The payload cluster
The main principle of an SDDC is to share workloads on a general purpose infrastructure. This is done by using logical software constructs to create the impression that a select area is providing resources for deployed application. Typically, this can be done by either creating own clusters to host different use cases, or by creating resource pools to carve out resources and performance from a bigger cluster.
vSphere provides high flexibility in what technique to use, but there are differences, pros and cons with each approach.
The resource pool approach
Resource pools are one option in vSphere to reserve and limit resources. They also offer shares to ensure a fair prioritization of CPU and memory. Resource pools can be used to create a tiering approach for different workloads. They can also be used to separate workload classes from each other. Some organizations use resource pools to separate test/dev from production workloads. The resource pools act as a resource broker...