Mastering VMware vSphere 6. Marshall Nick

allocation isn’t the same as resource utilization, and this chapter follows up the discussion of resource allocation in Chapter 11 with a look at some of the ways vSphere offers to balance resource utilization. In this chapter, you’ll learn about vSphere vMotion, Enhanced vMotion Compatibility, vSphere Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS), Storage vMotion, and Storage DRS.

      Chapter 13: Monitoring VMware vSphere Performance

      In Chapter 13 I look at some of the native tools in vSphere that give virtual infrastructure administrators the ability to track and troubleshoot performance issues. The chapter focuses on monitoring CPU, memory, disk, and network adapter performance across ESXi hosts, resource pools, and clusters in vCenter Server. In this chapter you’ll also learn about vCenter Operations Manager.

      Chapter 14: Automating VMware vSphere

      Many tasks VMware vSphere administrators face are repetitive, and here automation can help. In Chapter 14 we discuss several different ways to bring automation to your vSphere environment, including vCenter Orchestrator and PowerCLI.

      Appendix: The Bottom Line

      This appendix offers solutions to the Master It problems at the end of each chapter.

      The Mastering Series

      The Mastering series from Sybex provides outstanding instruction for readers with intermediate and advanced skills, in the form of top-notch training and development for those already working in their field and clear, serious education for those aspiring to become pros. Every Mastering book includes the following:

      • Real-World Scenarios, ranging from case studies to interviews, that show how the tool, technique, or knowledge presented is applied in actual practice

      • Skill-based instruction, with chapters organized around real tasks rather than abstract concepts or subjects

      • Self-review test questions, so you can be certain you’re equipped to do the job right

      The Hardware behind the Book

      Starting out, it can seem difficult to build an environment in which you can learn by implementing the exercises and practices detailed in this book. It is possible to build a practice lab with minimal hardware, and I encourage you to follow along with the book. If you’re just starting, I recommend building a nested virtual lab on your laptop or desktop computer. Head to www.labguides.com for details on AutoLab, a nested vSphere automation tool. It needs VMware Workstation or Fusion installed and 16 GB of RAM. Be sure to read Chapters 2 and 3 before you attempt to construct any type of environment for development purposes.

      For the purpose of writing this book, I used multiple hardware configurations. When I was on the road I spun up a simple nested lab on my laptop using AutoLab, but at home I used a decent setup with a number of servers and storage that I change around when needed. I keep an updated list of recommended lab component details with multiple price options at www.labguides.com/guides/hardware/.

      It’s not impossible to set yourself up with a nice lab to follow along. But for some, this is not the sort of environment to which they have access. For entry-level NFS and iSCSI testing, a number of vendors, including EMC, HP, and NetApp, offer virtual storage appliances or simulators that you can use to gain some familiarity with shared storage concepts and that specific vendor’s products. I encourage you to use these sorts of tools where applicable in your learning process.

      Who Should Buy This Book

      This book is for IT professionals looking to strengthen their knowledge of constructing and managing a virtual infrastructure on vSphere 6.0. While the book can also be helpful for those new to IT, a strong set of assumptions is made about the target reader:

      • A basic understanding of networking architecture

      • Experience working in a Microsoft Windows environment

      • Experience managing DNS and DHCP

      • A basic understanding of how virtualization differs from traditional physical infrastructures

      • A basic understanding of hardware and software components in standard x86 and x64 computing

      How to Contact the Author

      We welcome feedback from you about this book or about books you’d like to see from us in the future.

      You can reach Nick by writing to [email protected], by following him on Twitter (his username is @nickmarshall9), or by visiting his blog at www.nickmarshall.com.au.

      Chapter 1

      Introducing VMware vSphere 6

      Now in its sixth generation, VMware vSphere builds on previous generations of VMware’s enterprise-grade virtualization products. vSphere 6.0 extends fine-grained resource allocation controls to more types of resources, enabling you to have even greater control over how resources are allocated to and used by virtual workloads. With dynamic resource controls, high availability, unprecedented and further improved fault-tolerance features, distributed resource management, and backup tools included as part of the suite, IT administrators have all the tools they need to run an enterprise environment ranging from a few servers to tens of thousands of servers.

      In this chapter, you will learn to

      • Identify the role of each product in the vSphere product suite

      • Recognize the interaction and dependencies between the products in the vSphere suite

      • Understand how vSphere differs from other virtualization products

      Exploring VMware vSphere 6.0

      The VMware vSphere product suite is a comprehensive collection of products and features that together provide a full array of enterprise virtualization functionality. The vSphere product suite includes the following products and features:

      • VMware ESXi

      • VMware vCenter Server

      • vSphere Update Manager

      • VMware vSphere Desktop Client and vSphere Web Client

      • VMware vRealize Orchestrator

      • vSphere Virtual Symmetric Multi-Processing

      • vSphere vMotion and Storage vMotion

      • vSphere Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS)

      • vSphere Storage DRS

      • Storage I/O Control and Network I/O Control

      • Storage-Based Policy Management (SBPM)

      • vSphere High Availability (HA)

      • vSphere Symmetric Multi-Processing Fault Tolerance (SMP-FT)

      • vSphere Storage APIs

      • VMware Virtual SAN (VSAN)

      • vSphere Replication

      • vSphere Flash Read Cache

      • vSphere Content Library

      Rather than waiting to introduce these products and features in their own chapters, I will introduce each product or feature in the following sections. This will allow us to explain how each one affects the design, installation, and configuration of your virtual infrastructure. After I cover the features and products in the vSphere suite, you’ll have a better grasp of how each of them fits into the design and the big picture of virtualization.

      Certain products outside the vSphere product suite extend the vSphere product line with new functionality. These additional products include VMware Horizon View, VMware vRealize Automation, and VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager, just to name a few. VMware even offers bundles of vSphere and these other products in the vCloud Suite to make it easier for users to purchase and consume the products in their environments. However, because of