Mastering VMware vSphere 5.5

Virtualization remains the hottest trend in the IT world, and VMware vSphere is the industry's most widely deployed virtualization solution. The demand for IT professionals skilled in virtualization and cloud-related technologies is great and expected to keep growing. This comprehensive Sybex guide covers all the features and capabilities of VMware vSphere, showing administrators step by step how to install, configure, operate, manage, and secure it.

This perfect blend of hands-on instruction, conceptual explanation, and practical application is reinforced with real-world examples. Led by Scott Lowe and Nick Marshall, both VMware vExperts, the author team provides expertise that will prepare IT professionals to excel in using this virtualization technology.

• Virtualization is seen as a "best practice" for high availability and disaster recovery solutions, as well as for applications such as Exchange Server and SharePoint
• IDC estimates that there are as many as 7 million jobs available worldwide in virtualization and cloud technology
• Provides hands-on instruction in all the latest features and capabilities of VMware vSphere, with both conceptual explanations and practical applications
• Author team is lead by Scott Lowe and Nick Marshall, well-known VMware experts and popular bloggers

Mastering VMware vSphere provides what every virtualization professional needs to know.

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1 • Introducing VMware vSphere 55

• Exploring VMware vSphere 55
• Examining the Products in the vSphere Suite
• Examining the Features in VMware vSphere
• Licensing VMware vSphere
• Why Choose vSphere?
• The Bottom Line

Chapter 2 • Planning and Installing VMware ESXi

• Planning a VMware vSphere Deployment
• Choosing a Server Platform
• Determining a Storage Architecture
• Integrating with the Network Infrastructure
• Deploying VMware ESXi
• Installing VMware ESXi Interactively
• Performing an Unattended Installation of VMware ESXi
• Deploying VMware ESXi with vSphere Auto Deploy
• Performing Post-installation Confi guration
• Installing the vSphere C# Client
• Reconfiguring the Management Network
• Configuring Time Synchronization
• Configuring Name Resolution
• The Bottom Line

Chapter 3 • Installing and Configuring vCenter Server

• Introducing vCenter Server
• Centralizing User Authentication Using vCenter Single Sign-On
• Using the vSphere Web Client for Administration
• Understanding the vCenter Inventory Service
• Providing an Extensible Framework
• Choosing the Version of vCenter Server
• Planning and Designing a vCenter Server Deployment
• Sizing Hardware for vCenter Server
• Choosing a Database Server for vCenter Server
• Planning for vCenter Server Availability
• Running vCenter Server and Its Components as VMs
• Installing vCenter Server and Its Components
• Configuring the vCenter Server Backend Database Server
• Installing the vCenter Server Components
• Installing vCenter Server in a Linked Mode Group
• Deploying the vCenter Server Virtual Appliance
• Configuring an IP Address on the vCenter Server Virtual Appliance
• Accepting the End-User License Agreement
• Configuring the Database
• Setting Up Single Sign-On
• Active Directory Settings
• Starting the vCenter Server Services
• Exploring vCenter Server
• What’s in the vSphere Web Client Home Screen?
• Using the Navigator
• Creating and Managing a vCenter Server Inventory
• Understanding Inventory Views and Objects
• Creating and Adding Inventory Objects
• Exploring vCenter Server’s Management Features
• Understanding Basic Host Management
• Examining Basic Host Confi guration
• Using Scheduled Tasks
• Using Events Console in vCenter Server
• Working with Host Profi les
• Tags
• Managing vCenter Server Settings
• General vCenter Server Settings
• Licensing
• Message of the Day
• Advanced Settings
• vSphere Web Client Administration
• Roles
• Licensing
• vCenter Solutions Manager
• Log Browser
• The Bottom Line

Chapter 4 • vSphere Update Manager and the vCenter Support Tools

• vSphere Update Manager
• Installing vSphere Update Manager
• Defining the Requirements
• Configuring VUM’s Database
• Creating the Open Database Connectivity Data Source Name
• Installing VUM
• Installing the Update Manager Download Service (Optional)
• Installing the vSphere Update Manager Plug-in
• Reconfiguring the VUM or UMDS Installation with the Update Manager Utility
• Upgrading VUM from a Previous Version
• Configuring vSphere Update Manager
• Creating Baselines
• Routine Updates
• Attaching and Detaching Baselines or Baseline Groups
• Performing a Scan
• Staging Patches
• Remediating Hosts
• Upgrading VMware Tools
• Upgrading Virtual Appliances and Host Extensions
• Upgrading Hosts with vSphere Update Manager
• Importing an ESXi Image and Creating the Host Upgrade Baseline
• Upgrading a Host
• Upgrading VM Hardware
• Performing an Orchestrated Upgrade
• Investigating Alternative Update Options
• Using vSphere Update Manager PowerCLI
• Upgrading and Patching without vSphere Update Manager
• vCenter Support Tools
• ESXi Dump Collector
• Syslog Collector
• Other vCenter Support Tools
• The Bottom Line

Chapter 5 • Creating and Configuring Virtual Networks

• Putting Together a Virtual Network
• Working with vSphere Standard Switches
• Comparing Virtual Switches and Physical Switches
• Understanding Ports and Port Groups
• Understanding Uplinks
• Configuring Management Networking
• Configuring VMkernel Networking
• Configuring TCP/IP Stacks
• Configuring VM Networking
• Configuring VLANs
• Configuring NIC Teaming
• Using and Configuring Traffic Shaping
• Bringing It All Together
• Working with vSphere Distributed Switches
• Creating a vSphere Distributed Switch
• Removing an ESXi Host from a Distributed Switch
• Removing a Distributed Switch
• Managing Distributed Switches
• Working With Distributed Port Groups
• Managing Adapters
• Using NetFlow on vSphere Distributed Switches
• Enabling Switch Discovery Protocols
• Setting Up Private VLANs
• Configuring LACP
• Examining Third-Party Distributed Virtual Switches
• Cisco Nexus 1000V
• IBM Distributed Virtual Switch 5000V
• HP FlexFabric Virtual Switch 5900v
• Confi guring Virtual Switch Security
• Understanding and Using Promiscuous Mode
• Allowing MAC Address Changes and Forged Transmits
• Looking Ahead
• The Bottom Line

Chapter 6 • Creating and Configuring Storage Devices

• Reviewing the Importance of Storage Design
• Examining Shared Storage Fundamentals
• Comparing Local Storage with Shared Storage
• Defining Common Storage Array Architectures
• Explaining RAID
• Understanding VSAN
• Understanding Midrange and External Enterprise Storage Array Design
• Choosing a Storage Protocol
• Making Basic Storage Choices
• Implementing vSphere Storage Fundamentals
• Reviewing Core vSphere Storage Concepts
• Working with VMFS Datastores
• Working with Raw Device Mappings
• Working with NFS Datastores
• Working with VM-Level Storage Configuration
• Leveraging SAN and NAS Best Practices
• The Bottom Line

Chapter 7 • Ensuring High Availability and Business Continuity

• Understanding the Layers of High Availability
• Clustering VMs
• Introducing Network Load Balancing Clustering
• Introducing Windows Server Failover Clustering
• Implementing vSphere High Availability
• Understanding vSphere High Availability
• Understanding vSphere HA’s Underpinnings
• Enabling vSphere High Availability
• Configuring vSphere High Availability
• Managing vSphere High Availability
• Implementing vSphere Fault Tolerance
• Using vSphere Fault Tolerance with vSphere High Availability
• Using vSphere Fault Tolerance with vSphere Distributed Resource Scheduler
• Examining vSphere Fault Tolerance Use Cases
• Planning for Business Continuity
• Providing Data Protection
• Recovering from Disasters
• Using vSphere Replication
• The Bottom Line

Chapter 8 • Securing VMware vSphere

• Overview of vSphere Security
• Securing ESXi Hosts
• Working with ESXi Authentication
• Controlling Access to ESXi Hosts
• Keeping ESXi Hosts Patched
• Managing ESXi Host Permissions
• Confi guring ESXi Host Logging
• Reviewing Other ESXi Security Recommendations
• Securing vCenter Server
• Authenticating Users with Single Sign-On
• Understanding the vpxuser Account
• Managing vCenter Server Permissions
• Examining vCenter Server Logging
• Securing Virtual Machines
• Configuring Network Security Policies
• Keeping VMs Patched
• The Bottom Line

Chapter 9 • Creating and Managing Virtual Machines

• Understanding Virtual Machines
• Examining Virtual Machines from the Inside
• Examining Virtual Machines from the Outside
• Creating a Virtual Machine
• Choosing Values for Your New Virtual Machine
• Installing a Guest Operating System
• Working with Installation Media
• Using the Installation Media
• Working in the Virtual Machine Console
• Installing VMware Tools
• Installing VMware Tools in Windows
• Installing VMware Tools in Linux
• Managing Virtual Machines
• Adding or Registering Existing VMs
• Changing VM Power States
• Removing VMs
• Deleting VMs
• Modifying Virtual Machines
• Changing Virtual Machine Hardware
• Using Virtual Machine Snapshots
• The Bottom Line

Chapter 10 • Using Templates and vApps

• Cloning VMs
• Installing Sysprep on the vCenter Server
• Creating a Customization Specification
• Cloning a Virtual Machine
• Creating Templates and Deploying Virtual Machines
• Cloning a Virtual Machine to a Template
• Deploying a Virtual Machine from a Template
• Using OVF Templates
• Deploying a VM from an OVF Template
• Exporting a VM as an OVF Template
• Examining OVF Templates
• Working with vApps
• Creating a vApp
• Editing a vApp
• Changing a vApp’s Power State
• Cloning a vApp
• Importing Machines from Other Environments
• The Bottom Line

Chapter 11 • Managing Resource Allocation

• Reviewing Virtual Machine Resource Allocation
• Working with Virtual Machine Memory
• Understanding ESXi Advanced Memory Technologies
• Controlling Memory Allocation
• Managing Virtual Machine CPU Utilization
• Default CPU Allocation
• Setting CPU Affi nity
• Using CPU Reservations
• Using CPU Limits
• Using CPU Shares
• Summarizing How Reservations, Limits, and Shares Work with CPUs
• Using Resource Pools
• Configuring Resource Pools
• Understanding Resource Allocation with Resource Pools
• Regulating Network I/O Utilization
• Controlling Storage I/O Utilization
• Enabling Storage I/O Control
• Configuring Storage Resource Settings for a Virtual Machine
• Utilizing Flash Storage
• The Bottom Line

Chapter 12 • Balancing Resource Utilization

• Comparing Utilization with Allocation
• Exploring vMotion
• Examining vMotion Requirements
• Performing a vMotion Migration
• Ensuring vMotion Compatibility
• Using Per-Virtual-Machine CPU Masking
• Using VMware Enhanced vMotion Compatibility
• Using Storage vMotion
• Combining vMotion with Storage vMotion
• Exploring vSphere Distributed Resource Scheduler
• Understanding Manual Automation Behavior
• Reviewing Partially Automated Behavior
• Examining Fully Automated Behavior
• Working with Distributed Resource Scheduler Rules
• Introducing and Working with Storage DRS
• Creating and Working with Datastore Clusters
• Configuring Storage DRS
• The Bottom Line

Chapter 13 • Monitoring VMware vSphere Performance

• Overview of Performance Monitoring
• Using Alarms
• Understanding Alarm Scopes
• Creating Alarms
• Managing Alarms
• Working with Performance Charts
• Overview Layout
• Advanced Layout
• Understanding vCenter Operations Manager
• Installing vC Ops
• vC Ops Foundation Features
• Working with resxtop
• Using resxtop
• Capturing and Playing Back Performance Data with resxtop
• Monitoring CPU Usage
• Monitoring Memory Usage
• Monitoring Network Usage
• Monitoring Disk Usage
• The Bottom Line

Chapter 14 • Automating VMware vSphere

• Why Use Automation?
• vSphere Automation Options
• Automating with PowerCLI
• PowerShell and PowerCLI
• What’s New in PowerCLI 55
• Installing and Confi guring PowerCLI
• Getting Started with PowerCLI
• Building PowerCLI Scripts
• PowerCLI Advanced Capabilities
• Using vCLI from vSphere Management Assistant
• What’s New in vCLI and vMA for vSphere 55
• Getting Started with vCLI
• Using vSphere Management Assistant for Automation with vCenter
• Leveraging the Perl Toolkit with vSphere Management Assistant
• Automating with vCenter Orchestrator
• New Features in vCenter Orchestrator 55
• Understanding vCenter Orchestrator Prerequisites
• Configuring vCenter Orchestrator
• vCenter Orchestrator Appliance
• Implementing the vCenter Orchestrator Appliance
• Accessing vCenter Orchestrator
• vCenter Orchestrator and vCenter Server
• Using an Orchestrator Workfl ow
• The Bottom Line

Appendix • The Bottom Line

• Chapter 1: Introducing VMware vSphere 55
• Chapter 2: Planning and Installing VMware ESXi
• Chapter 3: Installing and Configuring vCenter Server
• Chapter 4: vSphere Update Manager and the vCenter Support Tools
• Chapter 5: Creating and Configuring Virtual Networks
• Chapter 6: Creating and Configuring Storage Devices
• Chapter 7: Ensuring High Availability and Business Continuity
• Chapter 8: Securing VMware vSphere
• Chapter 9: Creating and Managing Virtual Machines
• Chapter 10: Using Templates and vApps
• Chapter 11: Managing Resource Allocation
• Chapter 12: Balancing Resource Utilization
• Chapter 13: Monitoring VMware vSphere Performance
• Chapter 14: Automating VMware vSphere
• Index

Scott Lowe, VCDX 39, is an engineering architect for VMware focusing on network virtualization and software-defined networking (SDN). He is also a VMware vExpert and author of Mastering VMware vSphere 5. Nick Marshall is a senior consultant with over 13 years of IT experience and multiple advanced IT certifications, including VMware Certified Advanced Professional (VCAP) in Datacenter Administration (DCA) and Datacenter Design (DCD). He currently works at VMware in the APAC region.