1.3 HPE GreenLake Basics: Cloud Platform, Workspaces & Consumption Model
Key Takeaways
HPE GreenLake combines a cloud management platform (the GreenLake cloud console) with optional as-a-service consumption contracts for on-premises infrastructure.
A GreenLake workspace holds users and roles, the device inventory, subscriptions and the services (such as Data Services Cloud Console) that the organization uses.
Cloud management is separate from the payment model: a customer can buy an array outright and still manage it from Data Services Cloud Console.
With GreenLake Flex Solutions, the customer pays a reserved-capacity fee for the commitment plus metered pay-per-use fees for buffer capacity consumed above it, invoiced in arrears.
Only management traffic goes to the cloud; host I/O stays on the local SAN or LAN, so a WAN outage does not interrupt data access.
HPE GreenLake Basics
Quick Answer: HPE GreenLake is HPE's hybrid cloud platform. It delivers a cloud operating experience for infrastructure in customer data centers, colocation sites and edge locations. Two ideas matter for the exam. First, the GreenLake cloud console is a single place to manage users, devices, subscriptions and services such as Data Services Cloud Console (DSCC). Second, GreenLake Flex Solutions contracts let customers consume infrastructure as a service: a committed reserved capacity plus on-site buffer capacity that is metered and billed only when used.
HPE's marketing name has shifted over time (HPE GreenLake edge-to-cloud platform, HPE GreenLake cloud, GreenLake). The exam objective uses "HPE GreenLake basics", so this guide uses that term.
Why customers look at GreenLake
Traditional storage purchasing forces a trade-off:
- Buying outright (CapEx): the customer owns the hardware but has to size it for growth several years ahead. Capacity bought for year three sits idle in year one.
- Public cloud: capacity is elastic, but some data must stay on premises for latency, data sovereignty or regulatory reasons, and moving large data sets out of a cloud costs egress fees.
GreenLake aims to give on-premises infrastructure the cloud's self-service operations and pay-per-use economics, while the data stays where the customer needs it.
The GreenLake cloud platform
The platform is a software-as-a-service console that HPE runs. Its main building blocks are:
| Building block | What it does | Exam-relevant detail |
|---|---|---|
| Workspace | The organization's container in GreenLake | Users, devices, subscriptions and services all live in a workspace |
| Identity and access | Users, roles and single sign-on | Role-based access control decides who can manage which service |
| Devices | Inventory of HPE hardware | Devices are added (for example by serial number and product number) and then assigned to a service |
| Subscriptions | Entitlements that license devices and services | Device and service subscriptions are applied at the workspace level |
| Service catalog | Cloud services to deploy in a region | Examples include Data Services Cloud Console, Compute Ops Management and HPE Aruba Networking Central |
For storage, the key service is Data Services Cloud Console (DSCC). DSCC contains the data services used for HPE storage, including Data Ops Manager (onboarding, provisioning, monitoring and upgrading arrays), the block storage service for the Alletra Storage MP B10000, Backup and Recovery and Disaster Recovery. Chapter 2 covers DSCC in detail.
Control plane versus data plane
GreenLake separates management from data access:
- The control plane (console, provisioning logic, analytics) runs in HPE's cloud.
- The data plane stays on premises. Hosts read and write over the local Fibre Channel, iSCSI or NVMe network.
- Arrays initiate outbound HTTPS connections to the cloud. No inbound firewall openings are needed for management.
If the internet link fails, local host I/O, caching, snapshots and replication continue. Only cloud-based administration and telemetry pause until the link returns.
Cloud management is not the same as a consumption contract
This is the most common source of confusion. How a system is managed and how it is paid for are separate decisions:
| Scenario | Managed from the GreenLake cloud console? | Payment model |
|---|---|---|
| B10000 bought outright | Yes; its software and support subscription enables DSCC management | CapEx purchase |
| B10000 under a GreenLake Flex Solutions contract | Yes | Reserved capacity plus metered usage |
| MSA Gen7 bought outright | No; MSA is managed locally with the Storage Management Utility | CapEx purchase |
The consumption model: reserved capacity and buffer capacity
Under GreenLake Flex Solutions (formerly GreenLake Flex Capacity), HPE installs infrastructure on the customer site and meters its use:
- Reserved capacity (the commitment). The customer commits to a baseline for the contract term and pays a monthly subscription fee, also called the reserved capacity fee, whether or not it is used.
- Buffer capacity. HPE installs extra capacity on site that is ready to use immediately. Use above the commitment is metered and charged as a pay-per-use (variable or buffer capacity) fee.
- Billing in arrears. Usage is measured during the month and invoiced afterward.
- Capacity planning. HPE monitors consumption. When usage approaches the installed capacity, HPE and the customer plan more capacity before the buffer runs out.
Installed capacity = reserved (committed) capacity + buffer capacity
Monthly charge = reserved capacity fee + metered usage above the commitment
+ any fixed services in the contract
Worked example
A customer commits to 400 TB and HPE installs a buffer above it. In a quiet month the customer uses 380 TB and pays the reserved fee for 400 TB. During a seasonal peak it uses 460 TB and pays the reserved fee plus 60 TB of metered usage. It does not pay for buffer capacity it does not use. Unit prices come from the contract; the exam tests the mechanism, not price lists.
Comparing acquisition models
| Attribute | Outright purchase | Fixed lease | GreenLake Flex Solutions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | Full price on day one | Fixed periodic payments | Committed monthly fee plus metered use |
| Pays for unused capacity | Yes | Yes | Only up to the commitment |
| Extra capacity on site | Only if bought | Only if leased | Buffer capacity, billed when used |
| Usage metering | No | No | Yes |
| Capacity planning | Customer | Customer | HPE monitors and plans with the customer |
When GreenLake fits, and when it may not
GreenLake suits customers with uncertain or seasonal growth, a preference for operating expense, or data that must stay on premises. It is less attractive for a small, stable environment, for a site that cannot connect to the cloud at all, or for a customer that will not accept a minimum commitment and multi-year term. Some HPE products offer disconnected management options for isolated sites.
Common exam traps
- "GreenLake is just a lease." A lease finances a fixed configuration. GreenLake meters use, keeps buffer capacity on site and adds cloud management.
- "Buffer capacity is prepaid." It is installed with no charge until it is consumed above the commitment.
- "Data flows through the cloud." Only management traffic and telemetry do. Host I/O stays local.
- "Cloud management requires a consumption contract." It does not; an outright purchase can also be cloud managed.
Under a GreenLake Flex Solutions contract, how is buffer capacity installed on the customer site charged?
It is paid in full upfront as part of the initial hardware delivery and installation
It is billed as a flat monthly fee whether or not any of it is used
It is metered, and only use above the reserved commitment is billed as a pay-per-use fee
It is free for the whole term because HPE retains ownership of the hardware
An administrator receives a new HPE array and wants it to appear in the organization's GreenLake console so it can be managed. Where is the device added and licensed?
In the GreenLake workspace device inventory, with a subscription applied
In the array's local command-line interface, which uploads a license file to SPOCK
In HPE One Config Simple, which registers the serial number at order time
In the Pearson VUE credential management platform used for HPE exams
A data center loses its internet connection for six hours. What happens to an HPE array that is managed from Data Services Cloud Console?
The array stops accepting writes until it can contact the cloud again
Host I/O continues locally; only cloud management and telemetry pause until the link returns
The array fails over all of its volumes to a replica stored in the cloud
Snapshots and replication schedules are deleted to protect data consistency
A customer buys an HPE Alletra Storage MP B10000 outright with capital funds and declines a consumption contract. Which statement is true?
The array can only be managed from a local appliance, because cloud management requires a GreenLake Flex Solutions contract
The array must be returned to HPE at the end of a three-year term
The customer pays metered fees for every terabyte written to the array
It can still be managed from DSCC; management and payment model are separate choices
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.