Overview of VMWARE Infrastructure 3

Overview_A.
book Page 1 Friday, September 5, 2008 12:40 PM
Overview of VMware
Infrastructure 3
Instructor Manual
VMware ESX 3.5 and VirtualCenter 2.5
VMware® Education Services

VMware, Inc.
education@vmware.com
Overview_A.book Page 2 Friday, September 5, 2008 12:40 PM
Overview of VMware
Infrastructure 3
VMware ESX 3.5 and VirtualCenter 2.5
Part Number EDU-ENG-A-OVW35-LECT-INST
Instructor Manual
Revision A
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education@vmware.com
Overview_A.book Page i Friday, September 5, 2008 12:40 PM
CONTENTS
MODULE 1 Virtual Infrastructure Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

What Is Virtual Infrastructure?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
How Does Virtualization Work? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
ESX Uses a Hypervisor Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
VMware Infrastructure 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
VMware Infrastructure Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Management Made Easy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
View VirtualCenter Inventory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
ESX Storage Choices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
VMFS and NFS Datastores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Virtual Network Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Flexible Network Connectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Virtual Switches Support VLANs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Lab for Module 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
MODULE 2 Create a Virtual Machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

What Is a Virtual Machine? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
ESX Virtual Machine Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Centralized Virtual Machine Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Fast, Flexible Guest OS Installations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Reducing Virtual Machine Deployment Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Create a Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Deploy a Virtual Machine from a Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Automating Guest OS Customization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Lab for Module 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
MODULE 3 CPU and Memory Resource Pools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

CPU Management Supports Server Consolidation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Flexible Resource Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Virtual Machine CPU Resource Controls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Supporting Higher Consolidation Ratios (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Supporting Higher Consolidation Ratios (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Virtual Machine Memory Resource Controls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Using Resource Pools to Meet Business Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Overview of VMware Infrastructure 3 i

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Configuring a Pool's Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Viewing Resource Pool Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Resource Pools Example: CPU Contention. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Admission Control for CPU and Memory Reservations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
MODULE 4 Migrate Virtual Machines Using VMotion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

VMotion Migration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
How VMotion Works (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
ESX Host Requirements for VMotion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Virtual Machine Requirements for VMotion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Lab for Module 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
MODULE 5 VMware DRS Clusters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

What Is a DRS Cluster? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Create a DRS Cluster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Automating Workload Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Adding ESX Hosts to a DRS Cluster (1). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Adding ESX Hosts to a DRS Cluster (2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Automating Workload Balance per VM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Adjusting DRS Operation for Performance or HA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Lab for Module 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
MODULE 6 Monitoring Virtual Machine Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

VirtualCenter Performance Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Example CPU Performance Issue Indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Are VMs Being CPU Constrained?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Supporting Higher Consolidation Ratios. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Are VMs Being Memory Constrained? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Are VMs Being Disk Constrained? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Are VMs Being Network Constrained? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Lab for Module 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
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MODULE 7 VirtualCenter Alarms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Proactive Datacenter Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Preconfigured VirtualCenter Alarms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Creating a Virtual Machine-Based Alarm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Creating a Host-Based Alarm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Actions to Take When an Alarm Is Triggered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Alarm Reporting Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Configure VirtualCenter Notifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Lab for Module 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
MODULE 8 VMware HA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
What Is VMware HA? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Architecture of a VMware HA Cluster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
VMware HA Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Create a VMware HA Cluster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Add an ESX Host to the Cluster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Configure Cluster-Wide Admission Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Failover Capacity Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Maintain Business Continuity if ESX Hosts Become Isolated . . . . . . . . . . 95
Lab for Module 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
MODULE 9 VI3 Product and Feature Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Customers Move Rapidly Along the Adoption Curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Standardizing on VMware Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Functional Layers in a Virtual Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
New Virtualization Platform Layer Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
ESXi Hypervisor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
From Server Boot to Virtual Machines in Minutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Additional VI Layer Products and Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
VMware Consolidated Backup (VCB). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
VMware Consolidated Backup Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Distributed Power Management (Experimental) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Storage VMotion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Management and Automation Layer Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
VMware Update Manager (VUM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Update Manager and DRS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
VDI - Virtual Desktop Manager (VDM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Contents iii
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Guided Consolidation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115

VMware Site Recovery Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116
Site Recovery Manager Key Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118
VMware Converter Enterprise Capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119
Using Lab Manager with VMware Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
VMware Lifecycle Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Lifecycle Workflow Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Summary of VI3 Products and Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
iv Overview of VMware Infrastructure 3


MODULE 1
Virtual Infrastructure
1
Overview 1
Virtual Infrastructure Overview

Importance
Virtualization is a technology that is revolutionizing the computer industry.
It is the foundational technology for virtual infrastructure. This module
introduces virtualization and VMware® Infrastructure 3.
Objectives for the Learner

• Understand the concept of virtualization
• Understand the basic components of VMware Infrastructure 3
• Understand virtual network components
• Understand storage and datastores
Lesson Topics
• Define virtual infrastructure
• Describe how virtualization works
• Introduce VMware Infrastructure components
• Describe virtual network components
• Introduce storage, datastores, and VMFS
Course Presentation Guidance

Remember that this course is just an “overview” of VMware Infrastructure 3. It is not a system
administration course. This course does not aim to provide detailed technical information and
explanations. Customers who actually buy the product will have to send their administrators to one
of the system administration courses later on. The goal of this course is to provide a potential
customer with just enough technical background to do the following:
• Excite them about the product
• Give them some hands-on experience with the product
• Allow them to make informed decisions about purchasing the product
• Provide them with enough core concepts that they can understand the more advanced products
presented by sales, including Update Manager, Lab Manager, and Site Recovery Manager.
Based on the above points, you can see that this course is primarily a sales presentation with some
technical depth added. The course includes nearly three hours of hands-on labs. This means you will
have about three and a half hours to lecture from the material. There is not enough time to delve
into technical details.
Overview of VMware Infrastructure 3 1

What Is Virtual Infrastructure?

Slide 1-5
Virtual Infrastructure allows dynamic mapping of compute, storage,

and network resources to business applications.
Virtual Infrastructure provides the opportunity for both current
server consolidation and future server containment.
Virtualization is an important In traditional physical datacenters, there is a tight relationship between

concept to understand
because it has become widely
servers, disk drives, and network ports, and the operating systems and
deployed across both large, applications they support. A virtual infrastructure, like VMware
multinational corporations Infrastructure, allows us to break this tight relationship. VMware
and small-to-medium-sized
businesses. Virtualization is Infrastructure allows the dynamic mapping of compute, storage, and
also the foundational network resources to business applications.
technology of the VMware
Infrastructure. Understanding No longer is there a one-to-one relationship between an operating system
VMware Infrastructure well
and the physical hardware. In a VMware Infrastructure, multiple operating
means understanding the
basic concepts of systems and their applications share the hardware resources of a physical
virtualization. host, physical LUN, or physical storage and network ports. Sharing
This module introduces both
hardware resources provides the basis for server consolidation now and
general virtualization server containment later.
concepts and information
specific to VMware Reducing the number of required servers, storage LUNs, storage ports, and
Infrastructure. network ports reduces both capital and operational costs. Many companies
The pages that follow have now standardized on virtual infrastructures and have “virtualize first”
introduce the basic hardware policies.
and software components
that comprise a VMware
Infrastructure. All the Course Flow
hardware and software Modules 1-8 introduce only what might be considered the more “core” and “common” VI3 features
components introduced here like encapsulation, virtualized network and storage components, VMotion, DRS, and HA. The
will be used throughout the products and features built on these core features, like Storage VMotion, Update Manager, VCB,
remainder of the course. etc., are mentioned only via a quick overview in Module 9.
2 Overview of VMware Infrastructure 3


How Does Virtualization Work?
1
Slide 1-6
• It allows multiple

operating system
instances to run
concurrently on a
single computer within
virtual machines.
• A virtualization layer
creates the virtual
machines.
• The virtualization layer
is implemented using
either a hosted or
bare-metal hypervisor
architecture.
Virtualization is based on the concept of a virtual machine. Virtual machines

are created by a virtualization software layer installed above the hardware.
Virtual hardware in the virtual machines is created by the virtualization
software. Virtual machines share the actual physical hardware.
The virtualization software includes a hypervisor. The hypervisor is a higher
supervisory operating system and is used to schedule virtual machine access
to the hardware. The hypervisor schedules resources and prevents conflicts.
Multiple virtual machines share hardware resources without interfering with
each other. Apart from standard network connections, virtual machines have
no knowledge of each other and run in entirely separate partitions for
security purposes.
The hypervisor can run as an application on an existing operating system or
be implemented as its own operating system. A hypervisor running as an
application is referred to as a hosted hypervisor, while a standalone
hypervisor is sometimes referred to as a bare-metal hypervisor. Bare-metal
hypervisors incur less overhead. This typically translates to higher virtual
machine performance.
Module 1 Virtual Infrastructure Overview 3

ESX Uses a Hypervisor Architecture

Slide 1-7
• A bare-metal hypervisor system does not require an

operating system. The VMkernel is the hypervisor on
an ESX host.
• The service console provides an extensible, secure
management interface to the VMkernel.
VMware® ESX uses a bare-metal hypervisor that allows multiple virtual

machines to run simultaneously on the same physical server. ESX does not
require an operating system, ESX is the operating system.
The ESX hypervisor is called the VMkernel. The VMkernel is a proprietary,
high-performance kernel optimized for running virtual machines.
The ESX service console is used only to provide a management interface to
the VMkernel. The service console is a cut-down, secure version of Linux.
The service console is scheduled to use hardware resources in a manner
similar to normal virtual machines.
ESX 3 and ESXi are both bare-metal hypervisors that partition physical
servers into multiple virtual machines. The difference is that ESXi does not
use a Linux service console as a management interface. ESXi is managed
by VirtualCenter, using an embedded hardware agent.
ESXi is discussed later in the course.


VMware Infrastructure 3
1
Slide 1-8

• A software suite for optimizing and managing
IT environments through virtualization
• VMware ESX or ESXi
• VMware Virtual SMP
• VMware High Availability (HA)
• VMware VMotion
• VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS)
• VMware VMFS
• VMware Consolidated Backup (VCB)
• VMware Update Manager
• VMware Storage VMotion
• VMware VirtualCenter
• Provisions, monitors, and manages a virtualized
IT environment
VMware Infrastructure 3 is VMware’s premier product family designed for

building and managing virtual infrastructures. It is a suite of software that
provides virtualization, management, resource optimization, application
availability, and migration capabilities.
VMware Infrastructure 3 consists of products and features that include the
following:
VMware ESX 3 Platform on which virtual machines run

VMware ESXi Alternate platform on which virtual machines
run
VirtualCenter Centralized management tool for ESX hosts and
virtual machines
Virtual SMP Multiprocessor support (up to four) for virtual
machines
VMware HA VirtualCenter high availability feature for virtual
machines
VMware VMotion VirtualCenter feature that permits migrating
powered-on virtual machines with no disruption
VMware DRS VirtualCenter feature that provides dynamic
workload balancing across ESX hosts

VMware VMFS Cluster-aware file system optimized to hold

virtual machine, virtual machine template, and
ISO files
VMware Consolidated Centralized, online backup framework for
Backup virtual machines
VMware Update Automatic patch management of ESX hosts and
Manager select guest operating systems
Storage VMotion Migration of powered-on virtual machine files
with no disruption
Each of these products and features is discussed in more detail throughout

the course.


VMware Infrastructure Components
1
Slide 1-9

VMware Infrastructure consists of a number of hardware and software
components.
Servers running ESX provide hardware resources to multiple virtual
machines. ESX hosts use one or more datastores as repositories for virtual
machine, virtual machine template, and ISO files.
VirtualCenter is a Windows-based application that provides centralized
management of ESX hosts and virtual machines. VirtualCenter management
information is stored in a dedicated VirtualCenter database—both Oracle
and SQL databases are supported. VirtualCenter agents are configured on
the ESX hosts. VirtualCenter tasks sent to an ESX host are received by the
VirtualCenter agent. Connections between the VirtualCenter Server and the
VirtualCenter agents are secured by Secure Socket Layer (SSL).
Purchased VMware Infrastructure products and features are licensed
through one or more license files. License files are obtainable using a self-
service Web portal. Downloaded license files are typically stored in a
directory on a centralized license server. A centralized license server
simplifies license management. It is possible to store license files on
individual ESX hosts, but not all VMware Infrastructure products and
features are supported using this option.
Different licensing packages are available, depending on business
requirements and cost constraints. A 60-day evaluation license that enables
all features is available during installation

One or more VMware Infrastructure Clients (VI Clients) provide graphical

user interface–based management of the VMware Infrastructure. The VI
Client is a Windows application. Connections between the VI Clients and
the VirtualCenter Server are secured by SSL.


Management Made Easy
1
Slide 1-10

• Use the VI Client to
log in to
VirtualCenter.
• VI Client and
VirtualCenter provide
easy, centralized,
graphical
management of the
VMware
Infrastructure.
• ESX hosts
• Virtual machines
• Templates
VirtualCenter and the VI Client interface make centralized management of

the VMware Infrastructure easy. During a default VI Client installation, a
VI Client icon is added to the user desktop.
You use this icon to launch the VI Client interface. When prompted, you
enter a Windows-based user account name and password to log in to the
VitualCenter Server.
The VI Client interface provides graphical management of VMware
Infrastructure components, including ESX hosts, virtual machines, and
virtual machine templates.

View VirtualCenter Inventory

Slide 1-11
Hosts and Clusters View Virtual Machine and Templates View
The VI Client displays VMware Infrastructure management objects in a

hierarchical format called an inventory. Four different inventory views are
available to the user. This slide illustrates the two most common views used
to display the VirtualCenter inventory: the Hosts & Clusters view and the
Virtual Machines & Templates view. The other two views are the Networks
view and the Datastores view.
On the slide, Los Angeles is an example of a datacenter. ESX hosts and
their virtual machines are added to a datacenter that often corresponds to a
specific geographic location. Migration of running virtual machines is
permitted only between ESX hosts within the same datacenter.
Hosts and Clusters, Americas, and Discovered Virtual Machines are all
examples of folders. Folders are used to group objects in the inventory.
Folders beneath the datacenter in the Virtual Machines and Templates view
are rendered in blue.
The objects called kentfield03.priv.vmeduc.com and
kentfield04.priv.vmeduc.com are ESX hosts. ESX hosts do not appear in the
Virtual Machines and Templates view. ESX hosts are added to the
VirtualCenter inventory after they are installed.
Database01 and Database02 are virtual machines. The icons indicate that
Database01 is powered on, while Database02 is not. Virtual machines can
be organized differently in the different inventory views.


DatabaseTemplate and FilePrint Template are virtual machine templates.
Virtual machine templates can be used to quickly deploy additional virtual
1
machines. Templates do not appear in the Hosts and Clusters view.

The VirtualCenter security model allows permissions to be applied to any
object in the inventory. Permissions are beyond the scope of this course.

ESX Storage Choices

Slide 1-12
• ESX supports
multiple types of
storage:
• Local SCSI, SATA,
Fibre Channel,
iSCSI, NFS
• Flexibility to meet
cost, availability,
and performance
requirements
ESX storage support is flexible enough to meet most cost, availability, and
performance requirements. ESX supports the following kinds of storage:
• Direct-attached SCSI and SATA storage
• Fibre Channel storage
• iSCSI storage
• NFS storage
Storage accessed by ESX is called a datastore.
Multiple LUNs from different storage types can be combined to form a
single datastore. LUNs can be dynamically added to an existing datastore if
more storage space is required.


VMFS and NFS Datastores
1
Slide 1-13

• Direct attached, Fibre Channel, and iSCSI LUNs use
the cluster-aware VMFS file system.
• NFS storage is not formatted with VMFS.
• Both VMFS and NFS datastores provide shared
storage for virtual machine files, virtual machine
template files, and ISO files.
• Shared datastores support high availability and
resource management features.
• VMotion
• VMware DRS and HA clusters
Storage LUNs are typically formatted with the Virtual Machine File System
(VMFS). VMFS is a high-performance, cluster-aware file system designed
by VMware to hold virtual machine, virtual machine template, and ISO
files.
An alternative file system type is NFS. Like VMFS, NFS is a shared file
system and it also holds virtual machine, virtual machine template, and ISO
files.
Multiple ESX servers can simultaneously access the same VMFS or NFS
datastore. Simultaneous access is designed to support high availability and
resource-balancing features like VMotion or VMware DRS and HA
clusters, which are covered later in the course.

Virtual Network Components

Slide 1-14
ESX uses physical and virtual network components to provide connectivity

to virtual machines, the VMkernel, and the service console. One of the key
virtual components is the virtual switch.
A virtual switch is a software construct implemented in the VMkernel. A
virtual switch might be connected to one or more physical NICs, or none at
all. Physical NICs provide virtual switches with connectivity to external
devices.
The ability to connect multiple physical NICs to a single virtual switch is
called NIC teaming. NIC teams provide high availability through automatic
failover and failback. NIC teams also provide automatic load distribution
for better performance.
The VMkernel creates virtual NICs for virtual machines, the VMkernel, and
the service console. The VMkernel assigns a unique MAC address to each
virtual NIC.
The ability to connect multiple virtual machines, the VMkernel, and the
service console through a small number of physical NICs and physical
switch ports reduces both capital and operational costs.


Flexible Network Connectivity
1
Slide 1-15
• There are three types of network connections:

• Service console port – Access to ESX host management network
• VMkernel port – Access to VMotion, iSCSI, and/or NFS/NAS
networks
• Virtual machine port group – Access to VM networks
• More than one connection type can exist on a single virtual
switch. Or each connection type can exist on its own virtual
switch.
Service VMkernel
Console port Virtual machine port groups
port
uplink ports
Virtual switch architecture provides the IT architect the flexibility to meet

datacenter connection requirements in cost-effective ways.
Virtual switches include connections. There are three connection types:
• A service console port
• A VMkernel port
• A virtual machine port group
Connections must be defined before using a virtual switch. More than one
connection type can exist on a single virtual switch. Or each connection
type can exist on its own virtual switch.
As each connection is configured, it is assigned a unique name by the
administrator. This name is displayed in the VI Client interface and is used
when connecting virtual machines, the VMkernel, or the service console to
a network.
A service console port connection provides the access point for the service
console to connect to an external management network. Multiple service
console connections on different virtual switches and networks can be
created to support high availability.
A VMkernel port connection provides the access point for the VMkernel to
connect to external IP storage or VMotion networks. Multiple VMkernel
connections on different virtual switches and networks can be created to
support different types of network traffic. For example, one VMkernel port

could be configured to support iSCSI storage traffic while another

VMkernel port could be configured to support VMotion traffic. Different
types of network traffic should be segregated for security and performance
reasons.
A virtual machine port group connection provides an access point for a
virtual machine to connect to either internal or external virtual machines, or
to other external devices. Each virtual machine port group has its own
network configuration. For example, on the same virtual switch or on
different virtual switches, virtual machine port group Alpha can be assigned
to one network, while virtual machine port group Beta is assigned to
another network.
The ability to configure multiple virtual machine port group connections on
the same or different virtual switches provides the flexibility to meet most
business requirements.


Virtual Switches Support VLANs
1
Slide 1-16

• VMkernel, service
console, and virtual
machine port groups
support IEEE 802.1Q
VLAN tagging
• Example:
• Packets from a VM are
tagged as they exit the
virtual switch
• Packets are untagged as
they return to the VM
ESX supports virtual LANs with VLAN IDs between 1 and 4095 on
VMkernel, service console, and virtual machine connections. VLAN
functionality provides yet additional flexibility and cost savings in network
configuration.

Lab for Module 1

Slide 1-17
• Using VirtualCenter
• In this lab, you perform the following tasks:
•Use the VI Client to log in to VirtualCenter
•View the VirtualCenter inventory
•View virtual network components
•View storage components


MODULE 2
Create a Virtual Machine 2
Importance
2
Virtual infrastructure is based on virtual machines. The ability to quickly
provision virtual machines is critical. To quickly provision multiple virtual
Create a Virtual Machine

machines, you create a base image virtual machine. Once you have a base
image virtual machine, you can convert it to a template and provision
additional virtual machines from the template. This dramatically decreases
deployment time and reduces costly mistakes.

• Understand virtual machines and virtual machines hardware choices
• Create a template deploy a virtual machine from a template
Lesson Topics
• Define a virtual machine
• Virtual machine hardware
• Installing a guest operating system into a virtual machine
• Creating templates
• Deploying virtual machines from a template
• Guest operating system customization

What Is a Virtual Machine?

Slide 2-5
• A software platform that, like a
physical computer, runs an
operating system and applications
• Encapsulated in a discrete set of
files. The main files are these:
• Configuration file (.vmx)
• Virtual disk file (.vmdk)
• Encapsulation supports disaster
recovery and high availability
features and products.
Virtual Machine
• Individually created using a VI
Client wizard or deployed from a
template
A virtual machine is a software construct controlled by the VMkernel. A

virtual machine has virtual hardware that appears as physical hardware to an
installed guest operating system and its applications. All virtual machine
configuration, state information, and data are encapsulated in a set of files
stored on a datastore. This encapsulation means virtual machines are
portable and can easily be backed up or cloned.
There are multiple methods to create virtual machines. One way to create a
virtual machine is by launching an easy-to-use wizard in the VI Client and
answering a few simple questions. A second—and faster—method is to use
the VI Client to deploy the new virtual machine from a virtual machine
template.


ESX Virtual Machine Hardware
Slide 2-6
Up to 2 ports Up to 2 ports
1-2 drives
2
Up to 4
CD- ESX virtual
ROMs machine

hardware is
scalable
enough to
meet most
business and
application
Up to needs.
64GB
RAM
VM chipset 1-4 adapters

1 CPU (2 or 4
CPUs
with VMware 1-4 adapters;
SMP) 1-15 devices each
Each guest operating system sees ordinary hardware devices. It does not
know these devices are virtual. Furthermore, all VMware® ESX 3 virtual
machines have uniform hardware, except for a small number of variations
the system administrator can apply. This makes virtual machines uniform
and portable across ESX hosts.
Each virtual machine has a total of six virtual PCI slots. One of these is used
for the virtual video adapter. Therefore, the total number of virtual Ethernet
and SCSI host adapters cannot exceed five. The virtual chipset is an Intel
440BX–based motherboard with an NS338 SIO chip. This chipset ensures
compatibility for a wide range of supported guest operating systems,
including legacy operating systems like Windows NT.
Module 2 Create a Virtual Machine 21

Centralized Virtual Machine Management

Slide 2-7
• Send power
changes to VM.
VM console
icon
• Access VM’s
guest OS.
• Send Ctrl+Alt+Del
to guest OS.
• Press
Ctrl+Alt+Ins in
VM console.
• Modify virtual
machine
hardware.
Virtual machine management access is provided through a virtual machine

console window available in the VI Client, or in an optional Web-based
interface (not shown here).
The virtual machine’s console provides the mouse, keyboard, and console
screen functionality. You can use the virtual machine console to access the
virtual machine BIOS, power-cycle the virtual machine, modify virtual
hardware, or install an operating system.
The virtual machine console is not normally used to access the virtual
machine’s applications. Tools such as VMware’s Virtual Desktop Manager,
or RDP, or VNC, or X Windows, or Web browsers are typically used,
instead.


Fast, Flexible Guest OS Installations
Slide 2-8
2
VM Console
Install from ISO image (mounted on virtual

CD-ROM drive) to virtual disk.
Configure VMFS or NFS datastores with a

Local library of ISO images for easy VM
deployment and application installation.
It is easy to install a guest operating system or an application by using ISO

files and virtual CD-ROM devices. To install software, you connect an ISO
image loaded on an accessible datastore to the virtual CD-ROM device. To
simplify management, a library of ISO images can written to a datastore
accessible to all ESX hosts. Although it is possible to map a physical CD in
a physical CD-ROM device to the virtual CD-ROM device, using ISO
images frees administration staff from having to be physically present in the
datacenter. This saves time and reduces costs.
VMware® Infrastructure 3 supports a large variety of operating systems
including Windows, Linux, Solaris, and Novell. For a complete list of
supported operating systems see the Guest Operating System Installation
Guide available on the VMware Web site at http://www.vmware.com/pdf/
GuestOS_guide.pdf.

Reducing Virtual Machine Deployment Time

Slide 2-9
• Templates are a
VirtualCenter
feature used to
create commonly
deployed VMs.
• A template is a VM
marked as “never
to be powered on.”
• Disk files stored in
either normal or
compact disk
format
• Templates can be
stored in a VMFS
or NFS datastore.
Templates are a VirtualCenter feature. A template is a master image of a

virtual machine that is marked as “never to be powered on.” Templates
appear in the inventory only while you are using the Virtual Machine and
Templates view.
A new virtual machine can be quickly provisioned using a template. The
new virtual machine is essentially a clone of the template, although
VirtualCenter has the ability to apply guest operating system customization
to the clone. Creating a library of templates can dramatically decrease
provisioning time and reduce costly mistakes. Templates can be stored in
compact disk format to reduce storage costs.


Create a Template
Slide 2-10
• Create a base image
2
VM, power it off,
then …

• Two methods:
• Clone VM to
Template
• Convert VM to
Template
• Choose Clone to
Template if the
original VM is still
needed.
There are two ways to create a template using the VI Client: Clone to
Template and Convert to Template. Which method is chosen depends on
whether the original virtual machine is still needed. The original virtual
machine is no longer available when converted to a template.

Deploy a Virtual Machine from a Template

Slide 2-11
To deploy a VM, provide

the following:
• Virtual machine name
• Inventory location
• ESX host, datastore
• Guest operating system
customization data
You use the VI Client to provision a new virtual machine from a template.
You launch the Deploy Template wizard by right-clicking on the template
and answering a few simple questions. The datacenter administrator can
choose the new virtual machine display name, its location in the
VirtualCenter inventory, its ESX host, and the datastore to use.


Automating Guest OS Customization
Slide 2-12
• VirtualCenter can automatically apply unique system

information to a virtual machine when it is deployed from a
2
template.
• For guest operating system customization to work, it must

be enabled in VirtualCenter.
• To enable for Windows VMs, install sysprep files on
VirtualCenter Server.
• Already enabled for Linux VMs (open-source components
are installed on the VirtualCenter Server)
VirtualCenter can automatically apply unique system information to a

virtual machine deployed from a template. This saves time and prevents
costly human error. Customization exists for both Windows and Linux guest
operating systems. Linux guest customization is automatically enabled
when VirtualCenter is installed. Windows guest customization must be
manually enabled by installing the Windows sysprep software on the
VirtualCenter Server.

Lab for Module 2

Slide 2-13
Template Provisioning
In this lab, you perform the following tasks:
•Convert a virtual machine to a template
•Convert a template back to a virtual machine
•Deploy a virtual machine from a template


MODULE 3
CPU and Memory Resource

Pools 3
Importance
Resource pools allow CPU and memory resources to be hierarchically
3
assigned to meet the business requirements of your enterprise. Virtual
machine CPU and memory resource controls provide finer-grained tuning
CPU and Memory Resource Pools

options to meet the business requirements of your applications.

• Understand available virtual machine CPU and memory resource
controls
• To use resource pools for resource policy control
Lesson Topics
• How are virtual machines’ CPU and memory resources managed?
• What is a resource pool?
• Managing a pool’s resources
• A resource pool example
• Admission control

CPU Management Supports Server Consolidation

Slide 3-5
• A virtual machine can have 1, 2,

or 4 virtual CPUs (VCPUs).
• When a VCPU needs to be
scheduled, the VMkernel maps a
VCPU to a “hardware execution
context.” H.E.C. H.E.C. H.E.C.
• A hardware execution context is

a processor’s capability to
schedule one thread of
execution.
• A core or a hyperthread
• VMkernel load balances
• All the VCPUs in a VM must be H.E.C. H.E.C. H.E.C. H.E.C.
simultaneously scheduled.
Physical servers in a typical datacenter use on average less than 10 percent

of their available CPU resources. Higher CPU utilization can be achieved
by combining multiple virtual machines on one physical server. This
efficient use of CPU resources reduces datacenter capital and operating
costs. VMware® ESX hosts often achieve and maintain 80–90 percent CPU
utilization.
A virtual machine is configured with at least one virtual CPU (VCPU).
When a VCPU needs to run, the VMkernel maps the VCPU to an available
“hardware execution context.” A hardware execution context is a
processor’s capability to schedule one thread of execution. A hardware
execution context is a CPU core or a hyperthread, if the CPU supports
hyperthreading. Hyperthreaded or multicore CPUs provide two or more
hardware execution contexts on which VCPUs can be scheduled to run.
Using ESX’s virtual symmetric multiprocessor (VSMP) feature means
virtual machines can be configured with one, two, or four VCPUs. A single-
VCPU virtual machine gets scheduled on one hardware execution context at
a time. A two-VCPU virtual machine gets scheduled on two hardware
execution contexts at a time, or not at all. A four-VCPU virtual machine
gets scheduled on four hardware execution contexts at a time, or not at all.


Flexible Resource Allocation
Slide 3-6
• Proportional-share system for relative resource management
• Used to grant resources according to business requirements
• Applied during resource contention
• Prevents virtual machines from monopolizing resources
Number of Shares
3
• Change number of
shares
• Power on VM
• Power off VM
CPU and memory shares guarantee a virtual machine will be allocated a

certain amount of CPU and memory resources, even during periods of
contention. Shares have no effect on resource allocation until contention
occurs.
Consider VM B in the graphic. On the first line, VM B is assigned 1,000 of
the total 3,000 shares of a resource. All other factors being equal, VM B
will be allocated one-third of the resource during periods of contention.
On the second line, VM B’s share allocation has been increased to 3000. At
this time, VM B would be allocated three-fifths of the resource during
periods of contention.
On the last two lines, VM B still has 3,000 assigned shares, although the
total number of assigned shares changes as VM D is powered on or VM C
is powered off. When VM D is powered on, VM B is entitled only to three-
quarters of the resource. When VM C is powered off, VM B is entitled to
three-fifths of the resource.
Module 3 CPU and Memory Resource Pools 31

Virtual Machine CPU Resource Controls

Slide 3-7
Limit
• A cap on the consumption of physical CPU
time by this VM, measured in MHz
Reservation
• A certain number of physical CPU cycles
reserved for this VM, measured in MHz
• The VMkernel chooses which CPUs, and may
migrate.
• A VM will power on only if the VMkernel can
guarantee the reservation.
• A reservation of 1,000MHz might be generous
for a 1-VCPU VM, but not for a 4-VCPU VM.
Shares
• More shares means this VM will win
competitions for physical CPU time more often.
ESX features three virtual machine CPU resource controls that are used to
tune virtual machine behavior. These CPU resource controls are dynamic in
that they can be modified while the virtual machine is powered on or off.
CPU “limit” defines the maximum amount of physical CPU, measured in
MHz, that a virtual machine is allowed.
CPU “reservation” defines the amount of physical CPU, measured in MHz,
reserved for this virtual machine at power up. As long as a virtual machine
is not using its total reservation, the unused portion is available for use by
other virtual machines. The VMkernel will not allow a virtual machine to
power on unless it can guarantee its CPU reservation.
Each virtual machine is assigned a number of CPU “shares.” The more
shares a virtual machine has relative to other virtual machines, the more
often it gets CPU time above its reservation when there is contention for
CPU resources.


Supporting Higher Consolidation Ratios (1)
Slide 3-8
Virtual memory
• Memory mapped by an application
inside the guest operating system
Application
Physical memory
• ESX presents the virtual machines
and the service console with physical
3
pages.
Guest OS
• Identical pages might be shared by

multiple virtual machines (transparent
page sharing).
Machine memory Hypervisor

• Actual pages allocated by ESX from
RAM
• Multiple guest operating system
pages might map to same machine
page (transparent page sharing).
Although physical servers in a datacenter are often configured with large

amounts of memory, only a small portion is typically active at any one time.
Higher active memory utilization is achieved by combining multiple virtual
machines on one physical server. This efficient use of memory resources
reduces datacenter capital and operating costs.
The ESX VMkernel manages the server’s RAM. RAM in an ESX host is
called “machine memory.” Various pages of machine memory are collected
and presented as contiguous memory to each virtual machine. Virtual
machines may actually be sharing identical pages of read-only machine
memory. This is called “transparent page sharing” and is covered later in
this module.
Each virtual machine guest operating system manages the machine memory
presented to it by the VMkernel. Memory managed by the virtual machine
is called “physical memory” and is analogous to the memory available in a
physical server.
The definition of “virtual memory” remains unchanged in a virtual
datacenter. Virtual memory is managed by the virtual machine’s guest
operating system and is comprised of both real memory and disk space.

Supporting Higher Consolidation Ratios (2)

Slide 3-9
Transparent page sharing
• Supports higher server-
consolidation ratios
• VMkernel detects identical
pages in VMs’ memory and
maps them to the same
underlying machine page.
• No changes to guest
operating system required
• VMkernel treats the shared
pages as copy-on-write.
• Read-only when shared
• Private copies after write
ESX uses several features designed by VMware to support efficient use of

RAM and higher consolidation ratios. Transparent page sharing is one of
these features.
Transparent page sharing helps to reduce the total amount of required RAM
by allowing virtual machines to share identical memory pages. The
VMkernel dynamically scans ESX memory for read-only pages with
identical content.
When pages are found, the duplicates are released and the virtual machines
are mapped to the single remaining page. If any virtual machine attempts to
modify a shared page, the VMkernel will create a new, private page for that
virtual machine to use.


Virtual Machine Memory Resource Controls
Slide 3-10
Available memory
• Memory size defined when the VM was
created
Limit
• A cap on the consumption of physical
memory by this VM, measured in MB
3
• Equal to available memory by default
Reservation

• A certain amount of physical memory
reserved for this VM, measured in MB
Shares
• More shares means this VM will win
competitions for physical memory more often
VMkernel allocates a per-VM swap file to
cover each VM’s range between available
memory and reservation.
ESX features four virtual machine memory resource controls that are used
to tune a virtual machine’s behavior. Three of these memory resource
controls are dynamic and can be modified while the virtual machine is
powered on.
“Available memory,” measured in megabytes, is assigned to the virtual
machine when it is created. It is the total amount of memory presented by
the virtual machine to the guest operating system at boot-up. Available
memory cannot be changed while the virtual machine is powered on.
Memory “limit,” measured in megabytes, defines the maximum amount of
virtual machine memory that can reside in RAM. It never exceeds available
memory. By default, available memory and memory limit are set to the
same value.
Memory “reservation,” measured in megabytes, is the amount of RAM
reserved by the VMkernel for the virtual machine at power-on. As long as a
virtual machine has not used its total reservation, the unused portion is
available for use by other virtual machines. The VMkernel will not allow a
virtual machine to power on, unless it can guarantee the memory
reservation.
Each virtual machine is assigned a number of memory “shares.” The more
shares a virtual machine has relative to other virtual machines, the more
often it is allocated RAM above its reservation when there is memory
contention.

The VMkernel might use disk space as virtual machine virtual memory in
unusual circumstances. The reserved disk space is calculated per virtual
machine, using the difference between the memory limit and the memory
reservation.


Using Resource Pools to Meet Business Needs
Slide 3-11
• A resource pool is a
logical abstraction
for hierarchically
managing CPU and
memory resources.
3
• Configurable on a

standalone host or a
VMware DRS-
enabled cluster Root
Resource Resource
Pools Pool
• Provides resources
for VMs and child Geography?
Department?
resource pools Function?
Hardware?
Resource pools provide a business with the ability to divide and allocate
CPU and memory resources hierarchically as required by business need.
Reasons to divide and allocate CPU and memory resources include such
things as maintaining administrative boundaries, enforcing charge-back
policies, or accommodating geographic locations or departmental divisions.
It is possible to further divide and allocate resources by creating child
resource pools.
Configuring CPU and memory resource pools is possible only on
nonclustered ESX hosts or on VMware® DRS-enabled clusters.
Clusters are indicated in the inventory with pie chart icons.

Configuring a Pool's Resources

Slide 3-12
• Resource pools have the

following attributes:
• Shares
• Low, Normal, High, Custom
• Reservations, in MHz and MB
• Limits, in MHz and MB
• Unlimited access, by default (up to
maximum amount of resource
accessible)
• Expandable reservation?
• Yes: VMs and subpools can draw
from this pool’s parent.
• No: VMs and subpools can only
draw from this pool, even if its
parent has free resources.
Resource pools have CPU and memory resource controls that behave like
virtual machine CPU and memory controls. Resource pool resource controls
can be modified while virtual machines are running.
CPU and memory limits define the maximum amount of CPU or RAM a
resource pool is allowed.
CPU and memory reservations define the amount of CPU or RAM reserved
for the resource pool when it is created. The VI Client interface will not
allow resource pool creation unless the reservation can be guaranteed.
Each resource pool is assigned a number of CPU and memory shares. The
more shares a resource pool has relative to other resource pools (and,
possibly, virtual machines), the more often it is allocated CPU and memory
resources above its reservations during periods of contention.
Expandable reservations allow a resource pool with insufficient capacity to
borrow CPU or memory resources from a parent pool to satisfy reservation
requests from a child resource pool or virtual machine. Requests to borrow
resources proceed up the pool hierarchy until the top level is reached or a
pool with no expandable reservations is encountered. Expandable
reservations provide great flexibility but have the potential to be abused.


Viewing Resource Pool Information
Slide 3-13
• Display the resource pool’s

Resource Allocation tab.
3
Use the resource pool’s Resource Allocation tab to view configuration and
current usage information for virtual machine and child pools.

Resource Pools Example: CPU Contention

Slide 3-14
Svr001
All VMs below are running on
same physical CPU (PCPU)
Engineering Finance
CPU Shares: 1,000 CPU Shares: 2,000
~33% of PCPU ~67% of PCPU
Eng-Test Eng-Prod Fin-Test Fin-Prod

CPU Shares: CPU Shares: CPU Shares: CPU Shares: Engineering
1,000 2,000 1,000 2,000 ~33%
11%
22%
45%
22%
Eng-Test gets ~33% of Engineering’s Finance

CPU allocation = Approximately 11% of ~67%
the PCPU.
% of PCPU allocation
In this example, Finance has been assigned twice as many shares as

Engineering because Finance supplies two-thirds of the ESX host’s budget.
In this scenario, Engineering virtual machines could actually use more than
one-third of the CPU resources as long as Finance does not use its two-
thirds.
Although this example focuses only on CPU allocation, memory is
allocated using similar methods.


Admission Control for CPU and Memory Reservations
Slide 3-15
Minimizes operating system and

application CPU and memory starvation
Create a new subpool Increase a pool’s

Power on a VM.
with its own reservation. reservation.
3
Yes Can this pool

Succeed
satisfy reservation?
No
No
Fail
Expandable
reservation?
Yes – Go to Parent Pool
Admission control affects whether a virtual machine is allowed to power on

or a resource pool can be created. Admission control is enforced by the
VMkernel and is based on reservations. If the VMkernel can guarantee the
reservation, the virtual machine will power on or the pool can be created.
Admission control, along with proper reservation settings, ensures
applications can meet predetermined service-level agreements.



MODULE 4
Migrate Virtual Machines

Using VMotion 4
Importance
VMotion is a valuable tool for delivering higher service levels and
improving overall hardware utilization.
4
• Understand the VMotion migration process
Migrate Virtual Machines Using VMotion

• Migrate virtual machines with VMotion
• Understand VMotion requirements
Lesson Topics
• VMotion migration
• VMotion compatibility requirements

VMotion Migration
Slide 4-5
• A VMotion migration moves a powered-on virtual

machine from one ESX host to another.
• Why migrate using VMotion?
• Higher service levels by allowing continued VM
operation during scheduled hardware downtime
• To balance overall hardware utilization
VMotion migration is a VirtualCenter feature that moves a running virtual

machine from one VMware® ESX host to another with no virtual machine
downtime.
VMotion capitalizes on the fact that the entire state of a running virtual
machine is encapsulated in memory and in a set of files on a datastore.
VMotion uses a dedicated Gigabit Ethernet network to move the memory
from one ESX host to another. Virtual machine files do not have to be
moved, because both the source and target ESX hosts have access to the
datastore containing the virtual machine’s files. Migrated virtual machines
maintain their unique host name, IP address, and MAC address.
VMotion enables higher service levels. First, virtual machines can be
moved from one ESX host to another to accommodate planned downtime
for hardware maintenance. Second, virtual machines can be moved to
balance workloads across multiple ESX hosts.


How VMotion Works (1)
Slide 4-6
• Users currently accessing VM A on esx01

• Initiate migration of VM A from esx01 to esx02
while VM A is up and running.
4
VMotion
Network

Production
Network
You initiate a VMotion migration using the VI Client. In the example

above, the source ESX host is esx01, and the target ESX host is esx02. Both
the source and target servers share access to a common datastore containing
the virtual machine’s files. VMotion is fully supported on NFS datastores
and VMFS datastores residing on either Fibre Channel or iSCSI storage
networks. Both servers also share access to the dedicated VMotion Gigabit
Ethernet network.
Module 4 Migrate Virtual Machines Using VMotion 45


Slide 4-7
• Pre-copy memory from esx01 to esx02.

• Log ongoing memory changes into a memory bitmap
on esx01.
Memory
Bitmap
VMotion Memory
Network
Production
Network
The virtual machine’s memory state is copied over the VMotion network
from the source to the target ESX host. While the virtual machine’s memory
is being copied, users continue to access the virtual machine and can update
pages in the source ESX host memory. A list of any modified memory
pages is kept in a memory bitmap on the source ESX host.


Slide 4-8
• Quiesce virtual machine on esx01.

• Copy memory bitmap to esx02.
4
VMotion Memory Bitmap
Network

Production
Network
After most of the virtual machine’s memory is copied from the source to the
target ESX host, the virtual machine is quiesced: this means that the virtual
machine is temporarily placed in a state where no additional activity will
occur. This is the only time in the VMotion procedure in which the virtual
machine is unavailable. Quiescence typically lasts approximately one
second. During this period, VMotion begins to transfer the virtual machine
state to the target ESX host. The virtual machine device state and the
memory bitmap containing the list of pages that have changed are also
transferred during this time.
If a failure occurs during the VMotion migration, the virtual machine being
migrated is failed back to the source ESX host. For this reason, the source
virtual machine is maintained until the virtual machine on the target ESX
host starts running.


Slide 4-9
• Copy virtual machine’s remaining memory (as listed

in memory bitmap) from esx01.
Memory
Bitmap
VMotion Copy Pages

Network
Production
Network
The remaining memory identified in the bitmap is copied from the source to
the target ESX host.


Slide 4-10
• Start VM A on esx02.
4
VMotion
Network

Production
Network
Immediately after the virtual machine is quiesced on the source ESX host,
the virtual machine on the target ESX host is initialized and starts running.
A virtual machine’s entire network identity, including MAC and IP address,
is preserved during a VMotion.
To update the physical switch port, the VMkernel sends a Reverse Address
Resolution Protocol (RARP) request with the virtual machine’s MAC
address to the physical network.


Slide 4-11
• Users now access VM A on esx02.

• Delete VM A from esx01.
VMotion
Network
Production
Network
The original virtual machine is finally deleted from the source ESX host.
Users now access the virtual machine on the target ESX host.


ESX Host Requirements for VMotion
Slide 4-12
• Source and destination ESX hosts must have the

following:
• Visibility to all SAN LUNs (either FC or iSCSI) and NAS
datastores used by the VM
• A Gigabit Ethernet VMotion network
• Access to the same virtual machine networks
• Compatible CPUs
4
•Same vendor and features

Listed here are several important ESX host requirements for successful
VMotion migration. Groups of identical servers should be purchased at the
same time to better ensure VMotion compatibility.

Virtual Machine Requirements for VMotion

Slide 4-13
Migrating a virtual machine with the following conditions produces

an error (red error icon and message in VMotion wizard):
• Virtual machine has an active connection to a local-only ESX resource.
• An internal-only virtual switch
• A CD-ROM or floppy device with a local image
• Virtual machine is in a cluster relationship (for example, using MSCS) with
another VM.
Migrating a virtual machine with the following conditions produces
a warning (yellow warning icon and message in VMotion wizard):
• Virtual machine has an configured but inactive connection to a local-only
ESX resource.
• An internal–only virtual switch
• A local CD-ROM or floppy image
• Virtual machine has one or more snapshots.
The VI Client has an easy-to-use VMotion wizard. A series of checks are

performed when you select a virtual machine and a destination ESX host for
VMotion. The wizard provides validation messages for both the source and
the destination ESX hosts once they pass the automatic VMotion
requirement checks.
The VMotion wizard also features user-friendly error and warning
messages. When an error is encountered, it must be fixed before proceeding.
When a warning is encountered, VMotion migration can proceed.


Lab for Module 4
Slide 4-14
• Migrate Virtual Machines

Using VMotion
• In this lab, you perform the
following task:
VirtualCenter
•Migrate a virtual machine Server
using VMotion
ESX Host ESX Host
4
#1 #2

Student 01a Student 01b Student 02a Student 02b



MODULE 5
VMware DRS Clusters 5
Importance
VMware® DRS-enabled clusters assist your system administration staff by
providing automated resource management for multiple ESX hosts. Less
management and more efficient use of existing hardware resources reduces
costs.

• To understand the functionality and benefits of a DRS cluster
• To create and configure a DRS cluster
• To create resource pools in a DRS cluster for multi-ESX host resource
5
policy control
VMware DRS Clusters

Lesson Topics
• What is a DRS cluster?
• Creating a DRS cluster
• DRS cluster settings, including the following:
• Automation level
• Migration threshold
• Placement constraints

What Is a DRS Cluster?

Slide 5-5
• Cluster
•A collection of ESX hosts and
associated virtual machines
• DRS-enabled cluster
•Uses VMotion to balance workloads
across ESX hosts
•Enforces resource policies accurately
(reservations, limits, shares)
•Respects placement constraints
• Affinity rules and VMotion compatibility
•Managed by VirtualCenter Cluster
•Experimental support for automatic

power management
• Powers off ESX hosts when not needed
A cluster is a collection of ESX hosts that have their resources managed as a

single unit. The goal of a DRS-enabled cluster is to balance the workload
generated by the virtual machines across the ESX hosts in the cluster. The
workload-balance computations are performed automatically by DRS.
VMware DRS considers user-defined resource policy settings and
placement constraints, along with VMotion compatibility, when deciding
how to balance ESX host workloads.
Once imbalance is detected and a solution is calculated, DRS can either
recommend or perform specific VMotion migrations, depending on the
DRS automation level settings.


Create a DRS Cluster
Slide 5-6
1. Right-click your datacenter.

2. Choose New Cluster.
Name your cluster, then

enable VMware DRS by
selecting the check box.
5
VMware DRS Clusters
A DRS cluster is configured using a wizard in the VI Client. The user is
prompted to provide the cluster a unique name and enable it for DRS.
Module 5 VMware DRS Clusters 57

Automating Workload Balance

Slide 5-7
Configure the cluster-wide automation level for initial placement

and dynamic workload balancing while VMs are running.
Automation Initial VM Dynamic

level placement balancing
Manual Manual Manual
Partially
Automatic Manual
automated
Fully
Automatic Automatic
automated
Once DRS has been enabled on a cluster, new configuration choices appear
in the wizard’s left-side menu. These choices include VMware DRS, Rules,
Virtual Machine Options, and Power Management.
The VMware DRS menu option is where the cluster-wide automation level
is configured. The cluster-wide automation level affects how DRS performs
its two main functions. These are the two main DRS functions:
Initial placement When a virtual machine is powered on, it must

be initially placed on an ESX host.
Dynamic balancing The workloads created by running virtual
machines must be balanced across the ESX
hosts in the cluster.
DRS features three different cluster-wide automation levels. The automation

level determines how much of the decision-making process is granted to
VMware DRS when it needs to perform initial placement and dynamic
balancing.


Manual When a virtual machine is powered on, DRS
displays a star-ranked list of the ESX servers
based on their current CPU and memory
utilization. The user selects which ESX server to
use. When the workloads across the ESX servers
in the DRS cluster become unbalanced, DRS
displays a ranked list of VMotion
recommendations.
Partially automated When a virtual machine is powered on, DRS
automatically places it on the best-suited ESX
server. When the workloads across the ESX
servers in the DRS cluster become unbalanced,
DRS displays a ranked list of VMotion
recommendations.
5
Fully automated When a virtual machine is powered on, DRS
automatically places it on the best-suited ESX
VMware DRS Clusters

server. When the workloads across the ESX
servers in the DRS cluster become unbalanced,
DRS automatically VMotions virtual machines
to restore balance.
DRS migration recommendations are ranked using a one-to-five–star

metric. Applying a four-star migration recommendation will result in
restoring more balance than would occur if applying a one-star
recommendation. Five-star recommendations occur when a DRS affinity
rule has been broken. Affinity rules are covered later in this module.
The migration threshold determines how DRS responds to migration
recommendations when DRS is configured in fully automated mode. The
slider bar has five distinct positions, which correspond to the five-star
ranking system. For example, moving the slider all the way to left
configures DRS to VMotion virtual machines only in response to a five-star
recommendation. Moving the slider all the way to the right configures DRS
to VMotion virtual machines in response to one-, two-, three-, four-, or five-
star recommendations.

Adding ESX Hosts to a DRS Cluster (1)

Slide 5-8
• Drag and drop ESX

host onto cluster and
Drag-and-drop …
• Use the Add

Host wizard
to complete
the process.
To add an ESX host to a DRS cluster, you drag and drop the ESX host onto
the cluster icon in the VirtualCenter inventory. Supply the requested
information when prompted by the Add Host wizard.


Adding ESX Hosts to a DRS Cluster (2)
Slide 5-9
• When adding a new ESX host or moving an existing ESX

host into the DRS cluster, you have the option of keeping the
resource pool hierarchy, if there is one, of the existing ESX
host.
• For example, add kentfield04 to Lab Cluster.
When adding
the host,
choose to
create a new
resource pool
for this host’s
virtual
machines and
resource
5
pools.
VMware DRS Clusters

The Add Host wizard will prompt the user to choose how to handle any
ESX host resource pools. There are two choices. Existing ESX host
resource pools can be maintained as depicted in the graphic above. As an
alternative, existing ESX host resource pools can be removed. If the
resource pools are removed, the CPU and memory resources of the ESX
host are added to the cluster and become available for redistribution to child
objects.
When finished with the Add Host wizard, you monitor the DRS
configuration progress using the Recent Tasks pane, located at the bottom of
the VI Client window.

Automating Workload Balance per VM

Slide 5-10
• (Optional) Set automation level per virtual machine.

• Fine-grained workload control
Virtual machines added to ESX hosts in a DRS cluster are automatically

added to the DRS cluster as well. By default, each virtual machine is
initially placed and dynamically balanced using the cluster-wide automation
level. However, the cluster-wide automation level can be overridden per
virtual machine. This provides additional flexibility to meet business needs.
For example, a virtual machine running a business-critical application could
be configured for more manual migration control.


Adjusting DRS Operation for Performance or HA
Slide 5-11
• Affinity rules
• Run virtual machines
on same ESX host.
• Use for multi-VM
systems where
performance benefits.
• Anti-affinity rules
• Run virtual machines
on different ESX hosts.
• Use for multi-VM
systems that load-
balance or require high
5
availability.
VMware DRS Clusters

DRS cluster operation can be configured to support better application
performance or higher application availability through the use of virtual
machine affinity rules. There are two types of virtual machine affinity rules:
an affinity rule and an anti-affinity rule.
An affinity rule will try to keep the listed virtual machines together on the
same ESX host. This is typically done to enhance performance. For
example, two virtual machines that pass a lot of network traffic might
benefit from using a virtual switch implemented in fast memory, rather than
using slower, external physical network components.
An anti-affinity rule will try to keep the listed virtual machines on separate
ESX hosts. This is typically done to enhance availability. For example, two
virtual machines running a business-critical application can be kept on
separate ESX hosts to reduce the possibility of a service outage due to
hardware failure.

Lab for Module 5

Slide 5-12
• Create a DRS Cluster Two ESX host teams

• In this lab, you perform belong to one
the following tasks: cluster team.
•Create a DRS cluster
VirtualCenter
•Add ESX hosts to the Server
DRS cluster
•Add resource pools to a
DRS cluster ESX Host ESX Host
1 2
•Test the functionality of
the resource pools
Cluster Team


MODULE 6
Monitoring Virtual Machine

Performance 6
Importance
Although the VMkernel and VirtualCenter work proactively to avoid
resource contention, maximizing and verifying performance levels requires
both analysis and ongoing monitoring.

• Understand VirtualCenter’s user-friendly performance monitoring
capabilities
• Monitor a virtual machine’s performance
• Determine whether a virtual machine is constrained by a resource, and
solve the problem if one exists
6
Monitoring Virtual Machine Performance
Lesson Topics
• Virtual machine performance graphs
• Monitoring a virtual machine’s usage of the following:
• CPU
• Memory
• Disk
• Network

VirtualCenter Performance Graphs

Slide 6-5
Provide students with a brief VirtualCenter features performance graphs for VMware® ESX hosts, virtual
overview of the features of
VirtualCenter’s performance
machines, clusters, and resource pools. ESX host and virtual machine
graphs. Specifically, point out: performance graphs display information about CPU, memory, disk I/O, and
network I/O usage. Cluster and resource pool performance graphs display
- The graph
- The legend only CPU and memory usage.
- The Options link
- Save as .csv Performance graphs provide an easy method to quickly display numerous
- The tear-off chart performance data points. To view a performance graph, select an object in
the VirtualCenter inventory and use its Performance tab. Graphs that display
Be sure to explain the
relationship between the real-time data, or historical data for the past day, week, month, or year, are
graph and the legend. available.
It is possible to export a comma-separated-value file (.csv) using the
performance graph interface. The .csv file may be imported into programs
such as Microsoft Excel.
Many performance graphs offer not only a wide choice of data types to
display but also a choice in the type of graph to display. This flexibility
allows large amounts of data to be more easily viewed and interpreted,
resulting in better decisions.
The ability to display real-time data allows an enterprise to react to
situations as they occur. Capturing up to a year of performance data
provides information for trend analysis to better plan for the future.


Example CPU Performance Issue Indicator
Slide 6-6
• Ready Time
• The amount of time the virtual machine is ready to run
but cannot, because there is no available physical CPU
• High ready time indicates possible contention.
6
Understanding both ESX host operation and the data types displayed by
performance graphs is critical to properly interpreting information and

taking correct action. VMware provides many tools to gain this
understanding.
Administrators and operators have a large choice of resources to turn to.
VMware and its partners publish an array of online manuals, technical
papers, and knowledge base articles that feature performance monitoring
information and recommendations. Administrators and operators can also
attend VMware instructor-led or eLearning training courses. (The graphic
above is taken from a VMware training course.)
Virtual machine ready time is the amount of time, measured in milliseconds,
that a virtual machine is ready to run but cannot, because there is no
available physical CPU to be scheduled on. If all physical CPUs are busy
and ready time has increased, it is an indication of CPU contention.
Module 6 Monitoring Virtual Machine Performance 67

Are VMs Being CPU Constrained?

Slide 6-7
Task Manager inside VM

Virtual machine’s CPU ready graph in VI Client
If the virtual machine is constrained by CPU:

• Add shares or increase CPU reservation.
• VMotion this virtual machine.
• Shut down, VMotion, or remove shares from other VMs.
Above is an example of using VirtualCenter to monitor virtual machine

ready time. Monitoring virtual machine ready time is useful as an early
indicator of CPU contention. You select the virtual machine in the inventory
and click on its Performance tab. You adjust the graph settings to display
real-time CPU information that includes the value “CPU Ready.”
Performance monitoring can still be done using guest operating system or
application-based tools. For example, the graphic above shows a screen
capture of Windows Task Manager running inside a virtual machine. A CPU
usage value of 100 percent means that the virtual machine is using all the
CPU time currently allotted to it.


Supporting Higher Consolidation Ratios
Slide 6-8
• The VMware Tools vmmemctl balloon driver supports higher
consolidation ratios.
• VMware Tools is installed in the guest operating systems.
• Deallocate memory from selected virtual machines when
machine memory (RAM) is scarce.
ample memory;
balloon remains
uninflated
guest is forced to page
out to its own paging
inflate
area;
balloon VMkernel reclaims
(driver
demands
memory
memory from
guest OS) guest may page
deflate balloon in; VMkernel
(driver relinquishes grants memory
memory)
6
The memory “balloon” driver is another ESX feature that supports efficient
use of RAM and higher consolidation ratios. It is informally called the

balloon driver because of the way it operates. The balloon driver is part of
the VMware Tools software and operates as a native guest operating system
driver. A balloon driver exists for all supported guest operating systems.
The VMkernel uses the balloon driver to take memory from one virtual
machine and give it to another virtual machine when there is contention for
RAM. Which virtual machine must yield memory depends on each virtual
machine’s relative number of memory shares. The virtual machines with the
lower number of memory shares will be ballooned first. A virtual machine’s
reserved memory can never be ballooned.
When an ESX host is not under memory pressure, no virtual machine’s
balloon is inflated. But when memory becomes scarce, the VMkernel
chooses a virtual machine and inflates its balloon. The VMkernel tells the
balloon driver in the virtual machine to demand memory from the guest
operating system. The guest operating system complies by yielding memory
according to its own algorithms. The content of the yielded memory is
written to the guest’s paging device, which is normally its disk. The
relinquished memory can be assigned to other virtual machines.
When memory pressure diminishes, the relinquished memory is returned to
the virtual machine.

Are VMs Being Memory Constrained?

Slide 6-9
Task Manager inside VM

If the virtual machine is constrained by memory:
• Add shares or raise memory reservation. Check for high
ballooning activity.
• VMotion this virtual machine.
• Shut down, VMotion, or remove shares from other virtual
machines.
• Add machine memory (RAM).

memory ballooning. Monitoring virtual machine memory ballooning is
useful as an early indicator of memory contention.
To monitor ballooning activity, you select the virtual machine in the
inventory and click on its Performance tab. You adjust the graph settings to
display real-time memory information that includes the values “Memory
Balloon Target” and “Memory Balloon.” Memory Balloon Target is how
much memory the VMkernel wants to balloon from the virtual machine.
Memory Balloon is how much memory has actually been ballooned from
the virtual machine.
Performance monitoring can still be done using guest operating system or
application-based tools. For example, the graphic above shows a screen
capture of Windows Task Manager running inside a virtual machine. Guest
operating systems tools can be used to determine how the memory is being
used.


Are VMs Being Disk Constrained?
Slide 6-10
• Disk-intensive applications can
saturate the storage or the path.
• If you suspect that a VM is
constrained by disk access:
• Measure the resource consumption
using performance graphs
• Measure the effective bandwidth
between VM and the storage
• To improve disk performance:
• Ensure VMware Tools is installed.
• Reduce competition.
• Move other VMs to other storage.
• Use other paths to storage.
• Reconfigure the storage.
• Ensure that the storage’s configuration
(RAID level, cache configuration, etc.)
are appropriate.
6
Above is an example of using VirtualCenter to monitor virtual machine disk
I/O. Monitoring virtual machine disk I/O is useful as an early indicator of

storage performance issues. You select the virtual machine in the inventory
and click on its Performance tab. You adjust the graph settings to display
real-time memory information that includes the values “Disk Read Rate”
and “Disk Write Rate,” measured in kilobytes per second.
Performance monitoring can still be done using guest operating system- For more information about
Iometer, see http://
based, application-based, or storage-based tools. For example, the graphic sourceforge.net/projects/
above shows a screen capture of Iometer running inside a virtual machine. iometer.

Are VMs Being Network Constrained?

Slide 6-11
• Network-intensive applications
will often bottleneck on path
segments outside ESX.
• Example: WAN links between
server and client
• If you suspect that a VM is
constrained by the network:
• Examine performance graphs.
• Measure the effective bandwidth
between VM and its peer system.
• To improve network
performance:
• Confirm that VMware Tools is
installed.
• Move VMs to another physical NIC.
• Traffic-shape other VMs.
• Reduce overall CPU utilization.

network I/O. Monitoring virtual machine network I/O is useful as an early
indicator of network performance issues. You select the virtual machine in
the inventory and click on its Performance tab. You adjust the graph settings
to display real-time network I/O information that includes the value
“Network Usage,” measured in kilobytes per second.
Performance monitoring can still be done using guest operating system–
based, application-based, or network-based tools. For example, the graphic
above shows a screen capture of Iometer running inside a virtual machine.
One of the suggestions above for improving virtual machine network
performance involves the use of traffic shaping. Unlike CPU, memory, and
disk bandwidth, network bandwidth cannot be allocated using shares.
Network bandwidth is allocated using traffic shaping, if it is enabled by the
administrator.
Using traffic shaping to divide network bandwidth between virtual machine
NICs is analogous to cutting a pie into sections and handing each person a
piece of the pie. Each person can eat only their section of the pie. However,
each person can choose not to eat his or her whole piece. Part of the pie
might be left over. In the same way, virtual NICs can use all the network
bandwidth they are allocated and no more. However, a virtual NIC might
not use all its bandwidth, leaving some available bandwidth unused.


Lab for Module 6
Slide 6-12
• Monitor Virtual Machine This lab will be

Performance
performed by each
• In this lab, you perform ESX host team
the following task: separately.
•Monitor CPU ready time
using VirtualCenter VirtualCenter
Server
ESX Host ESX Host

1 2
ESX Host Team 1 ESX Host Team 2
6


MODULE 7
VirtualCenter Alarms 7
Importance
VirtualCenter alarms proactively monitor VMware® ESX and virtual
machine performance. Alarms allow your system administrators to be more
responsive to changes in the datacenter. Alarms send notifications when
either the ESX host or the virtual machine state changes or user-defined
thresholds are exceeded.

• Understand ESX host and virtual machine alarms
• Configure ESX host and virtual machine alarms
• Configure VirtualCenter SMTP and SNMP notification settings
Lesson Topics
• ESX host–based alarms
7
• Virtual machine–based alarms
• VirtualCenter SMTP and SNMP configuration
VirtualCenter Alarms

Proactive Datacenter Management

Slide 7-5
• VirtualCenter sends notifications when ESX host or VM state

changes or when user-defined thresholds are exceeded.
Alarms are Status determined by View of VMs’ CPU

indicated in the threshold levels in and memory
inventory. alarm definition utilization on
selected ESX host
Alarms are asynchronous notifications of changes in host or virtual machine

state. When a host or virtual machine’s load passes certain configurable
thresholds, the VI Client displays messages to this effect. You can also
configure VirtualCenter to transmit these messages to external monitoring
systems.

Preconfigured VirtualCenter Alarms

Slide 7-6
• Default CPU and memory alarms are defined at the
top of the inventory.
• Add custom alarms anywhere in the inventory.
The highest point in the VirtualCenter inventory—Hosts & Clusters—is the

location of the default alarms. You can modify these alarms in place. You
can also define finer-grained alarms. For example, you might organize
7
several ESX hosts or clusters into a folder and apply an alarm to that folder.
Module 7 VirtualCenter Alarms 77

Creating a Virtual Machine-Based Alarm

Slide 7-7
• Right-click on a virtual machine and choose Add

Alarm.
Click any
Name and field
describe to modify.
the new
alarm. Percentages
Powered on,
powered off,
suspended
When you right-click on a virtual machine and choose Add Alarm, the
resulting window has four panels. You use the General panel to name this
alarm. You use the Triggers panel to control which load factors are
monitored and what the threshold for the yellow and red states are. The
Reporting and Actions panels are discussed in upcoming slides.

Creating a Host-Based Alarm

Slide 7-8
• Right-click on an ESX host and choose Add Alarm.
Name and
describe Click any
the new field
alarm. to modify.
Percentages
Connected,
disconnected,
not responding
The dialog box displayed when you right-click on an ESX host and choose
Add Alarm is very similar to that for a virtual machine. The key difference
is the list of available triggers.
7

Actions to Take When an Alarm Is Triggered

Slide 7-9
• Use the Actions tab to send external messages or

to automate the response to problems.
Available
only for VM-
based alarms
You can specify actions to occur when an alarm is triggered (other than
simply displaying it in the VI Client). These actions include the following:
• Sending a notification email
• Sending a notification trap
• Running a script
• Powering on a virtual machine
• Powering off a virtual machine
• Suspending a virtual machine
• Resetting a virtual machine

Alarm Reporting Options

Slide 7-10
• Use the Reporting tab to avoid needless re-alarms.
Avoids threshold
repeat alarms
Avoids state-change
repeat alarms
If you plan to transmit alarms to some external monitoring system, such as

an SNMP monitoring tool, someone’s email, or someone's pager, you
probably want to avoid generating a flood of duplicate alarms. Use the
7
controls on the Reporting pane to avoid such a flood.

Configure VirtualCenter Notifications

Slide 7-11
• Choose Administration > VirtualCenter Management
Server Configuration.
• Click Mail to set

SMTP
parameters.
• Click SNMP to
specify trap
destinations.
If you want to transmit SNMP or email alarms, you must supply the IP
address of the destination server.
If your SNMP community string is not public, specify it here.
Specify the email address to be used for the From address of email alerts.

Lab for Module 7

Slide 7-12
ESX host-based and VM- This lab will be

based performance alarms performed by each
• In this lab, you perform ESX host team
the following tasks: separately.
•Create ESX host-based VirtualCenter
and VM-based alarms in Server
VirtualCenter
•Monitor CPU Usage
alarms in VirtualCenter ESX Host ESX Host
1 2
ESX Host Team 1 ESX Host Team 2
7



MODULE 8
VMware HA 8
Importance
Services that are highly available are important to any business.
Configuring VMware® HA can increase service levels.

• Implement a VMware HA cluster
Lesson Topics
• Architecture of VMware HA
• VMware HA prerequisites
• Clustering virtual machines using VMware HA
• Admission control
• Restart priorities
• Isolation response
8
VMware HA

What Is VMware HA?

Slide 8-5
• A VirtualCenter feature
• Configuration, management, and monitoring done
through the VI Client
• Automatic restart of virtual machines in case of
physical ESX server failures
• Not VMotion
• Provides higher availability while reducing the need
for passive standby hardware and dedicated
administrators
• Provides restart capability to a range of applications
not configurable under MSCS
• Provides experimental support for per-VM failover
VMware High Availability (HA) provides easy-to-use, cost-effective high

availability for applications running in virtual machines. In the event of
server failure, affected virtual machines are automatically restarted on other
production servers with spare capacity. VMware HA allows IT
organizations to minimize downtime and IT service disruption while
eliminating the need for dedicated standby hardware and installation of
additional software.
VMware HA continuously monitors all VMware ESX servers in a cluster
and detects server failures. An agent placed on each server maintains a
“heartbeat” with the other servers in the cluster. ESX server heartbeats are
sent every five seconds. If a heartbeat is lost, the agent initiates the restart
process of all affected virtual machines on other servers. The heartbeat
timeout is 15,000 milliseconds or 15 seconds. VMware HA ensures that
sufficient resources are available in the cluster at all times to be able to
restart virtual machines on different physical servers, in the event of server
failure. Restart of virtual machines is made possible by the distributed
locking mechanism in VMFS, which gracefully coordinates read-write
access to the same virtual machine files by multiple ESX hosts. VMware
HA is easily configured for a cluster through VirtualCenter.
In every cluster, the amount of downtime experienced depends on how long
it takes whatever is running to restart when the virtual machine is failed
over. The answer to how long it will take to restart the virtual machine is “it
depends.”


Virtual Machine Failure Monitoring
An additional VMware HA function called virtual machine failure
monitoring allows VMware HA to monitor whether a virtual machine is
available or not. VMware HA uses the heartbeat information that VMware
Tools captures to determine virtual machine availability.
On each virtual machine, VMware Tools sends a heartbeat every second.
Virtual machine failure monitoring checks for a heartbeat every 20 seconds.
If heartbeats have not been received within a specified (user-configurable)
interval, virtual machine failure monitoring declares that virtual machine as
failed and resets the virtual machine.
Virtual machine failure monitoring can distinguish between a virtual
machine that was powered on but has stopped sending heartbeats and a
virtual machine that is powered-off, suspended, or migrated.
Virtual machine failure monitoring is experimental and not supported for
production use. By default, virtual machine failure monitoring is disabled
but can be enabled by editing the VMware HA Virtual Machine Options in
the VI Client.
8
VMware HA
Module 8 VMware HA 87
Architecture of a VMware HA Cluster

Slide 8-6
VMware HA agents
VirtualCenter are configured by
Server VirtualCenter, but
failover is
independent of
VirtualCenter.
A key component to the VMware HA architecture is the cluster of ESX

servers. VirtualCenter is used to configure the cluster but the ability to
perform failovers is independent of VirtualCenter availability. VirtualCenter
is not a single point of failure for an HA cluster. In this example, the cluster
consists of three ESX servers. When each server was added to the cluster,
the VMware HA agent was uploaded to the server. A VMware HA agent on
each server provides a heartbeat mechanism on the service console network.


VMware HA Prerequisites
Slide 8-7
• You should be able to power on a virtual machine

from all ESX servers in the cluster.
• Access to common resources (shared storage, VM
networks)
• ESX servers should be configured for DNS.
• DNS resolution between all ESX servers in the cluster
is needed during cluster configuration and startup.
For the HA cluster to work properly, there are two prerequisites:

• Each ESX server in the cluster must be configured to use DNS, and
DNS resolution of the host’s fully qualified domain name must be
successful because VMware HA relies on that name.
• Each ESX server in the cluster should have access to the virtual
machines’ files and should be able to power on the virtual machine
without a problem. Distributed locking prevents simultaneous access to
8
virtual machines, thus protecting data integrity.
VMware HA
Create a VMware HA Cluster

Slide 8-8
Configure cluster for VMware HA and/or DRS.
Enable VMware HA by
selecting the check
box.
Creating a VMware HA cluster is very similar to creating a DRS cluster.

The first step is to select the cluster type. It is best to create a cluster that has
both VMware HA and DRS implemented: VMware HA for the reactive
solution and DRS for the proactive solution. The job of DRS is to VMotion
virtual machines to balance servers’ CPU and memory loads. The job of
VMware HA is to reboot virtual machines on a different ESX host when an
ESX host crashes. No VMotion is involved in VMware HA.
Why enable both VMware HA and DRS? The decision of initial placement
of the virtual machines is done only for DRS clusters. The users can use
DRS not just for overall cluster balance but also for initial placement. Thus
VMware HA-plus-DRS is a reactive-plus-proactive system—an ideal
situation.


Add an ESX Host to the Cluster
Slide 8-9
• Drag and drop
ESX host onto
cluster and …
• Use the Add Host
Wizard to complete
the process.
• Consider
configuring enough
redundant ESX
host capacity to
restart virtual
machines.
To add an ESX host to the cluster, you drag and drop the existing standalone
server into the HA cluster, then use the Add Host wizard to complete the
process.
8
VMware HA
Configure Cluster-Wide Admission Control

Slide 8-10
Configure number of tolerated ESX host failures
and cluster admission control settings.
How much redundant

capacity should be
maintained?
Cluster-wide
Can prevent human error
settings. Per-
from starting more VMs
VM settings for
than can be restarted
each are also
available.
Which is more important:

uptime or resource
fairness?
VMware HA cluster configuration requires cluster-wide policies and

individual virtual machine customizations.
There are two cluster-wide policy settings: Number of host failures allowed
and Admission Control. The number of host failures to tolerate ranges from
1 to 4. For example, if one ESX host fails in the cluster, there should be
enough resources on the remaining servers in the cluster on which to run the
virtual machines that were on the failed server.
Admission control policies for VMware HA define when or when not to
power on a virtual machine. By default, if a virtual machine violates
availability constraints, the virtual machine will not be powered on.
Availability constraints refer to the cluster’s resource reservations as well as
the constraint specifying the number of host failures to tolerate. VMware
HA tries to maintain enough spare capacity across the cluster based on these
values. The actual spare capacity available can be monitored in the current
failover capacity field in a VMware HA cluster’s Summary tab in the VI
Client.
You can configure how VMware HA should respond in the event that an
ESX host failure occurs and there is insufficient capacity to restart all the
virtual machines. At the cluster level, you can specify what the default
priority is for virtual machine restarts. You can also specify—on a per-
virtual machine basis—how high the priority is to bring each particular
virtual machine back online.


Restart priority is based on the criticality of virtual machines.
For example, in a Windows environment, DNS and domain controllers
would normally be specified as the highest restoration priority, due to other
servers depending on those infrastructure services.
This priority decision may be influenced if you have redundant DNS and
domain controller elements that are forced to be resident on different servers
at all times, such as if an anti-affinity rule is applied at a DRS level. Note
that this will not prevent someone from manually invoking migrations that
cause these virtual machines to be on the same ESX host.
There are also some virtual machines that are not essential in the event of a
failure and that may be disabled from being restored. This means that, if the
HA cluster will have drastically reduced available resources, shedding these
less-essential resource consumers will reduce contention for these limited
resources.
You set low, medium, and, high restart priorities to customize failover
ordering. The default is medium. High-priority virtual machines are
restarted first. Nonessential virtual machines should be set to Disabled
(automated restart will skip them).
You can set the default response in the event that an ESX host becomes
isolated. You can choose to do the following:
• Leave the virtual machines powered on
• Power off the virtual machines
This setting can be specified at the cluster level and on a per-virtual
machine basis—as the following page illustrates. 8
The user can also determine whether to power down the virtual machines or
VMware HA
not, on node isolation. This is determined by the Isolation Response setting.

The Isolation Response setting of Power off does just that: VMware HA
does not do a clean shutdown of the virtual machines.
Isolation response is initiated when an ESX host experiences network
isolation from the rest of the cluster. Power off is the default response. The
Leave power on setting is intended for these cases:
• Where lack of redundancy and environmental factors make outages
likely
• Where virtual machine networks are separate from service console
networks (and more reliable)
Isolation events can be prevented if proper network redundancy is employed
from the start.
Failover Capacity Examples

Slide 8-11
Only 8 VMs could run and Only 4 VMs could run and
still be restarted. still be restarted.
Failover capacity: 1 host failure Failover capacity: 2 host

failures
VMware HA cluster VMware HA cluster
In the first example, the VMware HA cluster has been set up to

accommodate one host failure. Therefore, if any single ESX host fails in the
cluster, the remaining ESX hosts should have enough capacity to run the
virtual machines that are on the failed server.
In the second example, the VMware HA cluster has been set up to
accommodate up to two host failures. Therefore, if two ESX hosts fail, the
remaining ESX host in the cluster should have enough capacity to run all
virtual machines.
NOTE
Both of these examples assume that all virtual machines require the same
amount of resources.


Maintain Business Continuity if ESX Hosts Become Isolated
Slide 8-12
• A network failure ?
might cause a “split-
brain” condition.
• VMware HA waits
15 seconds by default
before deciding that
an ESX host is
isolated.
Datacenters configured for high availability should include redundant

management network connections between the ESX hosts. VMware HA
includes a recovery mechanism in the event redundant network connections
are not configured.
Network failures can cause “split-brain” conditions. In such cases, ESX
hosts are unable to determine if the rest of the cluster has failed or has
become unreachable. 8
Isolation response is used to prevent split-brain conditions and is started
VMware HA
under the following conditions:

• An ESX host has stopped receiving heartbeats from other cluster nodes
and the isolation address cannot be pinged.
• The default isolation address is the service console gateway, and the
default isolation response time is 15 seconds.
Powering virtual machines off releases VMFS locks and enables other ESX
hosts to recover them. When the Leave power on option is set, virtual
machines may require manual power-off/migration in case of an actual
network isolation.
A different isolation address can be specified by using the advanced HA option das.isolationaddress.
A different isolation response time can also be specified by using the advanced HA option
das.failuredetectiontime. These are cluster-wide settings, which can be set in the Advanced Options
menu of the VMware HA properties.
Lab for Module 8

Slide 8-13
• Using VMware HA Two ESX host teams

• In this lab, you perform belong to one
the following tasks: cluster team.
•Add VMware HA
functionality to an existing VirtualCenter
cluster Server
•Cause VMware HA to
restart virtual machines
following the “crash” of an ESX Host ESX Host
ESX host 1 2
DRS/HA Cluster Team


MODULE 9
VI3 Product and Feature

Overview 9
Importance
VMware’s latest products and features take full advantage of the
groundbreaking mobility and manageability characteristics of virtual
machines explored in the previous modules to deliver scalable, repeatable,
and efficient IT processes.

• Understand how other businesses have typically adopted VMware®
Infrastructure
• Learn how you can make more efficient use of your existing resources,
reduce costs, and respond to business needs faster with a VMware
Infrastructure
Lesson Topics
• Standardizing on virtualization
• VMware Infrastructure 3 products and features
Course Flow
The intent of this final module is to provide only a very brief introduction to the VMware VI3
product line. Many of these products leverage the core VI3 features introduced in the earlier
9
modules. This module does not attempt to provide technical details of the products. It is meant only
to inform customers these products exist and provide a few facts about each product. If the
customer has interest in learning more, then consider it a opportunity for sales to get involved.
VI3 Product and Feature Overview

Customers Move Rapidly Along the Adoption Curve

Slide 9-5
Customer Example: Large Wireless Technology Company
Standardization
300
1000 Expanded 250

Active Virtual Machines
Rollout
ESX Host Instances

800 200
Departmental 150
600
Rollout
400 100
Proof of Concept
200 50
0 0
2003 2004 2005 2006
Over the last few years, virtualization has gone from a technology being
tried out in test/dev to a production server consolidation technology. It is
now is gaining momentum as the industry-standard way of computing.
Early adopters of our technology used the hypervisor for basic partitioning.
As VMware technology matured and provided means to aggregrate multiple
virtualized nodes and centralized management, customers rolled it out into
mainstream production environments.
As our customers and our technology matured, virtualization began to go far
beyond its original use for server consolidation and live migration of virtual
machines. Ensuring availability and uptime helped customers achieve better
service levels. Using virtualization for business continuity and disaster
recovery helped customers achieve better recovery time objectives (RTOs)
and recovery point objectives (RPOs) at a fraction of the cost. With the end-
to-end management and automation capabilities available from VMware, it
became very easy for customers worldwide to make VMware virtualization
the default in the datacenter.
Forty-three percent of customers surveyed last year said that their default
policy for all or most new machines was a virtual machine.


Standardizing on VMware Infrastructure
Slide 9-6
• It takes more than just a hypervisor layer to create and successfully
manage a virtual infrastructure.
Early Adoption Mainstreaming Standardization
Infrastructure
Test & Server
Management
Development Consolidation
High Availability
Management &
Automation
Virtual Virtual
Infrastructure Infrastructure
Hypervisor Hypervisor Hypervisor
1st generation 2nd generation 3rd generation

1998–2002 2003–2005 2006–2008
This graph illustrates the typical customer adoption phases: Who is this large wireless
technology company?
• Proof of concept
Answer: Qualcomm
• Departmental rollout
• Expanded rollout
• Standardization
This company started a proof of concept in the first half of 2003. Today, it
has implemented a VMware-first policy (that is, it has standardized on
VMware for x86 workloads). Today, 60 percent of its x86 environment is
virtualized (of 1,900 total servers, 1,150 are virtualized).
9
The number of physical servers has grown from 950 to 1,900 over the past
2.5 years. Because of the much simplified provisioning with virtualization,
the company has been able to maintain the same number of server
administrators. It provisions 68 new virtual machines per month. This
would be impossible in the physical world without dramatic staffing
increases. This means that the number of physical servers a single system
administrator can manage has more than doubled. This translates into
substantial operational savings for the company.
The information on this page is available at http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/

VI3_New_presentation.pdf.
Module 9 VI3 Product and Feature Overview 99

Functional Layers in a Virtual Infrastructure

Slide 9-7
• VMware provides advanced implementation and management features
at all three layers of the virtual infrastructure.
p • Update Manager
• Virtual Desktop Manager
• Enterprise Converter
• Lab Manager
Management & • Guided Consolidation • Lifecycle Manager
Automation • Site Recovery Manager
o • VMware DRS
• VMware HA
• VMware Consolidated Backup
• Distributed Power Management
Virtual • VMotion • Storage VMotion
Infrastructure
n • ESX hypervisor
• ESXi hypervisor
• VMFS
• VSMP
Virtualization
Platform
VMware Infrastructure 3 products and features provide a wealth of

functionality to optimize datacenter operations. The products introduced
later in this module include the following:
These products are
introduced in the rest of this
module. They are ordered Update Manager Automates patch management and reduces
according to their placement
in the three layers of the manual tracking and patching of VMware ESX
Virtual Infrastructure. For hosts and virtual machines
example, the first product
introduced is in the bottom Virtual Desktop Provides an integrated desktop virtualization
layer, while the final products
introduced are in the top
Manager solution that delivers enterprise-class control
layer. Only those products and manageability with a familiar user
not covered in earlier experience
modules are covered in this
module. Guided Consolidation Guides first-time virtualization users through the
process of discovering and converting physical
servers into virtual machines
Site Recovery Automation of disaster recovery setup, testing,
Manager failover, and failback
Enterprise Converter Simplifies the discovery and analysis of physical
servers and converting these servers into virtual
machines


Lab Manager Automates the setup, capture, storage, and
sharing of multimachine system configurations
Lifecycle Manager Implements a consistent, automated workflow
for provisioning, operating, and
decommissioning virtual machines
VMware DRS Monitors utilization continuously across
resource pools and intelligently allocates
available resources among the virtual machines
based on predefined rules that reflect business
needs and changing priorities
VMware HA Delivers cost-effective high availability for any
application running in a virtual machine,
regardless of its operating system or underlying
hardware configuration
VMotion Migrates running virtual machines from one
ESX host to another with no disruption
VMware Consolidated Enables LAN-free backup of virtual machines
Backup from a centralized proxy server
Distributed Power Minimizes power consumption by consolidating
Management workloads onto fewer ESX hosts while
guaranteeing service levels
Storage VMotion Perform live migration of virtual machine disk
files across storage arrays with no disruption in
service for critical applications
ESX Forms the robust foundation of the VMware
Infrastructure 3 suite
9
ESXi Provides a hardware-integrated hypervisor built

on a next-generation thin architecture
VMFS Provides a high-performance cluster file system

optimized for virtual machines
Virtual SMP Allows a single virtual machine to use up to four
physical processors simultaneously for increased
application scalability
These products and technologies are discussed in the following pages.

New Virtualization Platform Layer Product

Slide 9-8
• ESX 3.5 introduces the new virtualization

platform layer ESXi hypervisor.
• Next-generation, thin hypervisor integrated
into server hardware enabling rapid
deployment.
n • ESXi hypervisor
Virtualization
Platform
ESX 3.5 introduces a new hardware-based hypervisor called ESXi. Because

ESXi is delivered preinstalled by major OEMs, installation is not required.


ESXi Hypervisor
Slide 9-9
• Compact, 32MB footprint

• Only architecture with no reliance
on a general-purpose operating
system
• Integration in hardware eliminates
installation.
• Intuitive wizard-driven startup
experience dramatically reduces
deployment time.
• Simplified management
• Increased security and reliability
At 32MB, VMware ESXi weighs in at a fraction of the size of a general-

purpose operating system. This compact footprint sets a new bar for security
due to a smaller “attack surface.” This small footprint and hardware-like
reliability also enable ESXi to be built directly into industry-standard x86
servers while continuing to provide the same great performance and
scalability of ESX.
The operating system–independent design of ESXi is optimized for
virtualization performance.
ESXi utilizes an intuitive wizard that dramatically reduces deployment time.
This makes it possible to go from server boot to running virtual machines in
9
minutes.
ESXi hosts are managed by VirtualCenter. This centralizes and simplifies

management of the entire virtual infrastructure.
Both VMware ESX and VMware ESXi support the entire suite of VMware
Infrastructure 3 products, features, and solutions. You can use VMware
ESX and VMware ESXi side by side in your virtual infrastructure.

From Server Boot to Virtual Machines in Minutes

Slide 9-10
1. Power on server and boot

into hypervisor.
2. Configure Admin password.
3. (Optional) Modify network

configuration.
4. Connect VI Client to IP
address (or manage with
VirtualCenter).
Companies can quickly bring new ESXi servers online. All that is required
to do so is to power on the server, boot into the ESXi hypervisor, configure
an administrator password, optionally modify the network configuration,
and connect to the server through either the VI Client or VirtualCenter.
ESXi enables companies to quickly add additional computing resources to
their virtual infrastructure.


Additional VI Layer Products and Features
Slide 9-11
• The Virtual Infrastructure layer includes

several products and features based on
core features introduced earlier in the
course.
• These additional Virtual Infrastructure
products and features enable higher
availability and greater cost savings.
o • VMware Consolidated Backup

Virtual • Storage VMotion
Infrastructure
9

VMware Consolidated Backup (VCB)

Slide 9-12
• An online backup solution for ESX host VMs

• Fibre Channel, iSCSI, NFS, and local storage support
• File system-consistent guest OS backup
• VMware Tools quiesces file system before backup.
• Supports different backup modes
• File-level backup (Windows guests)
• Full virtual machine backup (all guests)
• Works with major third-party backup software
• Backup is offloaded to a physical Windows 2003
server.
• VCB 1.1 is supported in a virtual machine.
VMware Consolidated Backup enables LAN-free backup of virtual

machines from a centralized proxy server. VCB supports Fibre Channel,
iSCSI, NFS, and local storage.
VCB performs file system–consistent backups of guest operating system
data, with VMware Tools quiescing the file systems before the backup
occurs.
VCB can perform full virtual machine backups of all supported guest
operating system types. And VCB can perform file-level backups of
supported Windows guest operating systems.
VCB integrates with the existing backup tools and technologies already in
place. This improves manageability of existing IT resources and eliminates
the need to run a backup agents on every virtual machine.


VCB offloads the load associated with performing backups. This leaves the
computing power of ESX hosts available for running virtual machines. And
VCB can bypass the local area network when performing backups so that
the network performance is not affected.
Recent changes to VCB that make it more attractive to the SMB market space:
• In addition to supporting SAN, VCB now supports iSCSI, NAS, and locally attached storage
(released in 3.0.2).
• VCB can run in a virtual machine, thereby eliminating the need for a dedicated backup proxy
server.
VMware Converter can be used to restore VCB images (released in 3.0.1). This provides a simple
graphical technique to restore virtual machines from tape and return them to operation in VI3.
9

VMware Consolidated Backup Operation

Slide 9-13
When a backup is performed using VCB, VMware Tools can be used to

quiesce the file systems of guest operating systems. Once the file systems
have been quiesced, VCB takes a snapshot of each VMDK being backed up.
This enables VCB to back up the data without any disruption to the virtual
machines. Next, the VCB server mounts the VMFS file systems so that the
virtual disks can be seen. Finally, the third-party backup solution integrated
with the VCB server can perform the backup.
All of this occurs without disruption to running virtual machines and can be
performed in a LAN-free manner so that the network performance is not
affected.


Distributed Power Management (Experimental)
Slide 9-14
• Consolidates workloads
onto fewer servers when
the cluster needs fewer
resources
• Places unneeded servers
in standby mode
Resource Pool
• Brings servers back online
as workload needs
increase
• Minimizes power
consumption while
guaranteeing service
Physical Servers
levels
• No disruption or downtime
to virtual machines
VMware Distributed Power Management (DPM) (this functionality is

supported experimentally) continuously monitors resource requirements and
power consumption across a DRS cluster. When the cluster needs fewer
resources, it consolidates workloads and puts ESX hosts in standby mode to
reduce power consumption. When resource requirements of workloads
increase, DPM brings powered-down ESX hosts back online to ensure
service levels are met.
Distributed Power Management allows IT organizations to do the
following:
• Cut power and cooling costs in the datacenter during low-utilization
9
periods
• Automate management of energy efficiency in the datacenter

With Distributed Power Management, administrators can define the
following:
• Reserve capacity to always be available
• Time for which load history can be monitored before power on/off
decisions are made.
Power on will also be triggered when there aren’t enough resources
available to power on a virtual machine or when more spare capacity
needed for HA.

Storage VMotion
Slide 9-15
• Storage-independent
migration of virtual
machine disks
•Zero downtime to virtual
machines
•LUN-independent
•Supported for Fibre
Channel SANs
• Storage array migration
• Storage I/O
optimization
VMware Storage VMotion is a state-of-the-art solution that enables you to

perform live migration of virtual machine disk files across heterogeneous
storage arrays with complete transaction integrity and no interruption in
service for critical applications.
By implementing VMware Storage VMotion in your virtual infrastructure,
you gain the ability to perform proactive storage migrations, simplify array
refreshes/retirements, improve virtual machine storage performance, and
free up valuable storage capacity in your datacenter.
Complete operating system and hardware independence allows Storage
VMotion to migrate any virtual machines running any operating system
across any type of hardware and storage supported by VMware ESX.
Storage VMotion does all this with zero downtime to the virtual machines.


Management and Automation Layer Products
Slide 9-16
• The Automation layer also includes several

products based on core features covered
earlier in the course.
• These next-generation Automation layer
products reduce the cost and complexity
of managing a VMware Infrastructure.
• Lab Manager
9

VMware Update Manager (VUM)

Slide 9-17
• Automates patch management for

ESX hosts and select Microsoft and
RHEL virtual machines
•Scans and remedies online as
E
well as offline virtual machines

IN
FL
OF
and online ESX hosts

•Optional virtual machine
snapshot before patching allows
rollback
• Reduces manual tracking of patch
levels of ESX hosts and virtual
machines
Update Host • Automates enforcement of patch
Manager Server standards
VMware Update Manager is an automated patch management solution for

ESX hosts as well as for Microsoft and Linux virtual machines. It reduces
risk by doing the following:
• Securing your datacenter from vulnerabilities
• Patching both online and offline virtual machines
• Snapshotting virtual machines before patching to allow rollback
• Patching noncompliant offline/suspended machines in a quarantined
state so that the rest of the network is not exposed to them
VMware Update Manager provides for automatic enforcement of patch
standards and eliminates cumbersome and error-prone manual tracking of
patch levels of ESX hosts and virtual machines.
RHEL guests can only be scanned, not remediated.


Update Manager and DRS
Slide 9-18
• Update Manager
Update patches entire DRS
Manager
clusters.
• Each host in the cluster
enters DRS maintenance
mode, one at a time.
• VMs are migrated off.
VMotion VMotion Host is patched and
rebooted if required.
• VMs are migrated back
Resource Pool on.
• Next host is selected.
• Automates patching of
large number of hosts
with zero downtime to
virtual machines
When used in conjunction with VMware DRS, VMware Update Manager

enables entire datacenters of ESX hosts to be patched automatically with
zero downtime to the virtual machines running on those servers.
9

VDI - Virtual Desktop Manager (VDM)

Slide 9-19
• Enterprise-class, scalable
VMware Centralized Virtual connection broker
Clients
VDM Desktops
• Central administration and policy
enforcement
• Automatic desktop provisioning
with optional “smart pooling”
• Desktop persistence and secure
tunneling options
• Microsoft AD integration and
optional two-factor
authentication via RSA SecurID
• End-to-end enterprise-class desktop control and manageability

• Familiar end-user experience
• Tightly integrated with VMware’s proven virtualization platform (VI3)
• Scalability, security, and availability suitable for organizations of all sizes
VMware VDI is an integrated desktop virtualization solution that delivers

enterprise-class control and manageability with a familiar user experience.
VMware VDI provides new levels of efficiency and reliability for your
virtual desktop environment.
With VMware VDI, you get the proven VMware Infrastructure 3 software
along with VMware Virtual Desktop Manager (VDM), an enterprise-class
desktop management server that securely connects users to virtual desktops
in the datacenter and provides an easy-to-use, Web-based interface to
manage the centralized environment.
VMware VDI provides users with desktop business continuity, high
availability, and disaster recovery capabilities that until now were available
only for mission-critical server applications.
With VMware VDI, end users get a complete, unmodified virtual desktop
that behaves just like a normal PC. There is no change to the applications or
desktop environment, no application sharing, and no retraining required.
Administrators can allow users to install applications, customize their
desktop environment, and use local printers and USB devices.


Guided Consolidation
Slide 9-20
• Automatically discovers
Discover physical servers
• Analyzes utilization and
usage patterns
• Converts physical servers
to VMs placed intelligently
Analyze
based on user response
• Lowers training
requirements for new
virtualization users
Convert • Guides users through the
entire consolidation
process
Guided Consolidation is a new feature in VirtualCenter 2.5. It is intended to

guide first-time virtualization users through the process of discovering
physical servers suitable for virtualization, collecting performance data
from these servers, and converting these servers to virtual machines placed
intelligently on the most appropriate hosts.
Guided Consolidation enables new users to quickly realize benefits from
server consolidation and reduces training requirements for first-time
“virtualizers.”
Guided Consolidation makes server consolidation easier by building new
virtualization users through the consolidation process in a wizard-based,
9
tutorial-like fashion.

VMware Site Recovery Manager

Slide 9-21
Site Recovery Manager leverages VMware Infrastructure
to transform disaster recovery.
• Simplifies and automates
disaster recovery workflows
• Setup, testing, failover, failback
• Provides central management of
recovery plans from
VirtualCenter
• Turns manual recovery
processes into automated
recovery plans
• Simplifies integration with third-
party storage replication
• Makes disaster recovery rapid,
reliable, manageable, affordable
Until now, keeping recovery plans and the runbooks that documented them
accurate and up-to-date has been practically impossible because of the
complexity of plans and the dynamic environment in today’s datacenters.
Adding to that challenge, traditional solutions do not offer a central point of
management for recovery plans and make it difficult to integrate the
different tools and components of disaster recovery solutions.
VMware Site Recovery Manager simplifies and centralizes the creation and
ongoing management of disaster recovery plans. Site Recovery Manager
turns traditional oversized disaster recovery runbooks into automated plans
that are easy to manage, store, and document. And Site Recovery Manager
is tightly integrated with VMware Infrastructure 3, so you can create,
manage, and update recovery plans from the same place that you manage
your virtual infrastructure.
Testing disaster recovery plans and ensuring that they are executed correctly
are critical to making recovery reliable. However, testing is difficult with
traditional solutions because of the high cost, complexity, and disruption
associated with tests. Another challenge is ensuring that staff are trained and
prepared to successfully execute the complex process of recovery.


Site Recovery Manager helps you overcome these obstacles by enabling
realistic, frequent tests of recovery plans and eliminating common causes of
failures during recovery.
Site Recovery Manager provides built-in capabilities for executing realistic,
nondisruptive tests without the cost and complexity of traditional disaster
recovery testing. Because the recovery process is automated, you can also
ensure that the recovery plan will be carried out correctly in both testing and
failover scenarios.
Site Recovery Manager leverages VMware Infrastructure to provide
hardware-independent recovery to ensure successful recovery, even when
recovery hardware is not identical to production hardware.
9

Site Recovery Manager Key Components

Slide 9-22
This slide illustrates the key components of a Site Recovery Manager

deployment.
Site Recovery Manager requires that the storage utilized by protected virtual
machines be replicated to a secondary site. This can be performed with a
variety of third-party replication solutions. VirtualCenter is required to
manage both sites.
Site Recovery Manager manages the mapping of components (virtual
machines, resource pools, networks, and the like) between the two sites and
provides workflow automation for setup, failover, failback, and testing of
the disaster recovery environment.


VMware Converter Enterprise Capabilities
Slide 9-23
• VMware Converter is a migration tool bundled in

VirtualCenter 2.5 that aids in server consolidation.
• Imports physical machines to virtual machines
• Imports non-ESX VMware virtual machines
• Imports Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 virtual machines
• Converts third-party backup or disk images to virtual
machines
• Reconfigures virtual machines so that they are
bootable inside ESX
• Decreases the time and effort to migrate from a
physical infrastructure to a virtual infrastructure
• Preserves existing configurations while saving time
and reducing costs and complexity
VMware Converter Enterprise enables administrators to quickly and

reliably convert local and remote physical machines into virtual machines
without any disruption or downtime. Administrators can do the following:
• Import physical machines to virtual machines
• Import non-ESX VMware virtual machines
• Import Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 virtual machines
• Convert third-party backups or disk images to virtual machines
The centralized management console in Converter Enterprise allows users
to queue up and monitor multiple simultaneous remote conversions as well
9
as local conversions. This decreases the time and effort required in large-
scale virtualization implementations.
Remote conversions are accomplished by the Converter Server downloading a Converter agent to
the source system.
Local conversions are accomplished by booting the source system from the Converter CD.

Using Lab Manager with VMware Infrastructure

Slide 9-24
• Provision new
environments
quickly.
• Test
• Development
• Support
VMware Lab Manager provides the ability to automate the setup, capture,
storage, and sharing of multimachine software configurations. Development
and test teams can access them on demand through a self-service, Web-
based portal. With its shared library and shared pool of virtualized servers
and templates, VMware Lab Manager lets you efficiently move and share
multimachine configurations across software development and test teams
and facilities.


VMware Lab Manager provides the ability to do the following:
• Allocate resources as needed instead of maintaining multiple static
systems that are only used sporadically. VMware Lab Manager lets you
pool and share resources between development and test teams for
maximum utilization—and increased cost savings.
• Provision new machines nearly instantly with VMware Lab Manager.
This eliminates the painstaking, multihour process of gathering
machines, installing operating systems, installing and configuring
applications, and establishing intermachine connections. Now software
developers and QA engineers can fulfill their own provisioning needs,
leaving IT in control of user management, storage quotas, and server
deployment policies—achieving the best of both worlds.
• Quickly reproduce software defects and resolve them earlier in the
software lifecycle—and ensure higher quality software and systems.
VMware Lab Manager enables “closed loop” defect reporting and
resolution through its unique ability to snapshot complex multimachine
configurations in an error state, capture them to the library, and make
them available for sharing—and troubleshooting—across development
and test teams.
You can give your outsourced partners secure, remote access to your
software lab—and maintain your flexibility to rapidly add, remove, or
replace outsourced resources as your needs change. Your intellectual
property remains securely in Lab Manager’s environment, and you
eliminate time-consuming and costly replication of equipment in your
partners’ labs.
9

VMware Lifecycle Manager

Slide 9-25
• Automate, manage, and control the life of virtual

machines.
• Track and report on deployed virtual machines.
• Provide process and policies for the following:
• How virtual machines are created
• How virtual machines are deployed Create
• How virtual machines are changed

• How virtual machines are retired
Change Deploy
Retire
VMware Lifecycle Manager enables administrators to track and control

virtual machines through a consistent approval process throughout the entire
lifecycle. Lifecycle Manager automates the steps within the workflow to
improve efficiency and productivity, and to ensure strict corporate
compliance with company policies.
Lifecycle Manager brings many benefits to the datacenter:
• It employs standardization and best practices for tracking and managing
virtual machine deployment and use.
• It eliminates manual and repetitive administrative tasks through
automation.
• It prevents virtual machine sprawl and ensures corporate IT compliance.
It leverages existing tools like VMware VirtualCenter, change management
software, and IT process/runbook automation tools.


Lifecycle Workflow Management
Slide 9-26
VM Tracking
Request for
VM
Provisioning
Route for Automated Intelligent Policy & Control

Approval Deployment Placement
Archive Delete
Decommission
VMware Lifecycle Manager allows administrators to implement a

consistent, automated workflow for provisioning, operating, and
decommissioning virtual machines. During setup, the IT administrator
creates a catalog of virtual machine templates that users can view and
select. The IT administrator also defines where virtual machines can be
deployed and what types of approvals are required before virtual machine
deployment.
Using a self-service portal, users request virtual machines and can track the
status of any pending requests. During the request process, the user enters
information to help Lifecycle Manager select the specific resources that best
9
support the request. The user can log back in to Lifecycle Manager at any
time to check on the request status.
An “approver” approves or denies requests for virtual machines. The

approver can be from any department. If the request is approved, the virtual
machine is deployed automatically, based on the user-defined criteria and
the way in which IT staff has mapped those criteria to existing computing
resources.
The final step within Lifecycle Manager is to decommission the virtual
machine. The decommissioning process, which consists of archiving and
ultimately deleting a virtual machine, provides better resource utilization by
ensuring that resources come back into the resource pool for future use. The
virtual machine will be decommissioned based on the end date the user
enters when first submitting a request.

Summary of VI3 Products and Features

Slide 9-27
• VMware Infrastructure is much more than just a hypervisor. It is the
most complete virtual infrastructure solution in the market today.
• Lab Manager
o • VMware DRS
• VMware HA
• VMware Consolidated Backup
Virtual • VMotion • Storage VMotion
Infrastructure
n • ESX
• ESXi
• VMFS
• VSMP
Virtualization
Platform

Overview of VMWARE Infrastructure 3

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Overview_A.

book Page 1 Friday, September 5, 2008 12:40 PM

VMware® Education Services

MODULE 1 Virtual Infrastructure Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

MODULE 2 Create a Virtual Machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

MODULE 3 CPU and Memory Resource Pools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Overview of VMware Infrastructure 3 i

Configuring a Pool's Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

MODULE 4 Migrate Virtual Machines Using VMotion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

MODULE 5 VMware DRS Clusters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

MODULE 6 Monitoring Virtual Machine Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

ii Overview of VMware Infrastructure 3

MODULE 7 VirtualCenter Alarms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

MODULE 9 VI3 Product and Feature Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Guided Consolidation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115

iv Overview of VMware Infrastructure 3

Virtual Infrastructure Overview

Objectives for the Learner

Course Presentation Guidance

Overview of VMware Infrastructure 3 1

What Is Virtual Infrastructure?

Virtual Infrastructure allows dynamic mapping of compute, storage,

Virtualization is an important In traditional physical datacenters, there is a tight relationship between

2 Overview of VMware Infrastructure 3

Virtual Infrastructure Overview

Virtualization is based on the concept of a virtual machine. Virtual machines

Module 1 Virtual Infrastructure Overview 3

ESX Uses a Hypervisor Architecture

• A bare-metal hypervisor system does not require an

VMware® ESX uses a bare-metal hypervisor that allows multiple virtual

4 Overview of VMware Infrastructure 3

Virtual Infrastructure Overview

VMware Infrastructure 3 is VMware’s premier product family designed for

VMware ESX 3 Platform on which virtual machines run

Module 1 Virtual Infrastructure Overview 5

VMware VMFS Cluster-aware file system optimized to hold

Each of these products and features is discussed in more detail throughout

6 Overview of VMware Infrastructure 3

Virtual Infrastructure Overview

Module 1 Virtual Infrastructure Overview 7

One or more VMware Infrastructure Clients (VI Clients) provide graphical

8 Overview of VMware Infrastructure 3

Virtual Infrastructure Overview

VirtualCenter and the VI Client interface make centralized management of

Module 1 Virtual Infrastructure Overview 9

View VirtualCenter Inventory

The VI Client displays VMware Infrastructure management objects in a

10 Overview of VMware Infrastructure 3

Virtual Infrastructure Overview

Module 1 Virtual Infrastructure Overview 11

ESX Storage Choices

12 Overview of VMware Infrastructure 3

Virtual Infrastructure Overview

Module 1 Virtual Infrastructure Overview 13

Virtual Network Components

ESX uses physical and virtual network components to provide connectivity

14 Overview of VMware Infrastructure 3

Virtual Infrastructure Overview

Virtual switch architecture provides the IT architect the flexibility to meet

Module 1 Virtual Infrastructure Overview 15

could be configured to support iSCSI storage traffic while another

16 Overview of VMware Infrastructure 3

Virtual Infrastructure Overview