Mastering Vmware Vsphere 5.5

The 2013 edition of the bestselling vSphere book on the market

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.

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.

Introduction xxv

Chapter 1 • Introducing VMware vSphere 55 1

Exploring VMware vSphere 55    1

Examining the Products in the vSphere Suite  3

Examining the Features in VMware vSphere  8

Licensing VMware vSphere   18

Why Choose vSphere? 22

The Bottom Line 24

Chapter 2 • Planning and Installing VMware ESXi 25

Planning a VMware vSphere Deployment  25

Choosing a Server Platform   26

Determining a Storage Architecture28

Integrating with the Network Infrastructure 29

Deploying VMware ESXi   30

Installing VMware ESXi Interactively   31

Performing an Unattended Installation of VMware ESXi 35

Deploying VMware ESXi with vSphere Auto Deploy   39

Performing Post-installation Confi guration 47

Installing the vSphere C# Client   47

Reconfiguring the Management Network 50

Configuring Time Synchronization 52

Configuring Name Resolution 53

The Bottom Line 54

Chapter 3 • Installing and Configuring vCenter Server 57

Introducing vCenter Server 57

Centralizing User Authentication Using vCenter Single Sign-On  59

Using the vSphere Web Client for Administration  62

Understanding the vCenter Inventory Service 62

Providing an Extensible Framework 63

Choosing the Version of vCenter Server    64

Planning and Designing a vCenter Server Deployment 65

Sizing Hardware for vCenter Server 66

Choosing a Database Server for vCenter Server    68

Planning for vCenter Server Availability 70

Running vCenter Server and Its Components as VMs  72

Installing vCenter Server and Its Components   74

Configuring the vCenter Server Backend Database Server    75

Installing the vCenter Server Components   80

Installing vCenter Server in a Linked Mode Group   88

Deploying the vCenter Server Virtual Appliance 91

Configuring an IP Address on the vCenter Server Virtual Appliance   94

Accepting the End-User License Agreement  95

Configuring the Database 96

Setting Up Single Sign-On    96

Active Directory Settings 97

Starting the vCenter Server Services 97

Exploring vCenter Server   97

What’s in the vSphere Web Client Home Screen?   98

Using the Navigator 100

Creating and Managing a vCenter Server Inventory 100

Understanding Inventory Views and Objects 100

Creating and Adding Inventory Objects 103

Exploring vCenter Server’s Management Features   106

Understanding Basic Host Management 106

Examining Basic Host Confi guration   108

Using Scheduled Tasks 111

Using Events Console in vCenter Server 113

Working with Host Profi les  114

Tags 116

Managing vCenter Server Settings   120

General vCenter Server Settings  120

Licensing 123

Message of the Day 123

Advanced Settings 123

vSphere Web Client Administration 123

Roles    124

Licensing 124

vCenter Solutions Manager  124

Log Browser 124

The Bottom Line 126

Chapter 4 • vSphere Update Manager and the vCenter Support Tools    129

vSphere Update Manager  129

Installing vSphere Update Manager  131

Defining the Requirements   132

Configuring VUM’s Database 133

Creating the Open Database Connectivity Data Source Name   136

Installing VUM   137

Installing the Update Manager Download Service (Optional) 140

Installing the vSphere Update Manager Plug-in   141

Reconfiguring the VUM or UMDS Installation with the Update Manager Utility 142

Upgrading VUM from a Previous Version  143

Configuring vSphere Update Manager    143

Creating Baselines    149

Routine Updates 153

Attaching and Detaching Baselines or Baseline Groups 153

Performing a Scan 156

Staging Patches    159

Remediating Hosts 160

Upgrading VMware Tools   164

Upgrading Virtual Appliances and Host Extensions   166

Upgrading Hosts with vSphere Update Manager    166

Importing an ESXi Image and Creating the Host Upgrade Baseline    167

Upgrading a Host  168

Upgrading VM Hardware   171

Performing an Orchestrated Upgrade173

Investigating Alternative Update Options 173

Using vSphere Update Manager PowerCLI  173

Upgrading and Patching without vSphere Update Manager 174

vCenter Support Tools175

ESXi Dump Collector   175

Syslog Collector   181

Other vCenter Support Tools 185

The Bottom Line 185

Chapter 5 • Creating and Configuring Virtual Networks    189

Putting Together a Virtual Network 189

Working with vSphere Standard Switches 192

Comparing Virtual Switches and Physical Switches   193

Understanding Ports and Port Groups  194

Understanding Uplinks 196

Configuring Management Networking 198

Configuring VMkernel Networking    202

Configuring TCP/IP Stacks   207

Configuring VM Networking209

Configuring VLANs   212

Configuring NIC Teaming   216

Using and Configuring Traffic Shaping 229

Bringing It All Together 230

Working with vSphere Distributed Switches   234

Creating a vSphere Distributed Switch 234

Removing an ESXi Host from a Distributed Switch 239

Removing a Distributed Switch   240

Managing Distributed Switches  240

Working With Distributed Port Groups 244

Managing Adapters 252

Using NetFlow on vSphere Distributed Switches  257

Enabling Switch Discovery Protocols   259

Setting Up Private VLANs   260

Configuring LACP 263

Examining Third-Party Distributed Virtual Switches 268

Cisco Nexus 1000V 269

IBM Distributed Virtual Switch 5000V  269

HP FlexFabric Virtual Switch 5900v    270

Confi guring Virtual Switch Security 270

Understanding and Using Promiscuous Mode    271

Allowing MAC Address Changes and Forged Transmits    272

Looking Ahead 276

The Bottom Line277

Chapter 6 • Creating and Configuring Storage Devices 279

Reviewing the Importance of Storage Design  279

Examining Shared Storage Fundamentals 280

Comparing Local Storage with Shared Storage    283

Defining Common Storage Array Architectures  284

Explaining RAID  286

Understanding VSAN  290

Understanding Midrange and External Enterprise Storage Array Design 292

Choosing a Storage Protocol  294

Making Basic Storage Choices 307

Implementing vSphere Storage Fundamentals  309

Reviewing Core vSphere Storage Concepts  309

Working with VMFS Datastores  327

Working with Raw Device Mappings   347

Working with NFS Datastores 349

Working with VM-Level Storage Configuration   359

Leveraging SAN and NAS Best Practices  372

The Bottom Line377

Chapter 7 • Ensuring High Availability and Business Continuity 379

Understanding the Layers of High Availability 379

Clustering VMs 381

Introducing Network Load Balancing Clustering 382

Introducing Windows Server Failover Clustering 383

Implementing vSphere High Availability  395

Understanding vSphere High Availability  395

Understanding vSphere HA’s Underpinnings    396

Enabling vSphere High Availability    399

Configuring vSphere High Availability 401

Managing vSphere High Availability   413

Implementing vSphere Fault Tolerance    415

Using vSphere Fault Tolerance with vSphere High Availability  420

Using vSphere Fault Tolerance with vSphere Distributed Resource Scheduler   420

Examining vSphere Fault Tolerance Use Cases    421

Planning for Business Continuity 421

Providing Data Protection   421

Recovering from Disasters   425

Using vSphere Replication   427

The Bottom Line431

Chapter 8 • Securing VMware vSphere 433

Overview of vSphere Security   433

Securing ESXi Hosts  434

Working with ESXi Authentication 434

Controlling Access to ESXi Hosts 441

Keeping ESXi Hosts Patched 449

Managing ESXi Host Permissions 449

Confi guring ESXi Host Logging  458

Reviewing Other ESXi Security Recommendations 458

Securing vCenter Server   459

Authenticating Users with Single Sign-On  460

Understanding the vpxuser Account   464

Managing vCenter Server Permissions 466

Examining vCenter Server Logging    476

Securing Virtual Machines 477

Configuring Network Security Policies 477

Keeping VMs Patched  478

The Bottom Line 478

Chapter 9 • Creating and Managing Virtual Machines 481

Understanding Virtual Machines 481

Examining Virtual Machines from the Inside 481

Examining Virtual Machines from the Outside   484

Creating a Virtual Machine 488

Choosing Values for Your New Virtual Machine  499

Installing a Guest Operating System 504

Working with Installation Media 505

Using the Installation Media 507

Working in the Virtual Machine Console   508

Installing VMware Tools  509

Installing VMware Tools in Windows  510

Installing VMware Tools in Linux 514

Managing Virtual Machines    516

Adding or Registering Existing VMs   516

Changing VM Power States  518

Removing VMs    519

Deleting VMs 519

Modifying Virtual Machines    519

Changing Virtual Machine Hardware  520

Using Virtual Machine Snapshots 524

The Bottom Line 529

Chapter 10 • Using Templates and vApps   531

Cloning VMs   531

Installing Sysprep on the vCenter Server 532

Creating a Customization Specification 533

Cloning a Virtual Machine   538

Creating Templates and Deploying Virtual Machines 541

Cloning a Virtual Machine to a Template   542

Deploying a Virtual Machine from a Template    544

Using OVF Templates 545

Deploying a VM from an OVF Template 546

Exporting a VM as an OVF Template   549

Examining OVF Templates   550

Working with vApps  553

Creating a vApp   553

Editing a vApp    555

Changing a vApp’s Power State   559

Cloning a vApp    561

Importing Machines from Other Environments 562

The Bottom Line 562

Chapter 11 • Managing Resource Allocation 565

Reviewing Virtual Machine Resource Allocation    565

Working with Virtual Machine Memory   568

Understanding ESXi Advanced Memory Technologies 569

Controlling Memory Allocation  572

Managing Virtual Machine CPU Utilization   581

Default CPU Allocation 582

Setting CPU Affi nity   583

Using CPU Reservations 584

Using CPU Limits  584

Using CPU Shares 585

Summarizing How Reservations, Limits, and Shares Work with CPUs 587

Using Resource Pools 588

Configuring Resource Pools  590

Understanding Resource Allocation with Resource Pools   591

Regulating Network I/O Utilization 597

Controlling Storage I/O Utilization  602

Enabling Storage I/O Control 604

Configuring Storage Resource Settings for a Virtual Machine   606

Utilizing Flash Storage 611

The Bottom Line615

Chapter 12 • Balancing Resource Utilization 617

Comparing Utilization with Allocation    617

Exploring vMotion   618

Examining vMotion Requirements 622

Performing a vMotion Migration 626

Ensuring vMotion Compatibility 629

Using Per-Virtual-Machine CPU Masking   629

Using VMware Enhanced vMotion Compatibility 630

Using Storage vMotion 634

Combining vMotion with Storage vMotion 637

Exploring vSphere Distributed Resource Scheduler  640

Understanding Manual Automation Behavior    641

Reviewing Partially Automated Behavior   642

Examining Fully Automated Behavior  642

Working with Distributed Resource Scheduler Rules  644

Introducing and Working with Storage DRS   651

Creating and Working with Datastore Clusters   652

Configuring Storage DRS    656

The Bottom Line 664

Chapter 13 • Monitoring VMware vSphere Performance    667

Overview of Performance Monitoring 667

Using Alarms   669

Understanding Alarm Scopes 670

Creating Alarms   671

Managing Alarms 677

Working with Performance Charts   679

Overview Layout  679

Advanced Layout  681

Understanding vCenter Operations Manager  692

Installing vC Ops  692

vC Ops Foundation Features 694

Working with resxtop 695

Using resxtop 696

Capturing and Playing Back Performance Data with resxtop 698

Monitoring CPU Usage 698

Monitoring Memory Usage 701

Monitoring Network Usage 703

Monitoring Disk Usage 705

The Bottom Line 707

Chapter 14 • Automating VMware vSphere 709

Why Use Automation? 709

vSphere Automation Options   710

Automating with PowerCLI 711

PowerShell and PowerCLI   711

What’s New in PowerCLI 55 715

Installing and Confi guring PowerCLI  715

Getting Started with PowerCLI   718

Building PowerCLI Scripts   722

PowerCLI Advanced Capabilities 725

Using vCLI from vSphere Management Assistant    729

What’s New in vCLI and vMA for vSphere 55    729

Getting Started with vCLI   729

Using vSphere Management Assistant for Automation with vCenter732

Leveraging the Perl Toolkit with vSphere Management Assistant   733

Automating with vCenter Orchestrator    736

New Features in vCenter Orchestrator 55   736

Understanding vCenter Orchestrator Prerequisites 737

Configuring vCenter Orchestrator737

vCenter Orchestrator Appliance  744

Implementing the vCenter Orchestrator Appliance 745

Accessing vCenter Orchestrator  746

vCenter Orchestrator and vCenter Server   746

Using an Orchestrator Workfl ow  747

The Bottom Line 748

Appendix • The Bottom Line 751

Chapter 1: Introducing VMware vSphere 55   751

Chapter 2: Planning and Installing VMware ESXi    752

Chapter 3: Installing and Configuring vCenter Server753

Chapter 4: vSphere Update Manager and the vCenter Support Tools 756

Chapter 5: Creating and Configuring Virtual Networks  758

Chapter 6: Creating and Configuring Storage Devices 761

Chapter 7: Ensuring High Availability and Business Continuity 764

Chapter 8: Securing VMware vSphere 766

Chapter 9: Creating and Managing Virtual Machines 767

Chapter 10: Using Templates and vApps   769

Chapter 11: Managing Resource Allocation 771

Chapter 12: Balancing Resource Utilization 773

Chapter 13: Monitoring VMware vSphere Performance   775

Chapter 14: Automating VMware vSphere 777

Index  779

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