After adding a project in your organization, you can add one or multiple quotas to define a maximum limit for the number of objects of a specific type that users can create in the project.

In NSX 4.1:

From the Manage Projects page in the default space, you can set quota for objects in a project. When you specify a quota for an object type in a project, it implies that the total number of user-created objects of that type in the project cannot exceed that limit.

Starting with NSX 4.1.1:

A project can optionally contain one or more NSX VPCs. From the Manage Projects page in the default space, you can set quota for the following:

  • Quota for objects in the project and across all its NSX VPCs.
  • Quota for objects only in the project.
  • Quota for objects only in the NSX VPCs across the project.

Example: Assume that you have created project-1 and added four NSX VPCs inside this project. You have set a quota of 1000 for the group object in project and all its VPCs. This means that the total number of user-created groups in project-1 and across all the four NSX VPCs in project-1 cannot exceed 1000.

If required, you can set a separate quota of say 600 for the group object in project-1. And set another quota of say 400 for the group object across all NSX VPCs under project-1. This means that the number of user-created groups in project-1 cannot exceed 600, and the total number of user-created groups across all the four NSX VPCs in project-1 cannot exceed 400.

In addition, you can go to the project view, and set a specific quota for the group object in each of the four NSX VPCs.

This documentation focusses on adding quota for objects in projects and NSX VPCs from the default space. To learn about adding quota for objects in an NSX VPC from the project view, see Add Quota to an NSX VPC.

If you do not apply a quota to a project, system-defined maximum limits apply to the number of objects that users can create in that project.

Important: The maximum limits that you define in the quota apply only to the creation of objects of a specific type in a project. Objects created in a project are owned by that project. Quotas do not put any constraints on the number of objects that an Enterprise Admin can share with a project through resource shares. For example, if a project has a quota, which defines a limit of 10 groups, it does not restrict the Enterprise Admin from sharing 20 groups with this project through a resource share.

To learn about resource shares, see Sharing NSX Resources.

NSX has a validated maximum scale for a deployment. To know the maximum limits for NSX objects, see the VMware Configuration Maximums portal. The object limits mentioned on this portal apply to the entire system, meaning that the limits apply to objects that are both in and out of the projects. For example, the portal mentions that the maximum limit for segments is 10,000. This limit refers to the maximum number of segments in the system. Unless specified on the portal, there is no separate maximum limit for objects under each project in an NSX deployment.

By limiting the number of objects that users can create in a project, an Enterprise Admin can govern the project resource consumption. For example:
  • Ensure that one project does not take too much resources.
  • Prevent project users from creating some objects by setting the quota to 0.
  • Offer a different level of service between projects.

System allows you to reduce the quota limits of an object even below the current consumption.

For example, assume that for a project, a quota of 20 segments is defined, and 15 segments have been created. Later, the Enterprise Admin decides to reduce the quota to 10 segments for this project. In this case, the consumption of segments has reached 150% of quota. However, existing segments remain in the project until they are deleted. Project users cannot create new segments inside the project until the segment count goes below 10.

Scenario: Set a quota for the same object more than once in the same project

System allows you to set a quota for the same object more than once and apply it to the same project. However, in such a situation, the quota with the lower limit is enforced for that object in the project. For example, consider the following sequence of events:

  1. User A creates quota-1 for the group object, and specifies the limit as 100.
  2. Quota 1 is applied to project 1.
  3. Later, user A creates quota 2 for the group object and specifies the limit as 50.
  4. Quota 2 is also applied to project 1.

In this case, system enforces the limit of 50 on the group object in project 1.

The following procedure explains the workflow of adding quota for objects in a project from the Manage Projects page in the default space.

Prerequisites

You must be assigned the Enterprise Admin role.

Procedure

  1. From your browser, log in to an NSX Manager at https://nsx-manager-ip-address.
  2. Click Default, and then click Manage.
  3. Click the Quotas tab, and then click Add Quota.
  4. Configure the limits for one or multiple objects in the quota.
    1. Enter a name for the quota.
    2. In the Limits column, click Set.
      The View Limits window opens. The objects in this window are organized under several tabs.
      Use the Networking, Security, and Inventory tabs to add limits for:
      • Objects in the project and across all its NSX VPCs. (Starting with NSX 4.1.1)
      • Objects in the project only.

      (Starting with NSX 4.1.1): You can use the VPCs tab to add limits for objects only in the NSX VPCs across the project. If you want to add limits for objects inside each NSX VPC of the project, switch to the project view, navigate to VPCs > Quota, and set the limits over there.

    3. Click the tab that contains the objects that you want to set limits on.
    4. Click Add Limit.
    5. From the Objects drop-down menu, select an object.

      For example, let us click the Inventory tab, and then select the Group object (in NSX 4.1), or the Group (Project only) object (in NSX 4.1.1 or later).

    6. In the Limit box, enter an integer, and then click Save.
      For example, let us enter 10.
      Note: To prohibit users from creating an object in the project, set the limit to 0 for that object.
    7. (Optional) Add limits for other objects, as required.
    8. After adding limits for all objects, click Apply.
  5. From the Apply To drop-down menu, select a project to apply this quota.

    A quota can be applied to multiple projects.

  6. Click Save.

Example: Quota

In the example that we took earlier in this procedure, we defined a limit of 10 for the group object in the project only. Let us assume that this limit is applied to two projects: Project-1 and Project-2.

This quota puts a limit on creating a maximum of 10 groups in both the projects. After this limit is reached, you cannot add more groups in your project. However, you can edit the limit later or delete it, if required.

When the number of user-created objects in a project reaches the limit that is set for an object, an alarm is triggered in the system when you try to create and save another object of the same type.

In NSX 4.1, alarm due to the Creation Count Limit Reached event is visible only to the Enterprise Admin in the Default view. This alarm is not visible to the Project Admin in the project view. To view the alarm, switch to the Default view, navigate to Home > Alarms and check the details on the Alarms page.

Starting with NSX 4.1.1, the alarm due to this event is visible to both the Enterprise Admin and the Project Admin.

Note: For the Creation Count Limit Reached event, the threshold value is currently not configurable. System-defined threshold value is used, by default.

What to do next

After a quota is applied to the project, you can start monitoring the quota status for all the managed projects.

To know more about monitoring quota status, see Monitor Quota Status of an NSX Project.