its network
   offering to an offering that has the Persistent option enabled. While
   setting this property, even if the network has no running VMs, the
   network is provisioned.

-  An existing network can be made non-persistent by changing its
   network offering to an offering that has the Persistent option
   disabled. If the network has no running VMs, during the next network
   garbage collection run the network is shut down.

-  When the last VM on a network is destroyed, the network garbage
   collector checks if the network offering associated with the network
   is persistent, and shuts down the network only if it is
   non-persistent.


Creating a Persistent Guest Network
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To create a persistent network, perform the following:

#. Create a network offering with the Persistent option enabled.

   See `"Creating a New Network Offering" 
   <networking.html#creating-a-new-network-offering>`_.

#. Select Network from the left navigation pane.

#. Select the guest network that you want to offer this network service
   to.

#. Click the Edit button.

#. From the Network Offering drop-down, select the persistent network
   offering you have just created.

#. Click OK.