As we discussed at the beginning of this chapter, there are three methods to create a service profile. The quickest method is to create a basic service profile using a single configuration page. This method, however, does not make use of advanced UCS features such as policies and templates and therefore, a basic profile is not recommended for production servers. For production environments, it is recommended to use the expert mode creation method for service profiles that leverage advanced UCS features, and provide a detailed identity to the servers where this service profile is applied.

It is highly recommended to create service profile templates using the expert mode so that, in the future, servers with similar specifications can be added without a lot of administrative effort. We will now walk through the service profile creation—the expert mode—using the identity and resource pools along with policies. Note that the sections and steps discussed are similar for the creation of both the service profiles in the expert mode and service profile templates. Service profile expert mode or service profile template creations are lengthy processes. We will explain these steps according to the sections in the configuration wizard. Perform the following steps to configure the service profile using the expert mode method.