VMware vCenter chargeback is a product I use today. I use it for show back for internal IT costs. I am working to get it tuned to the point I can show where the money I spend in CapEx and OpEx is actually going. I think the holy grail of configuration for it would be balancing the spends vs usage seen, showing that each dollar we spend is either available or consumed resources. I also wish to use vCenter Chargeback to show that I provide a value back to the business. Cost transparency in how I am running the infrastructure is something i have tried to show, and that needs to exist going forward. Chargeback helps greatly with that.
From the session we can gather a few points.
1. A data collector is good for up to 15,000 VM’s or 5 vSphere instances.
2. Charge back managers scale out for performance and high availability.
3. Max config is around 35,000 VM’s and 10 vCenter servers.
4. I have heard via various conversations that people want API’s into chargeback. It looks like that is occurring. Also a SDK is to be released in Q4 2011
I encourage you to visit the chargeback community on VMware.com. I frequently browse them and there is some good info available there.
