In VMware Cloud Director, a provider virtual data center (VDC) combines the compute and memory resources of vCenter Server resource pools with the storage resources of one or more storage policies from a single vCenter Server instance.

For network resources, a provider VDC can use NSX Data Center for vSphere, NSX, or the networking resources of vSphere.

  • You can create and manage a provider VDC backed by an attached vCenter Server instance and its associated NSX-V Manager instance by using the Service Provider Admin Portal or the vCloud API.
  • You can create and manage a provider VDC backed by an attached vCenter Server instance and an NSX Manager instance by using the Service Provider Admin Portal or the vCloud API.
  • If you plan to only use vSphere networking resources, you can create a provider VDC without a network pool.

A typical VMware Cloud Director system includes multiple provider VDCs configured to meet various service level requirements. Each provider VDC has a primary resource pool. You can add and remove non-primary resource pools from the backing vCenter Server instance. You cannot remove the primary resource pool.