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20030127

E V A L U A T O R ' S G U I D E

VMware ESX Server

Virtual Infrastructure Node Evaluators GuideData Center-Class Virtual Infrastructure for Mission-Critical Environments

Installing, Configuring and Evaluating ESX Server 2.5 and VirtualCenter 1.3

November 2005


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VMware eSX Virtual infraStructure node

Cnen

1 GettingStarted..................................................................3

2 TheITChallengeToday................................................5

3 VMwareVirtualInfrastructureIntroduction.....6

4 VMwareVirtualInfrastructureProducts.............8

5 VMwareVirtualInfrastructureBusinessSolutions........................................................10

6 ESXServerOverview...................................................11

7 VirtualCenterOverview.............................................15

8 ExampleCustomerImplementations..............18

9 EvaluationPlanningandEnvironmentSetup......................................................20

9.1PlanningWorksheet...........................................20

9.2OverviewoftheEvaluationDeployment............................................................24

9.3TypicalEvaluationTimeline...........................25

9.4HardwareRequirementsforESXServer...............................................................26

9.5HardwareRequirementsfor VirtualCenterManagementServer ........... 27

9.6HardwareRequirementsforRemoteManagementWorkstation.............................27

9.7GuestOperatingSystemsSupported.....28

9.8DownloadProductBinariesandBurntoCD-ROM..............................................................28

9.9HelpfulTechnicalTips........................................28

10 InstallingESXServer....................................................30

11 InstallingVirtualCenterManagementServer&Client.................................................................44

12 UnderstandingtheVirtualInfrastructure.......50

12.1VirtualCenterManagesVirtualMachinesRunningonPhysicalHosts..50

12.2CPU,MemoryandHardware

Virtualization........................................................50

12.3StorageVirtualization.....................................54

12.4NetworkVirtualization....................................55

12.5VirtualCenterSoftwareComponents...56

12.6VirtualCenterOrganizesServersintoFarmsandGroups............................................57

12.7VirtualCenterManagesTasks,Templates,AlarmsandEvents..................58

12.8VirtualCenterManagesAccessPrivilegeswithUsersandGroups...........59

12.9 WorkingwiththeVirtualCenterClient.........................................60

12.10CommonActionsPerformed ThroughVirtualCenter................................. 62

13 CreatingNewVirtualMachines............................63

13.1CreatingNewVirtualMachines fromScratch.................................................... .....63

13.2CreatingNewVirtualMachinesfromExistingServers..................................................68

13.3Creating,StoringandDeploying

VirtualMachineTemplates.......................... 69

13.4CloningVirtualMachines.............................83

14 ManagingVirtualMachines....................................87

14.1Starting,Stopping,SuspendingandResettingVirtualMachines.........................87

14.2EditingVirtualMachineConfigurations....................................................87

14.3SchedulingTasks...............................................92

14.4UsingEventsandAlarms.............................94

15 ConfiguringanESXVINtouseaStorageAreaNetwork...................................................................96

16 MigratingVirtualMachinesacrossESXServers.....................................................................102

16.1MigrateaPowered-OffVirtualMachinetoanotherHostusingtheSAN................................................................103

16.2MigrateaPowered-OnVirtualMachinetoanotherHostusingtheSAN(VMotion).................................................104

17 ApplicationFunctionalTestingandLoadTesting...................................................................109

18 Summary.........................................................................109

19 Glossary............................................................................ 110

20 VMwareProfessionalServices............................ 113

21 VMwareSupportServices..................................... 114

22 VMwarePartnerAlliance.......................................114

23 AboutVMware.............................................................115


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1. gen se

ab th ge

Thepurposeofthisdocumentistosupportaself-guidedevaluationofaVMwareVirtualInfrastructure

Node(VIN)runningVMwareESXServer2.5andmanagedbyVMwareVirtualCenter1.3.Thisdocumentis

intendedtoprovideatechnicalproductreviewerwiththenecessaryinformationtoinstall,manageand

evaluateVMwarevirtualinfrastructure.

Thecontentincludesaproductoverview,descriptionofhowothercustomersareusingtheproduct,and

productinstallationandusagewalkthroughstodemonstratehoweasyitistogetstartedusingVMware

virtualinfrastructure.Tosimplifyandminimizeinitialhardwarerequirements,thisguideshowshowto

installasingleESXServerlicensetolocalSCSIdisks.Theguidethencontinueswithademonstrationof

howtousemultipleESXServerlicenseswithastorageareanetwork(SAN)tosupportadvancedfeatures

suchasVMotionforthemigrationofrunningvirtualmachinesbetweenESXServerhosts.

Inchapters2-8,thisguideprovidescontextualbackgroundthatwillassistanevaluatorinunderstanding

servervirtualizationandhowthetechnologycanbestbeappliedtodrivevalueinyourorganization.

ThoseseekingtogetstartedquicklymayskiptoChapter9tobegintheserverpreparationandinstallation.

Cnenn ue n h ge

Thefollowingconventionsareusedinthisguide.

Blue Crossreferences,links

Courier Commands,filenames,directories,paths,

userinput

Semi-Bold Interactiveinterfaceobjects,keys,buttons

B Itemsofhighlightedinterest,terms

Italic Variables,parameters

Italic Webaddresses

an dcmenn rece

AlthoughthematerialpresentedinthisdocumentcanallbefoundontheVMwareWebsite,this

evaluationguideattemptstobringalltheinformationintoasingledocumenttofacilitatetheevaluation

process.Fullproductdocumentationoninstallationandadministrationisavailablefordownloadat

http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/.

En Hwe reqemen

BeforestartinganevaluationofVMwarevirtualizationsoftware,checktheonlinehardwarecompatibility

guidesthatarepublishedontheVMwareWebsiteathttp://www.vmware.com/support/resources/esx_

resources.html.ThecompatibilityguideswillensurethatthehardwarethatisbeingconsideredfortheESXServerevaluationhasgonethroughcompatibilitytestingbyVMware.


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Whilethehardwarerequirementsarecoveredinmoredetailinsection9.4,ahighlevelsummaryis

providedbelow:

Anx86multi-processorserver(2-CPUminimumperserver)withaSCSIdiskforESXServer

installation.TwoESXserverlicensesareneededalongwithaSANtoevaluateVMotionmigrationofvirtualmachinesfromoneESXServertoanotherESXServer.

Anx86PCorserverwithWindows2000(orhigher)forVirtualCenterManagementServerand

Clientinstall

Guestoperatingsystemsandapplicationsfortesting

NotethatESXServerrequireseitheraSANorlocalSCSIdisksforvirtualmachinestorage

Hep n spp dn he En

Beyondtheproductdocumentationavailableathttp://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/,thebestsource

forsupportduringanESXServerevaluationistorefertotheVMwareonlineKnowledgeBaseavailableat

http://www.vmware.com/support/kb.TheKnowledgeBasecontainshundredsofdocumentedissuesand

typicallyoffersworkaroundsorfixesthatcanhelpyouresolveyourissuequickly.ThisonlineKnowledge

BaseissearchableandcoversalltheproductsthatVMwareoffers.Othergoodsourcesforsupportinclude

theVMwareTechnologyNetworkdiscussionforumsandthepublicVMwarenewsgroups.

TheVMwareTechnologyNetworkhostsasetofmoderateddiscussionforumsontheVMwareWebsite

thatareopentoallVMwareusers.Intheforums,VMwareTechnologyNetworkmemberscometogether

toexchangeinformation,asktechnicalquestionsandsharecomments.VMwarerepresentativesmonitor

theforumandrespondtoquestionsasappropriate.Youcanjointhecommunitydiscussionforumat

http://www.vmware.com/community.

TheVMwareNewsgroupsareprimarilyforumsforuserstohelpeachother.Youareencouragedtoread

andpostissues,workaroundsandfixes.WhileVMwarepersonnelmayreadandposttothenewsgroups,

thisisnotachannelforofficialsupport.TheVMwareNNTPnewsserverisatnews.vmware.comwith

additionalusageinformationat http://www.vmware.com/vcommunity/newsgroups.html.

PleasenotethatVMwaredoesnotoffertechnicalsupportonanevaluationbasis.Whenyoupurchaseyour

productlicense,youcanselecttheleveloftechnicalsupportthatmeetsyourneeds.Moreinformation

aboutVMwaresupportofferingsisavailableathttp://www.vmware.com/support/programs.html.

Pn Feebck

Weappreciateyourfeedbackonthematerialincludedinthisguide.Inparticular,wewouldbegratefulfor

anyguidanceonthefollowingtopics:

Howusefulwastheinformationinthisguide?

Whatotherspecifictopicswouldyouliketoseecovered?

Overall,howwouldyouratethisguide?

Pleasesendyourfeedbacktothefollowinge-mailaddress:[email protected],withVMwareVirtual

InfrastructureNodeEvaluatorsGuideinthesubjectline.Thankyouforyourhelpinmakingthisguidea

valuableresource.


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2. the it Chene tyToday,ITorganizationsareworkingdiligentlytosolvetheproblemscreatedbytheexplosioninthe

scopeandcomplexityofITplatformsadoptedinthe1990s.Themigrationofapplicationarchitecturestothin-clientmulti-tierarchitectures,theintroductionofmultiplegenerationsandeditionsofWindows

serversandtherapidgrowthofLinuxhavesweptacrossITorganizationsinsuccessivewavesoverthelast

tenyears.Thesewavescausedrecordgrowthinservercounts,networkcomplexityandstoragevolumes

throughoutgeographicallydistributedITorganizations.Thepoliciesandproceduresadoptedtogainback

controloftheinfrastructurehaveoftenintroducedtheirownchallenges.

SomeoftheresultingsymptomsreportedbyITorganizationsinclude:

Largenumbersofunderutilizedone-application/oneboxx86-basedservers

Pervasiveover-provisioningcausedbypoliciesthatsizeallserversforworst-caseworkloadscenarios

Longprovisioningcycletimesfornewservers,storageandnetworking

Longdelaysinprovisioningnewservices

Narrowscheduleddowntimewindowsthatareover-subscribedwithmaintenanceactivities Inconsistent,non-reproducibleserverbuildsduetoalackofbuildpoliciesoranabilityto

enforcethem

Rushedpatchroll-outsthatbreakapplicationfunctionalityorperformancebecausethepatch-testing

systemsdonotmatchproductionsystems

MultiplemanagementsystemsfordistributedLinux,WindowsandNetWareservers

Incompleteinformationforequipmentcounts,statusandownership

Thislistofchallengesisdaunting,butIThasstartedtoregaintheupperhandinthebattleagainstcostly,

inflexibleanddisorderlyinfrastructure.Asafirststep,ITorganizationshavegenerallycentralizedtheirIT

infrastructureintofewerlocationsforbettervisibility.Asasecondstep,theyareadoptinganew

generationofinfrastructuretechnologiesandmethodologies.

ThecommonvisionofITorganizationstodayistoprovidetheirbusinessunitswithlowercost,higher

service-levelinfrastructurethatenablesthemtorespondfastertobusinessunitdemands.Forexample,

mostenterprisesarealreadymigratingtostorageareanetworking(SAN)foraflexible,lowercost,higher

servicelevelstorageinfrastructure.Currently,thousandsofenterprisesareadoptingservervirtualization

technologiesthatprovidethesamebenefitsfortherestoftheITinfrastructure.Thissynergistic

combinationofstorage,networkingandcomputingvirtualizationhascreatedanewcategoryof

infrastructuresoftwarecalledvirtualinfrastructure.


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3. vMwe v infce incnVirtualinfrastructureprovidesalayerofabstractionbetweenthecomputing,storageandnetworking

hardware,andthesoftwarethatrunsonit.Virtualinfrastructureintroducesanewcategoryof infrastructurecapabilitiestothedatacenter.Withvirtualinfrastructure,ITorganizationscanprovision

newservicesandchangetheamountofresourcesdedicatedtoasoftwareservicesimplyby

interactingwithamanagementconsole.Hardwaremanagementiscompletelyseparatedfromsoftware

management,andhardwarecanbetreatedasasinglepoolofprocessing,storageandnetworking

powerwhichcanbeallocatedorreallocatedtovarioussoftwareservicesonthefly.

VMwareisapioneerofvirtualinfrastructurebasedonvirtualmachinetechnology.Thistechnologywas

originallydevelopedformainframestoallowmultipleoperatingsystemstoshareasinglepieceof

hardware.VMwarepioneeredvirtualmachinesonthex86platform,andhasspentmorethanseven

yearsenhancingtheircapabilitiesforgeneralenterpriseuse.TheVMwarevirtualhardwareplatform

implementedbyVMwarevirtualmachinesmakesvirtualinfrastructurepossible.Itprovidesastandardized

hardwareimageimplementedentirelyinsoftwareonwhichoperatingsystemsandapplicationscan

run.WhethertheunderlyinghardwareisaSAN-attached8-waysystemwithgigabitEthernetcardsora

bladeserverwithlocaldiskssharinganetworkswitch,theexactsamevirtualhardwareplatformispresentedtotheoperatingsystemanditsapplications.


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the vMwe v Hwe Pfm

Bycreatingauniformvirtualhardwareplatformacrosstheentiredatacenter,virtualinfrastructure

allowssoftwaretobeinstalledonormovedfromonephysicalsystemtoanotherwithoutrequiring

reconfigurationoftheoperatingsystemorapplications.WithgroundbreakingVMwareVMotion

technology,thismoveistransparenttotheuseranddoesnotcauseaninterruptioninuserservice.

Adoptingvirtualinfrastructureresultsin:

60-80%utilizationratesforx86-basedserversupfromtodaystypical515%

Just-in-timeprovisioningofadditionalresourcestoapplications

Provisioningtimesfornewapplicationsmeasuredinseconds,notdays

Responsetimesforchangerequestsmeasuredinminutes

Zero-downtimehardwaremaintenancewithoutwaitingformaintenancewindows

Unifiedserverprovisioning,monitoringandresourceallocationacrossmultiplegenerationsof

Windows,LinuxandNetWareservers

Guaranteedbuildconsistencyacrosssystems

Highersuccessratesforpatchroll-outs

Completeinformationforequipmentcounts,statusandownership

gen rey f Nex-genen Cmpn

Fororganizationsthatwanttoevolvetheirinfrastructuretowardnext-generationcomputing,thefirststep

istheimplementationofavirtualinfrastructure.Fortheseorganizations,VMwareoffersacomprehensive

openWebservicesAPIforitsimplementationofvirtualinfrastructurethateasilyplugsintoothervendors

automationandpolicymanagementframeworks.Asenterprisesselectvendorsforhigher-levelcapabilities

suchasservicelevelmanagementorchargeback,VMwarevirtualinfrastructurecanbeeasilyintegrated.


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4. vMwe v infce PcESXServerandVirtualCenterarepartofafamilyofVMwarevirtualinfrastructureproducts.TheVMware

platformincludes: VMwareACEAnenterprisesolutionforITdesktopmanagerswhowanttoprovisionandmanage

secure,standardizedPCenvironmentsthroughouttheextendedenterprise.

VMwareWorkstationPowerfuldesktopvirtualizationsoftwareforsoftwaredevelopers/testersand

ITprofessionalswhowanttostreamlinesoftwaredevelopment,testinganddeploymentintheir

enterprise.VMwareWorkstationallowsuserstorunmultiplex86-basedoperatingsystems,including

Windows,Linux,andNetWare,andtheirapplicationssimultaneouslyonasinglePCinfullynetworked,

portablevirtualmachinesnoharddrivepartitioningorrebootingrequired.

VMwareGSXServerEnterprise-classvirtualinfrastructuresoftwareforx86-basedserversthatruns

hostedonWindowsandLinuxx86servers.GSXServerutilizeshostoperatingsystemnativedriver

supporttomakeVMwareGSXServerthemostflexibleservervirtualizationproductavailable.

VMwareESXServerDatacenter-classvirtualinfrastructuresoftwarethatrunsnativelyonthe

hardwaretopartition,consolidateandmanagesystemsinmission-criticalenvironments.ESXServerprovidesitsowndriversupportandadvancedresourcemanagementforthehighestpossible

performanceoncertifiedhardware.

o VMwareVirtualSMPAnadd-onmoduletoVMwareESXServerthatmakesitpossiblefora

singlevirtualmachinetospanmultiplephysicalprocessors.VMwareVirtualSMPisidealforscaling

yourvirtualinfrastructuretohandlethemostresource-intensiveapplications.OnlyVMwarepro-

videssymmetricmultiprocessingfunctionalityforx86-basedvirtualmachines.

VMwareVirtualCenterVirtualinfrastructuremanagementsoftwarethatprovidesacentralandsecure

pointofcontrolforyourGSXServerandESXServervirtualcomputingresources.VirtualCentercreates

amoreresponsivedatacenter,whichenablesfasterreconfigurationandreallocationofapplications

andservices.Itallowsinstantprovisioningofservers.User-downtimeisdecreased.Thedatacenter

becomesoptimized.

o VMwareVMotionAnadd-onmoduletoVMwareVirtualCenterthatmakesitpossibletomigratearunningESXServervirtualmachinetoadifferentphysicalserverconnectedtothesame

storageareanetwork(SAN)withoutserviceinterruption.VMotionenablescontinuousworkload

balancingandzerodowntimemaintenance.

VMwareP2VAssistantAnenterprise-classmigrationtoolthattransformsanimageofanexisting

WindowsphysicalsystemintoaVMwarevirtualmachinetoenablefastandreliablephysicaltovirtual

machinemigration.

VMTNSubscriptionVMwareTechnologyNetwork(VMTN)Subscriptionisaservicefordevelopersand

testersthatprovidesapowerfulsuiteofVMwareproducts,supportandupgradesaswellaspre-built

virtualmachinesfordevelopmentandtestinginaconvenient,low-costannualsubscription.


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Once we introduced VMware

ESX Server, it caught on faster

than I could have imagined.

Even more amazing thanthe products efficiency was

the way it reduced our costs.

VMware probably saved us

several hundred thousand

dollars this year on hard-

ware purchases alone. As

QUALCOMM grows, we antici-

pate even greater savings.

Paul Poppleton, IT Manager,

QUALCOMM

v infce NeTheprimarybuildingblocksrequiredtobuildavirtualinfrastructuresolutionincludeoneormoreVirtual

InfrastructureNodes(VINs)andVMwareVirtualCenter.VirtualInfrastructureNodesbundlethemost

popularVMwareplatformcomponentstosimplifyorderingandprovideadiscountovertheindividually

pricedcomponents.TheavailableVINoptionsincludetheGSXServerVIN(whichincludesVMwareGSX

ServerandVirtualCenterAgent)andtheESXServerVIN(whichincludesESXServer,VirtualCenterAgent,

VMotionandVirtualSMP).ITmanagerscanselecteitherGSXServerorESXServerVINs,orusea

combinationofboth,basedontheiruniquevirtualinfrastructurerequirements.


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5. vMwe v infce Bne snBusiness Use Benefits

Implement Server ConsolidationConsolidatebranchofficeanddatacenter

mission-criticalapplicationsandinfrastructure

servicesontofewerhighlyscalable,highlyreliable

enterprise-classservers.

ReducedTCOacrossthecomputinginfrastructure

Built-inheadroomforexpansionandscaling

Maximumhardwareutilization

Simplifiedsystemmanagement

Lower IT Costs and Improve Flexibility

and Responsiveness

UseVirtualCentertodeployandmanageESX

ServerVirtualInfrastructureNodesandmanage

yourhardwareresourcesasasinglepoolof

computer,storageandnetworkingpower.

Improveutilizationratesupto60-80%for

x86servers

Provisioningtimesfornewapplicationsmeasured

intensofseconds,notdays

Responsetimesforchangerequestsmeasured

inminutes

Zero-downtimehardwaremaintenancewithout

waitingformaintenancewindows

Deliver High Availability and Guarantee

Service Levels

Protectcriticaldatainsecurevirtualmachines

andisolatemultipleserversthatruntogetherat

near-nativeperformancelevelsonstandard

x86-basedhardware.

Protectionagainstnon-hardwareerrorsandsingle

pointoffailureforhigheravailability

Runresource-intensiveSMPapplicationssuchas

Oracle,SQLServer,MicrosoftExchangeserver,SAP,

Siebel,LotusNotes,BEAWebLogicandApache

MorecontroloverITperformancemetrics

RunITasanenterpriseserviceprovider,delivering

betterservicelevelstocustomers

Dramatically Improve and Lower the Cost of

Disaster Recovery Capability

Createaunifieddisasterrecoveryplatformthatincreasesavailability,reducesrecoverytimeand

lowershardwareandoperationalcosts.

StreamlineDisasterRecoverymanagement

Eliminatetheneedforcostly1-to-1mappingof

productionandDisasterRecoveryservers

Recovervirtualmachineimagesonanyx86

hardwareplatform


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6. EsX see oeewVMwareESXServerisvirtualinfrastructuresoftwareforpartitioning,consolidatingandmanagingsystems

asvirtualmachinesinmission-criticalenvironments.ESXServerVirtualInfrastructureNodestransformphysicalsystemsintoapooloflogicalcomputingresources,whereoperatingsystemsandapplications

arefullyisolatedwithinthemultiplevirtualmachinesthatresideonphysicalservers.Systemresources

aredynamicallyallocatedtovirtualmachinesbasedonneedandservicelevelguarantees,providing

mainframe-classcapacityutilizationandcontrolofserverresources.

ESXServerrunsdirectlyonthesystemhardwaretoprovideasecure,uniformplatformfordeploying,

managing,andremotelycontrollingmultiplevirtualmachines.ESXServervirtualizationhasthreekey

featurestoenableadynamicandflexibledatacenter:partitioning,isolationandencapsulation.

Pnn

ESXServerusesauniquebare-metal

(orhypervisor)architecturethatinsertsasmall

andhighlyrobustvirtualizationlayerbetween

thex86serverhardwareandthevirtual

machines.ThisapproachgivesESXServer

completecontrolovertheserverresources

allocatedtoeachvirtualmachineanditavoids

theperformanceoverhead,availabilityconcerns

andcostsofservervirtualizationarchitectures

builtonahostoperatingsystem.

Thisvirtualizationlayerperformsallthe

necessarytranslationstomaskthephysical

hardwareresourcesfromtheguestoperating

system.Theguestoperatingsystemseesa

consistentsetofvirtualhardware,regardlessofwhattypeofphysicalhardwaretheservercontains.This

means,forexample,thatregardlessofthespecificnetworkcontrollerthephysicalserverisusing,theguestoperatingsystemwillseeonlythenetworkcontrollerdefinedbythestandardizedvirtualhardware

setinESXServer.

Becauseapplicationsinteractonlywiththeassociatedguestoperatingsystemandnotwiththe

underlyingvirtualhardware,onceoperatingsystemcompatibilitywiththevirtualhardwareisestablished,

applicationcompatibilityisnotanissue.Thishardwareindependenceenhancesreliabilityduetothe

smallnumberofdevicedriversrequiredforthevirtualhardwareand,thus,foreachvirtualmachine

operatingsystem.Multipleoperatingsystemscanberuninvirtualmachinesononephysicalmachineto

fullyutilizeserverresources,andtheycanallshareanyhighavailabilityfeaturesoftheserver.


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in

Thevirtualizationlayeralsoprovidestheabilityto

completelyisolateonevirtualmachinefromanother

atthehardwarelevel.Eachvirtualmachineincludesa

completelyseparateoperatingsystem,registry,

applicationsanddatafiles.Becauseeachoperating

systemisisolated,oneoperatingsystemcannot

communicatewithorleakdatatoanyotheroperating

system,otherthanthroughnetworkingmechanisms

similartothoseusedtoconnectseparatephysical

machines.Errorsoruseractionsthatinterferewiththe

operationoftheoperatingsystemandapplications

runninginonevirtualmachinehavenoeffectonthe

continuingoperationofothervirtualmachinesonthe

sameserver.

Thisisolationexistsatthehardwarelayeraseachvirtualmachineandtheconsolearegiventime-slices

oftheprocessorandthusneverconcurrentlyshareakerneloranyprocesses.Inarealenvironment,

whatthismeansisthatapplicationsinonevirtualmachinecanencountervirusesorbluescreentheir

operatingsystem,andthereisnoeffectonanyothervirtualmachine.Multipleoff-the-shelfoperating

systemscanberunsidebysidewhilestillprovidingapplicationownerswithfullprotectionfromthe

stabilityandperformanceproblemsofotherapplicationsduringserverconsolidation.

Encpn

VMwareencapsulatestheentirestateofavirtual

machineincludingthememory,diskimages,and

I/Odevicestateintoasfewastwofiles.Thetwofiles

includeashorttextfiledefiningtheconfigurationof

thevirtualmachineandavirtualdiskfilethatcontains

itsdata.Thus,thevirtualmachinecanbecopied,saved,andmovedlikeafile.

Youcanmoveentirevirtualmachinesamong

development,testing,andproductionenvironments

simplybymovingthevirtualmachinestatefilefrom

onephysicalsystemtoanother.Thisallowsyouto

deployandredeployvirtualmachineseasilyand

flexiblyevenacrossserversthatvarysignificantlyin

theirhardwareconfiguration

.


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OthernotablefeaturesofESXServerinclude:

Be-Me Hype achece

AsVMwaresflagshipvirtualinfrastructureplatformfordatacenter

environments,ESXServeremploys

auniquebare-metalhypervisor

architecturetoprovidethebest

possibleperformanceandscalabilityfor

serverapplicationsrunninginvirtual

machines.TheESXServervirtualization

layer,orVMkernel,isathinsoftware

layerofonlyabout200,000linesof

codeentirelydedicatedtomanaging

theexecutionofvirtualmachines.

Unlikevirtualizationproductsthat

requireahostoperatingsystemcomprisingtensofmillionsoflinesofcode,ESXServerprovidesmuchlessexposuretosecurity

vulnerabilitiesandmuchhigherreliability.Thebare-metalarchitecturegivesESXServercomplete

controlofthehosthardware,makingitpossibletoprovidefine-grainedresourceallocationstoeach

virtualmachine.ESXServeremploysaLinux-basedServiceConsoleformanagementaccess,butallvirtual

machineexecutionishandledbythecustom-writtenVMkernel.

rn unmfe, off-he-shef sfwe

BecauseESXServervirtualmachinesimplementacompletex86platform,theysupportstandardguest

operatingsystemsandapplications.Nosoftwaremodificationsorspecialprocessorhardwaresupportis

requiredasisthecasewithparavirtualizationproducts.Thisisespeciallyimportantwhenusingvirtual

machinesinsoftwaredevelopmentandtesting,wherethevirtualplatformmustexactlyreplicatea

physicalplatform.

B see spp

ESXServerhasbeentestedandfullysupportsmostcommonx86serverandbladesystemsfromthe

leadinghardwarevendorssuchasDell,HP,IBM,FujitsuSiemens,NEC,Sun,Bull,UnisysandIntel.ESXServer

cansupportlargehostsystems(upto64GBofhostmemory,256TBofstorage,16hostprocessors,and

80powered-onvirtualmachines)forscalability,extensibility,androbustness.Additionally,ESXServeris

qualifiedwithsystemsmanagementapplicationsincludingHPInsightManager,DellOpenManageand

IBMDirector.

v sMP

ESXServersupportsSymmetricMultiprocessing(SMP)virtualmachines,withsingleordualvirtualCPUs.

VMwareVirtualSMPisanadd-onmoduleincludedintheVINbundlethatmakesitpossibleforasingle

virtualmachinetospanmultiplephysicalprocessors.VMwareVirtualSMPallowsmultipleprocessorstoworkinparallelwhileusingonlyasingleguestoperatingsystemimage,makingitsuitableforeventhe

mostresource-intensiveapplications.


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EsX see Mpe he Benef f saN & Hh aby Hwe

Byvirtualizingaccesstohardware,ESXServermultipliesthebenefitsofusinghighavailabilityhardwareas

allvirtualmachinescantakeadvantageofhighavailabilityfeatures:

CPUA4-wayservercanhost20-30virtualmachineswithanysubsetofthembeingableto

dynamicallyscaleupasneededwithintheirallocationsandusealargershareoftheprocessingpool.

MemoryUsingmemoryover-commitment,aserverwith6GBofphysicalmemorycanactlikea

serverwith12GBofvirtualmemory.ESXServerwilldynamicallymanagethememoryandforcevirtual

machinestopagememorybasedontheirownprioritiesonceallthephysicalmemoryisinuse.ESX

Serveralsoemploysafeaturecalledtransparentpagesharingtoconservememorybyidentifying

memorypagesthatareidenticalacrossmultipleVMs(suchasmultipleVMswiththesameoperating

systemrunning)andstoringthemonlyonce.

StorageTwopairedHostBusAdapters(HBAs)can support,forexample,32vir tualdisksonaSANin

afaulttolerantmanner.ESXServermaximizesstorageareanetwork(SAN)availabilitybyproviding

multi-pathingorautomaticpathfailoverincaseofHBA,switch,orstoragecontrollerfailure.Itincreases

scalabilityandeasesmanagementbyallowingsystemadministratorstodirecttrafficfromspecific

HBAstoindividuallogicalunits(LUNs)anddiscovernewLUNsanddeviceswhilevirtualmachines

arerunning.

NetworkESXServersupportsNICteamingtoincreasenetworkreliabilityandperformancewhile

simplifyingnetworktopologies.NICteamingenablesadministratorstogrouptwothroughten

physicalnetworkinterfacecontrollers(NICs)intoonesinglevirtualnetworkdevicethatcanappear

asadedicatedvirtualNICtoeachof32separatevirtualmachines.BybindingallthesephysicalNICs

together,customerscanimprovenetworkavailabilitybycreatingredundancyinthecaseofNICfailure

andincreaseperformancebydynamicallyload-balancingtrafficbetweenallavailablephysicalNICs.

ESXServeralsosupportsVirtualLANtaggingtoenablethecreationofmultiplelogicalLANswithinor

acrossphysicalnetworksegments.

vMFs Fe syem

ESXServerincludesaVMFSfilesystemthatprovidesoptimizedI/Operformanceforvirtualdiskfiles,highavailabilityfeaturesandsupportforlargestorageconfigurations.WiththeVMFSfilesystem,users

candynamicallygrowthesizeofafilesystemwhileESXServerisrunning,accessthesamefilesystem

frommultipleESXServerhostssimultaneously,reconfigurestoragewithoutpoweringoffmachines,and

supportfilesizesupto64TB.

Fne gne rece Cn n Wk Mnemen

ESXServerallowsuserstograntspecificallocationsforCPU,disk,memory,andnetworkbandwidthfor

eachvirtualmachineanddynamicallychangetheseresourceallocationsonthefly.Forexample,an

administratorcancreateavirtualmachinewithaminimumCPUpercentageof30%andamaximumCPU

percentageof80%,andthisvirtualmachinewillalwayshaveatleast30%,andnevermorethan80%,ofa

physicalCPUsresources.

AdditionalwhitepapersandinformationontheseESXfeaturesandtheirusageareavailableonthe

VMwareWebsiteathttp://www.vmware.com/support/resources/esx_resources.html.


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7. vCene oeewEnterprisesthatdeployhundredsofvirtualmachinesshouldtakeadvantageofVirtualCenter,the

secureandcentralizedmanagementproductthathelpsadministratorsmanageESXServerandGSXServerdeployments.VirtualCenteristhecenterpieceofthevirtualinfrastructure,enablingITstaffto

easilymanageworkloadsacrossmultiplesystemswithoutrequiringamajorinvestmentinadditional

resourcesortraining.WithVirtualCenter,anadministratorcanmanagehundredsofMicrosoftWindows

NT,Windows2000,WindowsServer2003,WindowsXP,LinuxandNetWareserversfromasinglepointof

control,givingITmanagerscompletecontrolovertheirlarge-scalevirtualinfrastructure.Serverscanbe

instantlyprovisionedandquicklyconfiguredtosupportapplicationsandservices,souser-downtimeis

decreased.VirtualCenteruniquelyleveragesvirtualcomputing,storage,andnetworkingtoimprove

enterpriseresourcemanagementandreducecosts.

VirtualCenterprovides:

Cenze Mnemen

VirtualCenterprovidesaWindows-basedmanagementclientthatisdesignedtofacilitatethe

managementofthousandsofvirtualmachinesfromasinglelocation.TheVirtualCentermanagement

systemincludesallthefeaturesexpectedfromamodernmanagementenvironment:performance

monitoring,alerts,remoteaccess,taskscheduling,reporting,androbustaccesscontrol.

Mnn

Administratorscanmonitorsystemavailabilityandperformanceinrealtime:viewinghostserverand

virtualmachinepowerstate,systemstatusandcurrentCPU,andmemoryutilization.VirtualCenterallows

youtotrackperformanceutilizationforhostserversorbreakitdownbyindividualvirtualmachine.

Pre-configuredgraphsdisplaythecurrentCPUusage,memoryusage,diskI/O,andnetworkI/O.Views

ofhistoricalperformancedatacanbecustomizedbytheadministratortoquicklyidentifypossible

performanceissuesandidentifythebesthostsfornewvirtualmachines.


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ae Nfcn

VirtualCenterincludesanalertnotificationsystemthatallowsadministratorstocreatecustomalarms

basedontriggersthatarerelevanttotheirbusinessandITneeds.Thresholdandeventalertscanbe

configuredforalargenumberofeventswithinthevirtualinfrastructure,includingserverfailuresand

over-andunder-utilizationevents.Bydefault,VirtualCenterhaspredefinedalarmsforCPUusage,memory

usage,andheartbeatofallhostserversandvirtualmachines.Userscansetspecificthresholdstotrigger

alarmsandinformVirtualCentertotakeaction.Atriggeredalarmcanresultinanalertnotificationsentto

systemadministratorsviaemailand/orpageroranactionbeingperformedsuchasrunningascriptto

shutdown,suspend,ormigrateavirtualmachine.

reme acce

VirtualCenterincludesafullyintegratedRemoteConsole,providingkeyboardvideomouse(KVM)access

torunningsystems.Thisfeatureallowsadministratorstoaccessthedesktopoftheirvirtualmachinesand

administertheirapplicationsremotelyoveranetwork.Withouteversteppingfootintothedatacenter,an

administratorcanmanageanentirevirtualinfrastructureusingtheVirtualCenterclient,deployingnew

systemsandmigratingrunningsystemsbetweenphysicalservers.

amn

UsingthetaskschedulingmechanismofVirtualCenter,severaladministrativetasks,includingthe

provisioningofnewsystems,canbefullyautomated.Thewizard-basedtaskschedulerallowsyouto

scheduledeploymentsofnewvirtualmachines,changethepowerstateofvirtualmachines,and

schedulemigrationofvirtualmachines.

Administratorscanusethetaskschedulertopowerdownavirtualmachineorsetofvirtualmachines

toperformnightlyorweeklybackups.Forexample,anadministratorcreatesanewtasktosuspenda

particularvirtualmachine,onaweeklybasis,inordertoperformafullsystembackup.Theadministrator

canthencreateanothertasktoresumethatvirtualmachineafterthebackupiscomplete.Automating

thesetasksallowsthebackuporcopyofthevirtualmachinetorununattended.

secyVirtualCenterincorporatesarobustaccesscontrolframeworksoITstaffcanbegrantedappropriate

accessrightstomanagetheinfrastructure.Thisallowsadministratorstocontrolwhichapplicationsand

datauserscanaccess.VirtualCenterintegrateswithWindowsActiveDirectoryauthenticationenabling

ITorganizationstouseexistingloginsandusergroupswithnoneedtocreateanadditional

authenticationstructure.

sfwe deepe K

TheVMwareVirtualInfrastructureSDKprovidesarichWebservicesAPIintegrationcapabilityenabling

routineeventstobeautomatedortriggeredbyexternalsystems.TheVMwareSDKenablesintegration

withexistingmanagementandmonitoringsolutions.Severalserverandsoftwarevendorshavealready

integratedtheirproductswithVMwarevirtualinfrastructureusingtheVMwareSDK.


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vMn techny

VMotiontechnologyletsyoumovelive,runningvirtualmachinesfromonehosttoanotherwhile

maintainingcontinuousserviceavailability.VMotiontransferstheentiresystemandmemorystateofa

runningvirtualmachinefromoneESXServertoanother.VMotionallowsfastreconfigurationand

optimizationofresourcesacrossthevirtualinfrastructurebecauseyoucanmakechangeson-the-fly

withoutimpactingusers.VMotionenableszero-downtimemaintenanceandcontinuousworkload

consolidationforESXServerhosts.

inn Pnn f New see

Instantprovisioningenablesadministratorstocreateanddeployanewserverinminutes,completewith

anoperatingsystemandapplications.Itsdifferentthanmostprovisioningsolutionsbecauseitsmuch

fasterandtakesadvantageoftheuniformityofvirtualhardware.VirtualCentercanalsohelpstreamline

serverprovisioningbymaintainingarepositoryofhardwareindependentvirtualmachinetemplates,and

itincludesawizard-basedsystemtodeploytheseasnewservers.Virtualmachinetemplatesareaquick

andconsistentmethodforaddingnewapplicationstoyourvirtualcomputinginfrastructure.

BenefitsofInstantProvisioning: Respondfastertochangingbusinessneeds

Reduceserver-provisioningtimefromweekstominutes,allowingadministratorstorespond

immediatelytorequestsforITservices

Automateandstandardizeserverdeploymentsandprovisioningfordisasterrecovery

Usetemplatestoensureconsistencywithcurrentbuildandsecuritypolicies

Rapidlydeploynewserverstomeetdemand,quicklyrecoverfromasystemcrashornaturaldisaster

FullyleverageSANstorage,move/copysystemsbetweenLUNsand/orstorageservers

Reduceoperationcostsassociatedwithserverprovisioning

AdditionalwhitepapersandinformationontheseVirtualCenterfeaturesandtheirusageareavailableon

theVMwareWebsiteathttp://www.vmware.com/support/resources/vc_resources.html.


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8. Exmpe Cme impemenn

Pcn see Cnn

Containserversprawlby

consolidatingserversintovirtual

machineshostedonfewerbut

morepowerfulphysicalsystems.

Summary MoreInformation

ESXServerhelpsAIGTechnologies

reduceserverprovisioningtimeby

50%anddelivers20:1reductioninthe

numberofservers

www.vmware.com/cus-

tomers/stories/aig.html

7-ElevensCPUutilizationaverages

50-70%onitsVMwareservers,compared

to6-8%onmostotherservers

http://www.vmware.com/

customers/stories/

7-Eleven.html

LeadingcellularcompanyinIsrael,

Cellcom,embracesvirtualizationtechnol-

ogytomeetgoalsforbusinessgrowth

andprovidesuperiorcustomerservice


customers/stories/cellcom.

html

Byenablinga30:1reductioninthe

numberofservers,VMwareESXServer

helpsQUALCOMMsavesixfigureson

hardware-whilefreeingdatacenter

spacetosupportthecompanys

rapidexpansion

www.vmware.com/

customers/stories/

qualcomm.html

sfwe deepmen opmzn

Virtualizecompletetestand

developmentenvironmentsand

savethemasfiles.


AbacusInternational

VMwareESXServer,GSXServer,

VirtualCenterandWorkstationachieve

a19:1serverconsolidation,accelerate

legacyapplicationmigrationsand

enhanceproductivitywithautomated

testinganddevelopmentprocesses


customers/stories/abacus.

html

BaptistHealthcareSystemusesthefull

lineofVMwareproductsforcostsavings,easeofmanagementandhigh

performance

http://www.vmware.com/customers/stories/bhs.

html

VMwarehelpsGoogledevelopinnova-

tivesearchWebsitetechnologies


customers/stories/google.

html


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Bne Cnny

Improvebusinesscontinuity

bytakingadvantageofvirtual

infrastructurehardwareindepen-

denceandapplicationportability


BB&KusesESXServertoautomate

processesandsimplifycorebusiness

objectives


customers/stories/bbk.

html

Award-winninghospitalusesVMware

ESXServertooptimizecomputingfor

hospitalstaffsotheycandeliverthebest

healthcareandservices

http://www.vmware.

com/customers/stories/

clark_memorial.html

SubaruofIndianaAutomotivecuts

downtime40%withVMwareVirtualInfrastructure


customers/stories/subaru.html

VMwareESXServerprotectsagainst

vulnerabilitiesofphysicalserverswhile

reducingcostsandenhancing

competitiveadvantage

http://www.vmware.

com/customers/stories/

neverfail.html


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9. En Pnnn n Ennmen sep

9.1 Pnnn Wkhee

Technical Configuration Checklist

Belowaretasksandremindersthatshouldbecompletedbeforesoftwareinstallation.

ServersystemissupportedbyESXServer?-SeeESXServerSystemCompatibilityGuide

ServersystemcontainsVMwareHardwareCompliantI/OAdapters?-SeetheI/OAdapter

CompatibilityGuide

Serverhasatleasttwo(preferably3forVMotion)LAN-connectedapprovedNICs?-SeetheI/OAdapter

CompatibilityGuide

ServerhasasupportedSANandHBAconfigurationifevaluatingusewithaSANandVMotion?

SeetheSANCompatibilityGuide

ServersystemandI/OcomponentsareatlatestBIOS/Firmware?

Serverhasamplememoryfortestingrequirements?-(2GBminimum,preferably3GB+)

ServercontainsamplelocalstoragespaceforServiceConsoleandrecommendedpartitions?(9GB

minimum,36GB+recommended)

ALANconnectedworkstation/serverfortheVirtualCenterManagementServerisavailablethatcan

gettoESXServersubnetforconfiguration?

UserhasamplefixedIPaddressesforconsole,VMNIC(s),andguestVMs?(VMwaredoessupportDHCP,

butstaticaddressesaregenerallysimplertomanage)

UseralreadyhasVMwareinstallmedia?(MediaKitCDordownloadfromevaluationsite)

UseralreadyhasVMwarelicenseinformation?(Sentviaemailfollowingevaluationrequest)

Userhasallnecessaryoperatingsysteminstallationmedia,licensekeysandservicepackstosupport

operatingsysteminstallationsonvirtualmachines?(Forexample,Windows2003Serverwith

ServicePacks)

System Configuration Information

PleaseenterintheinformationfortheESXServersystemsthatwillbeused.

Manufacturer:CircleDell,HP,IBM,FujitsuSiemens,NEC,Sun,Bull,UnisysorIntel

Product________________________Model__________________________

NumberofProcessors_______Speed______GHz

DualCoreand/orHTenabled?________________

AmountofMemory_______GB


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Local Disk Storage

DiskVendor__________________

Make______________________Model____________________

LocalStorage_______GB,RAIDType_______

SAN FC HBAs (if used)

QLogicModel______________________________

EmulexModel______________________________

OtherHBA_________________________________

SAN Disk Storage (if used)

SANStorage_______GB,RAIDType_______

AnticipatedVMFSLUN_____________________

SANSwitchVendor___________________________

Make______________________Model____________________

Network Interfaces

VMwareofficiallysupportsIntelandBroadcomnetworkcards

NIC#1Vendor____________Model___________Speed_______________



ESXServerHostname_____________________IPAddress______________________

VirtualCenterManagementServerHostname_____________________IPAddress__________________

Netmask________________________

Gateway________________________

DNSServer(Primary)__________________

DNSServer(Secondary)__________________

User Accounts

ESXServerUserID_root____________Password___________________FullName_________________

ESXServerUserID_esxuser_________Password___________________FullName_________________

VirtualCenterUserID_vcuser________Password___________________FullName_________________

VMware Evaluation Serial Numbers

ESX Ser ver 1 Serial Number _______-_______-_______-_______

ESX Ser ver 2 Serial Number _______-_______-_______-_______

Vir tual SMP1 Serial Number _______-_______-_______-_______

Vir tual SMP2 Serial Number _______-_______-_______-_______

VMotion1 SerialNumber_______-_______-_______-_______

VMotion2 SerialNumber_______-_______-_______-_______

VirtualCenterAgent1 SerialNumber_______-_______-_______-_______

VirtualCenterAgent2 SerialNumber_______-_______-_______-_______

VirtualCenterMgmtServer SerialNumber_______-_______-_______-_______


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Operating Systems and Applications

Pleasemarkalloperatingsystemsandservicepacksthatwillbetested:

Microsoft___WindowsServer2003EnterpriseEdition(baseorServicePack1)

___WindowsServer2003StandardEdition(baseorServicePack1)

___WindowsServer2003WebEdition(baseorServicePack1)

___WindowsServer2003SmallBusinessServerEdition(baseorServicePack1)

___WindowsXPProfessional(ServicePack1or2)

___Windows2000Server(ServicePack3or4)

___Windows2000AdvancedServer(ServicePack3or4)

___WindowsNT4.0Server(ServicePack6a)

Linux

___RedHatLinux7.2,7.3,8.0and9.0___RedHatEnterpriseLinux(AS)2.1(Update5)

___RedHatEnterpriseLinux(AS)3.0(Update3)

___SUSELinux8.2,9.0,9.1,9.2and9.3

___SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer(SLES)8and9

Novell

___NovellOpenEnterpriseServer(ServicePack2)

___NovellNetWare6.5(ServicePack2)

___NovellNetWare6.0(SupportPack5)

___NovellNetWare5.1(SupportPack7)

FreeBSD

___FreeBSD4.10

Other_________________________________


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Applications to be Tested

BelowisalistofapplicationsthatVMwarecustomerscommonlydeploywithinvirtualmachines.Markall

applicationstobetestedandaddanyadditionalapplicationsthatyourorganizationmayconsiderevaluat-

ingforconsolidationontovirtualinfrastructure.

Software Categories Software Products

Web Services MicrosoftIIS,Netscape,Apache,AllaireColdfusion

Application Servers BEAWebLogic,IBMWebSphere,.ASP

Enterprise Messaging MicrosoftExchange,LotusNotes,Groupwise,Sendmail,OtherPOP

&IMAPservices

Database Oracle,MicrosoftSQLServer,IBMDB2

File and Print Services Microsoft,Novell,Samba/CIFS,NFS

Remote Session Access CitrixMetaFrame,WindowsTerminalServices

Enterprise Applications SAP,Siebel,Peoplesoft,J.D.Edwards,MicrosoftGreatPlains,

OracleApplications

Business Integration MicrosoftBizTalk,IBMMQSeries

Helpdesk Applications Remedy

System Management HPOpenview,Tivoli,MSSystemsManagementServer,VMware

VirtualCenter

Backup Services VeritasBackupExec,VeritasNetBackup,TivoliStorageManager,CA

ArcServe,CommVaultGalaxy,LegatoNetworker,HPDataProtector

Network Services WindowsNT/2000DomainControllers,MSActiveDirectory,Sun

OneDirectoryServer,LDAP,WINS,DHCP,DNS

Firewall / Proxy Services Squid,NetscapeProxyServer,MicrosoftISA

Custom Developed & Legacy

Applications

CustomNTandLinuxapplications

Development andQuality Assurance

RationalTestSuite,MicrosoftVisualStudio,IBMVisualAge,MercuryInteractive


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9.2 oeew f he En depymen

ThediagrambelowshowsanoverviewofastandardVirtualCenterinfrastructuredeploymentwitha

VirtualCenterServerconnectingtomultipleVirtualCenterClientsandmultipleVirtualInfrastructureNodes

(VINs).TheVINscanuselocalSCSIstorageforvirtualmachinesorpreferablyastorageareanetworktobe

abletoutilizeVMotiontechnologyandincreaseflexibilityandbusinesscontinuity

Thenextdiagramshowsasimplifiedviewofavirtualinfrastructuredeploymentforthisevaluationwhere

theVirtualCenterClientandManagementServerandDatabaseareallinstalledonthesamecomputerto

minimizehardwarerequirementsandtheESXVirtualInfrastructureNode(VIN)isusinglocalSCSIstorage

forboththeESXServerinstallationandforvirtualmachinestorage.Optionalactivitiesinchapters15and

16ofthisevaluationguideincludeusingasharedSANtostorevirtualmachinesformultipleESXServer

licenses.ThisconfigurationenablesVMotionmigrationsofrunningvirtualmachinesacrossESX

Serverhosts.

Note: IfanextrasystemforVirtualCenterisnotavailable,itispossibletoinstalltheVirtualCenterServer

intoavirtualmachineononeoftheinstancesofESXServeritwillmanage.Inproductiondeployments,VMwarerecommendsthattheVirtualCenterManagementServeranddatabasecomponentsbeinstalled

onmultipleserversand/orinseparatevirtualmachines.


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9.3 typc En tmene

ThissectionoutlinesatestplanforevaluatinganESXServerVirtualInfrastructureNodemanagedby

VirtualCenter.ThistimelinehighlightsthecommontaskswhensettingupanESXServerandVirtualCenter,

creatingvirtualmachinesandmanagingtheESXServerandthevirtualmachinesfromVirtualCenter.You

maychoosetomodifythissectionwhereappropriatetofitwithintheirenvironment.Thislististoserve

asaguidelineonly.Thetimelineassociatedwiththechecklistrepresentssuggestionsforatypical30-day

VMwareevaluationperiod.

Evaluation Planning & Environment Setup

Timeline:Completepriortosoftwareinstallation

VerifythatyourhardwaremeetstherequirementsintheVMwarecompatibilityguides

ConfirmthattargetESXServerandVirtualCenterServerandclientsystemshavenetworkconnectivity

Confirmaccesstoinstallationmedia,documentation,websupportforums,etc

ESX Server & VirtualCenter Installation & Overview

Timeline:Week1:Day1

InstallESXServeronthedesignatedserver

InstallRemoteConsoleonmanagementworkstation

InstallVirtualCenterManagementServeronthedesignatedserverusingthedefaultAccessdatabase

InstallVirtualCenterManagementClientonthemanagementworkstation

Virtual Machine Functional Testing

Timeline:Week1:Day2-5

Createavirtualmachine

InstallthevirtualmachineoperatingsystemusinglocalmediaoroperatingsystemISOimage

PoweronthevirtualmachineandinstallVMwareToolsinthevirtualmachine

Configureandtestbasicnetworkconnectivityofavirtualmachine

Createatemplatefromavirtualmachine

Deployandcustomizethetemplateasanewvirtualmachine

Cloneavirtualmachinetocreateanewone

Createascheduledtask

Createanalert

OptionallyconfiguretheESXServertostorevirtualmachinesonaSAN

OptionallyinstallasecondESXServer,configureandrunaVMotionMigration

Application Functional & Load Testing

Timeline:Week1-4

Installtargettestapplicationsinvirtualmachine

Configureapplicationsettingsinvirtualmachinesperyourstandardprocess

ApplicationfunctionaltestApplicationstartswithouterrorsandfunctionsasitdoesonaphysicalserver

Simulateactualrealworldloadonapplicationinthevirtualmachine

MonitorvirtualmachineperformancewithexistingperformancetoolssuchasPerfMon

Haveanendusertestcorefunctionalityofapplicationsinavirtualmachine


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9.4 Hwe reqemen f EsX see

MakesuretheserveryouintendtoinstallESXServeronmeetsthefollowingminimumrequirements:

Minimum Server Requirements VMware ESX ServerProcessors 2-16Processors

CPUSpeed 1GHzPentiumIIIXeonorabove

1GHzAMDOpteronorabove

RAM 512MBminimum;2+GBrecommended(sufficientRAMforeachvirtualmachineandtheserviceconsole)

EthernetControllers 1-3EthernetAdapters

1EthernetAdapterisrequiredfortheServiceConsole(thisadapter

canbesharedwithvirtualmachinesbutthisisnotrecommendedfor

performanceandsecurityreasons),

1ormoreEthernetAdaptersarerequiredforVirtualMachinesto

accessthenetworkthroughvirtualswitches,and

1additionaldedicatedEthernetAdapterisrequiredtosupportVMotionMigrations.VMwarerecommendsusingadedicated

GigabitconnectionforVMotionmigrationsforhighperformance.

Supportedcontrollersinclude:

BroadcomNetXtreme570xGigabitcontrollers

IntelPRO/100adapters

IntelPRO/1000adapters

ThenormalpreferredminimumnumberofEthernetAdaptersis

threeonededicatedtotheserviceconsole,one(ormore)dedicatedto

thevirtualmachines,andonededicated

toVMotion.

DiskControllers 1InternalSCSIcontrollerwithlocallyattachedSCSIHardDrive

1HostBusAdapterconnectedtoaSAN(Optional)

ThesupportedSCSIcontrollersareAdaptecUltra-160andUltra-320,LSI

LogicFusion-MPTandmostNCR/SymbiosSCSIcontrollers.Thesup-

portedRAIDcontrollersareHPSmartArray,DellPercRAID(Adaptec

RAIDandLSIMegaRAID),IBM(Adaptec)ServeRAID,IntelRAIDandMylex

RAIDcontrollers.ThesupportedFibreChanneladaptersareEmulexand

QLogichost-busadapters(HBAs).

ASCSIdisk,FibreChannelLUNorRAIDLUNwithunpartitionedspace.In

aminimumconfiguration,thisdiskorRAIDissharedbetweentheservice

consoleandthevirtualmachines.

DiskSpace SufficientdiskspaceonlocalSCSIdisksorontheSANforthevirtual

machinestobedeployedonVMFSformattedpartitions.

9GBinternalminimum;36GB+recommended(4GBisrequiredforESX

Serverandserviceconsoleinstallation.Theadditionalspacecanbeused

forvirtualmachinesandtostoreguestoperatingsystemISOimages.

VirtualmachinesrunningWindows2003Servertypicallyneed4GBof

spacefortheoperatingsystemandapplications.)Notethatwhilealocal

SCSIdiskoraSANisrequiredforVMFS,additionalnon-VMFSpartitionsand

eventhemainESXServerinstallationaresupportedonIDEdisks.


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9.5 Hwe reqemen f vCene Mnemen see

Makesuretheserver,workstationorlaptopyouintendtoinstallVirtualCenterManagementServeron

meetsthefollowingminimumrequirements:

Minimum Server Requirements VMware VirtualCenter Management Server

Processors 1Processor

CPUSpeed 1GHzorfasterx86Processor

RAM 512MB,2GBpreferred

Operating System Windows XPProfessional

Windows2000ServerorAdvancedServer

Windows2003Enterprise,Standard,WebEditions

EthernetControllers 110/100MbpsNIC

DiskSpace 30MBVirtualCenter installation(Morediskspace isneeded

ifthetemplateuploaddirectoryismaintainedonthe

VirtualCenterManagementServer)

10MBVirtualCenterdatabase

NotethatifasystemisntavailabletohosttheVirtualCenterServerandDatabase,theycanbeinstalled

andhostedwithinavirtualmachineontheESXServer.

Requirements for Optional VMotion Evaluation

FurtherdetailonVMotionRequirementsisavailableinsection16.2ofthisdocument,butyouwill

essentiallyneedthefollowinghardwaretoevaluatetheVMotionmigrationofrunningvirtualmachines

betweenESXServers:

2ormoreESXServerswithcompatibleprocessorstosupportvirtualmachinetransferfromonetoanother

SharedSANforvirtualmachinestoragesothatvirtualmachinefilesdonothavetobemoved

DedicatedGigabitEthernetNetworkbetweentheESXServerstosupporttherapidtransferofdata

9.6 Hwe reqemen f reme Mnemen Wkn

MakesuretheworkstationorlaptopyouintendtoinstallVirtualCenterManagementClientandthe

RemoteConsoleonmeetsthefollowingminimumrequirements:

Minimum Server Requirements VMware VirtualCenter Management Client & Remote

Console Client

CPUSpeed Standardx86-basedcomputer

266MHzorfasterprocessor

RAM 64MBRAMminimum

Operating System Windows XPorXP Professional

Windows2000Professional,ServerorAdvancedServer

Windows2003Enterprise,Standard,WebEditions,and

SmallBusinessWindowsNT4.0WorkstationorServer,ServicePack6a

Linux(RemoteConsoleClientonly)

WebBrowser InternetExplorer6.0orhigher

NetscapeNavigator7.0

Mozilla1.x

EthernetControllers 110/100MbpsNIC

DiskSpace 10MBfreediskspacerequiredforbasicinstallation


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9.7 ge open syem sppe

ThefollowingtableliststhesupportedguestoperatingsystemsinESXServer2.5.VMwareVirtualSMPcan

beusedtoconfigureguestoperatingsystemsmarkedasSMP-CapablefordualvirtualCPUconfigurations.

Guest Operating System SMP Capable?

WindowsServer2003(Enterprise,Standard,WebEditions,andSmallBusiness) Yes

WindowsXPProfessional(ServicePack1or2) No

Windows2000Server&AdvancedServer(ServicePack3or4) Yes

WindowsNT4.0Server(ServicePack6a) No

RedHatLinux7.3and8.0 No

RedHatLinux7.2and9.0 Yes

RedHatEnterpriseLinux(AS)2.1(Update5)and3.0(Update3) Yes

SUSELinux8.2,9.1and9.3 No

SUSELinux9.0and9.2 Yes

SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer(SLES)8and9.0 Yes

NovellNetWare6.5(SupportPack2)5,6.0(SupportPack5)and5.1(SupportPack7) No

FreeBSD4.10 No

9.8 dwn Pc Bne n Bn Cd-roM

AfteryousuccessfullysignupfortheVINevaluation,youwillreceiveanemailcontainingyourevaluation

licensekeysandinstructionsfordownloadingESXServerandVirtualCenter.Onceyouhaveaccessedand

downloadedthesoftware,burntheISOimagefilestoanESXServerCD-ROMandaVirtualCenterCD-ROM

tosupporttheinstallation.

9.9 Hepf technc tp

How to Access the ESX Server Service Console Remotely

YoucanuseafreeSSHclienttoaccesstheserviceconsoleremotely.Puttyisavailablefordownloadat

http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html.Noinstallationisrequired.Simplyrun

theclient,selecttheSSHradiobutton(ratherthanthedefaulttelnet),entertheIPaddressofyourESX

ServeranclicktheOpenbuttontoconnect.Youcansavethisprofileforfutureaccess.

How to Transfer Files to the ESX Server using FTP Utilities

OnceyouhaveenabledFTPAccessontheESXServer(seestep36onpage40),youcanuseafreeFTP

ClientsuchasWinSCP (http://winscp.net/eng/download.php)toaccessthedirectorystructureontheESX

Serverandcopyoverfilesasneeded.AcommonexamplewouldbetoplaceISOimagesofoperating

systeminstallationdisksinthe/vmimagespartition.


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How to Transfer Files to the ESX Server using a Mounted SMB Share

ThesmbmountcommandcanbeusedmountaremoteSMBsharefromtheESXServerServiceConsole.

FirstlogintotheServiceConsoleasrooteitherdirectlyfromtheserverorremotely.Runsmbmountusing

thefollowingsyntax:smbmount /// / -o

ip=,username=,password=

YoucanrunsmbclientLtoidentifytheserverandsharenamesavailableonatargetserver.

Shutdown the ESX Server Cleanly

ToshutESXServerfromtheServiceConsolecommandline,usethefollowingcommand:

shutdown h now

Additional Troubleshooting & Performance Tuning Tools

BoththeESXServerManagementUserInterface(MUI)andVirtualCenterprovidesignificantdetailon

serveractivityandresourceutilization,butseveralmoregranulartoolsarealsoavailabletosupport

troubleshootingandperformancetuning.

esxtopesxtopisapowerfultoolthatlistsCPUutilizationforeachphysicalprocessor,memory

utilization,anddiskandnetworkbandwidthforeachforeachdeviceavailabletotheESXServer.

DocumentationonesxtopisavailableinaVMwaredocumentUsingesxtoptoTroubleshoot

PerformanceProblemsavailableathttp://www.vmware.com/pdf/esx2_using_esxtop.pdf.

vmkusageTheweb-basedvmkusageutilitydisplayshistoricalgraphsthatshowphysicalserver,

ESXServersystemandvirtualmachinestatistics.Bydefault,thesegraphsshowthemostrecent,daily

andweeklydata.Thevmkusageutilitygathersthestatisticsitusestogeneratedthegraphsfrom

theESXServermachines/procnodes.Documentationonthevmkusageutilityisavailableina

VMwaredocumentUsingvmkusagetoIsolatePerformanceProblemsavailableat

http://www.vmware.com/pdf/esx2_using_vmkusage.pdf.


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10. inn EsX seeThissectiondescribeshowtoinstallESXServeronyourserver:

1. EnsuretheservermeetstheminimumhardwarerequirementsandiscompatiblewithESXServer.

2. VerifythatanetworkcableispluggedintotheEthernetadapterthatyouareusingforthe service

consoleandanyEthernetadaptersthatyouwillbeusingforvirtualmachines.TheESXServerinstaller

needsthistoproperlydetectthatthemachinehasanetworkcard.Alsoverifythattheserveris

configuredintheBIOStobootfromtheCD-ROM.

3. Ifyouaregoingtobe evaluatingESXServerwiththeuseofaSAN,removeanyHBAfibercables

duringtheESXinstallandplugthembackinonceESXhasbeeninstalled.Thiswillensureyoudont

accidentallyinstalltheESXServerServiceConsoleontheSAN.

4. PoweronthemachinewiththeVMwareESXServerCDinthe CD-ROMdrive.TheESXServerbegins

itsbootprocess.TheInstallationBootScreenOptionswindowwillappearandofferalternativesto

thestandardgraphicalinstallation.Youcanusetheseoptionsinthefuturetosupportmoreadvanced

installationssuchasinstallingESXServeronanIBMBladeconfigurationortobootfromaSAN.

NotethatyoualsomayneedtousetheText-modeinstallerifyoursystemusesagraphicschipnotsupportedbyESXServer,orifyourkeyboardandmousedonotfunctionproperlyusingthe

graphicalinstaller.

5. PressEntertobeginastandardESXServerinstallationorletthetimerautomaticallycountdownto

beginthestandardinstallation.


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6.Pressenter.TheWelcomescreenappears.SelectNexttobegintheinstallation.

7. TheInstallationTypescreenappears.SelectInstall DefaulttoinstallESXServeronanewsystem.

Notethatthisoptionperformsafullinstallationanddestroysanypreviouslysavedinformationonthe

selectedpartitions.SelectNexttocontinue.ACustominstallallowsyoutoselectadditionalconfigura-

tionoptionsforyourkeyboardandmouse.

8.TheEndUserLicenseAgreementscreenappears.Readthroughtheenduserlicenseagreementand

checkI accept the terms in the license agreement.SelectNexttocontinue.


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9. TheVMwareESXServerSerialNumbersscreenappears.Enterthe ESXServerserialnumbersentto you

byemailintheVMwareESXServerfield.Notethatenteringtheserialnumberisnotarequiredstep

forcompletingtheinstallation.Youmayenteritatalatertime.Ifyouskipthisstep,however,youwill

notbeabletostartvirtualmachinesinyourESXServer.IfyouhavealicenseforVMwareVirtualSMPforESXServer,enterthatserialnumberintheVMwareVirtualSMPforESXServerfieldtoconfigure

yourvirtualmachineswithmorethanonevirtualprocessor.EnteringtheserialnumberinstallsVMware

VirtualSMPforESXServer.SelectNexttocontinue.

10. TheDeviceAllocationscreenappearstodefinehowtosetupyoursystemdevices.Configurethe

serviceconsoleincludingreservedmemory,SCSIstoragecontroller,Ethernetcontrollers,andfibre

channeldevices.

11. SelectReservedMemoryThedefaultamountofmemory reservedfortheserviceconsole,192MB,

issufficientformanaginguptoeightvirtualmachinesconcurrently.Changethisto272MBforupto

16virtualmachines,384MBforupto32virtualmachinesor512MBformorethan32virtualmachines.

Choose800MBforthemaximumnumberofvirtualmachines.


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12. ConfigureSCSIStorageControllersAllocatestorageadapterstobeusedbytheserviceconsoleand

virtualmachinesontheserver.Ensurethatboththeserviceconsoleandthevirtualmachineshave

accesstoatleastonestoragedevice.ASCSIorRAIDadaptershouldbesharedifyouwanttousethat

adapterorarrayforboththeserviceconsoleandtohostvirtualmachines.WhenyouareallocatingSCSIorRAIDdevices,theunitofdeviceallocationisaPCIcarddevice.YoumayconnectmultipleSCSI

orRAIDdisks,CD-ROMdrives,tapedrivesandotherdevicestotheSCSIorRAIDadapter.Youshould

giveasmanySCSIorRAIDdevicestothevirtualmachinesaspossibletoensurethatthemajorityof

yourmassstorageresourcesareavailabletoyourvirtualmachines.Beforecontinuing,ensurethata

localSCSIdiskisallocatedtovirtualmachinesandsharedwiththeserviceconsole.Thisshouldbe

thedefaultsettingandnotrequireanychanges.

13. ConfigureEthernetControllersAllocatenetworkadapterstobeusedbytheserviceconsoleand

virtualmachinesontheserver.Notethatthefirstnetworkadapterdiscoveredwillautomaticallybe

allocatedtotheserviceconsole(thisallocationcanlaterbechangedintheVMwareManagement

Interface)andisrequiredinordertomanagetheESXServerremotely.Allothernetworkadapters

shouldbeallocatedtovirtualmachines.

14. TheDiskPartitioningSetupscreenappearsandliststwochoicesforthetypeofdiskpartition:

a. ManualPartitioningyoumanuallycreateeachpartition.Besuretodeleteanyexistingpartitions.

Thisistherecommendedoptionforthisevaluationinstallation.

b. AutomaticPartitioningtheinstallerestimatesandcreatesdefaultpartitionsonyourdisk.You

canedittheseautomaticselectionsaftertheyaresuggestedandbeforetheyarecreated.

Automaticpartitioningallowsyoutohavesomecontrolconcerningwhatdata(ifany)isremoved

fromyoursystem.

WhenusingAutomaticPartitioning,youcanselecttoeitherremoveallpartitionsorpreserveanexisting

VMFSpartition:

a. Removeallpartitionsremovesallpartitionsonthesystem.Thisistherecommendedoption

fornewinstallations.Notethatyouwilllaterseeawarningscreenconfirmingthatyouwantto

removeallpartitions.

b. RemoveallpartitionsexceptVMFSremovesallpartitionsonthesystembutkeepstheVMFSpar-

titionwhereyourvirtualmachinesarestored.Thisistherecommendedoptionifyouarere-install-

ingandwanttopreserveyourexistingvirtualmachinesontheVMFSpartition.

c. InstallationDrivesliststheharddriveselectionsavailable.Thesearebasedontheharddrives

detectedbytheESXServerinstaller.Theserviceconsoleisinstalledontheharddriveselected.

IntheInstallationDrivesdialog,ensurethecorrectSCSIdiskisselectedforthesuccessfulinstallationofthe

ServiceConsole.TheSCSIdiskwilllikelybeidentifiedwithadevicenameofsdaorccissratherthananIDE

harddrivenameofhda.SelectNexttocontinue.


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j. Whenfinishedcreatingpartitions,the

partitiondefinitionshouldbesimilartothis

screenshot.SelectNextonthe

partitioningscreentocontinue.

Belowisasummaryoftherecommendedpartitions:

MountPoint FileSystem

Type

Size(MB) AdditionalSize

Options

Forcetobe

aPrimary

Partition

UsedBy

/boot ext3 50MB FixedSize Select ServiceConsole

NotApplicable swap 2x Ser viceConsoleMemory(e.g.384MB)

Fixed Size Select Ser viceConsole

/ (root) ext3 1,800MB FixedSize Select ServiceConsole

NotApplicable vmkcore 100MB FixedSize DonotSelect*

VMkernel

/vmimages** ext3 10,000MBorasdesired

FixedSize DonotSelect

Exportedvirtualdisks,virtualmachinetemplates,ISOimagesandotherlargefiles

/home ext3 1,800MBorasdesired


Personalfilesforserviceconsoleusers;VMconfigfilesandlogs

/var ext3 2,000MBorasdesired


Usedforfileswhichcanvaryinsizesuchaslogfiles

/tmp ext3 2,000MBorasdesired


Usedfortemporaryfiles

NotApplicable(automaticallycreatedas/vmfs/)

vmfs2 Restofdisk Filltomaximumallowablesize(orfixedsizeifnotusingrestofdisk)

DonotSelect

VMwareFileSystem(VMFS)

ThisisthelocationforlocaldiskvirtualmachinesnotstoredonaLUN

*Bynotforcingthefourthpartitiontobeprimary,anextendedpartitionoccupyingtheremainderofthe

diskwillbecreated,andthevmkcoreandanysubsequentpartitionswillbecreatedaslogicalpartitions

withintheextendedpartition.

**The /vmimagespartitionisoptionalandsizedat10,000MB(10GB)asanexample.Imagesandother

workingfilescanalternatelybestoredinalarger/homepartition.Inpractice,thesepartitionsshouldbe

sizedaccordingtothespecificneedsofyourenvironment.


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17. TheNetworkConfigurationscreenappears.Enterthenetworkparameters.UsingastaticIPaddressis

highlyrecommendedfortheevaluation.

Theoptionsare:

a. DHCPallowsthisprocesstodetermine

networksettingseachtimetheESX

Serversystemboots.Caution:Selecting

thisoptionrequiresthatyourDNS

serveriscapableofmappingtheservice

consoleshostnametothedynamically

generatedIPaddress.SeetheVMware

ESXServerAdministrationGuidefor

instructionsandcautionsonsettingupa

DHCP-basedserviceconsole.

b. StaticIPenterthehostnameinthe

Hostnamefield,IPaddressintheIP

Addressfield,thenetmaskintheNetmaskfield,thenetworkgatewayintheGatewayfieldandtheprimaryandsecondarynameserversin

thePrimaryDNSandSecondaryDNSfields.

Note: Besuretoincludethefulldomainnameifyouarerunningwithdomains.

Note: Setupdoesnotaskfornetworkparametersifyoudonothaveanetworkcard.Initially,onlythefirst

Ethernetcardisenabled.Allothernetworkadaptersaredisabled.

Note: IfyouneedtolaterchangethehostnameoftheESXServer,refertoKnowledgeBasearticle#861on

theVMwareWebsiteforinstructions.

18. SelectNexttocontinue.TheTimeZoneSelectionscreenappears.Selectyourtimezone.


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19. SelectNexttocontinue.TheAccountConfigurationscreenappears.Specifyyourdesiredroot

password.RootistheusernamefortheadministratorontheESXServer.Userswithadministrator

privilegesloginwiththisnamewhenusingtheVMwareManagementInterfaceortheservicecon-

sole.

20. Toaddauseraccount,selectAdd.TheAddUserscreenappears.Addatleastoneusersuchas

esxuser.YouneedaccountsforalluserswhoneedtologintotheVMwareManagementinterfaceto

createormanagevirtualmachines.Ifyouwish,youmayaddthoseusersatthistime.Select OKto

continueaddingusersasdesired.SelectNexttocontinue.

21. TheAbouttoInstallscreenappearsanddisplaysthelocationofthe installationlogfile.SelectNext

tocontinue.Theinstallerformatsthediskandstartsinstallingthepackages.


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22. Oncethepackagesareinstalled,

theCongratulations,ESXServer

InstallationisCompletescreen

appears.RebootthesystembyclickingNext.RemovetheCD-

ROMfromthedrivewhenitis

ejectedduringtherebootpro-

cess.

23. Afterthefullreboot,checkthe

ServiceConsolemonitor.You

shouldseeascreenadvising

youtouseawebbrowserto

continuethesetupprocess

usingtheURLfortheESXServer

ManagementUserInterface

(MUI).TheURLwillbethehost

nameorIPaddressoftheESXServer.

24. Fromyourdesktopsystem,openawebbrowsertothe IPaddressofyourESXServertoaccessthe

MUI.ThefirsttimeyouuseaWebbrowsertomakeasecureconnectiontoanESXServer,adialog

boxaskswhetheryouwanttoacceptthesecuritycertificatepresentedbytheserver.Acceptingthe

certificateallowsyoutoaccesstheserverthroughtheVMwareManagementInterface.Whenyou

connecttothemanagementinterfacewithanInternetExplorerbrowser,aSecurityAlertdialogbox

appears.Toseedetailsofandoptionallyinstallthecertificate,clickView Certificate.Acceptthe

certificateandproceedtocontinue.


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25. LogintotheVMwareManagementUserInterfaceasuserroot.NotethatifthelocalDNSserverdid

notknowtheIPaddressoftheESXServerorthehostnameyouassignedtoyourESXServer,you

canputanentryinthehostsfileofyourdesktopsystem.

26. ThisisthenativeManagementUserInterface(MUI)usedforaccessingindividualESXServers

independentlyoftheVirtualCenterManagementClient.Weareusingitheretoperformsomeinitial

configurationsandtoprovideabriefintroductiontotheMUI,buttherestofthisevaluationwill

demonstratemanagingESXServersfromwithinVirtualCenter.

Notethewarningaboutthenon-existenceofswapspaceandvirtualEthernetswitches.Thesewarnings

willdisappearonceyoucompletetheremainingconfigurationsteps.

27.ClicktheOptionstabtoreachtheOptionspageoftheMUItoprovideavolumelabelforyourlocal

VMFS.Notethatifyouarenotloggedinasrootthenthe Optionstabwillnotbeavailable.


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28. OntheOptionstab,clickonStorage Management toaccessasummaryofallthestoragedevices

thatareavailabletoyourESXServer.

29. FindtheVMFSyoucreatedandclicktheEditlinknexttoittochangethevolumelabeltoaname

thatreflectsitspurposeorlocationsuchasLocalVMFS.Youshouldleavetheothersettingsattheir

defaultvalues.ClosethesewindowstoreturntotheOptionstab.


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30. FromtheStatusMonitorpageoftheMUI,clicktheReconfigurelinknexttothewarningaboutswap

spacetocreateaVMkernelswapfile.Thiswilltakeyoutothe Optionstabwhereyouwillseethat

therearenoswapfilesconfiguredoractive.Clickthe Createlinktoconfigureaswapfile.

31. Attheswapconfigurationscreen,clickOKtoacceptthedefaultsandcreateaVMkernelswapfile.

MakesuretheswapfileisalwaysplacedonlocalVMFS-2storageandnotonexternalstorage.

ClickOKtocontinue.


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32. Theswapconfigurationpagenowshowsyournewly definedswapspace,andshowsthatitwillbe

activatedateachreboot,butitisnotcurrentlyactive.Click Activatetobeginusingthenewswap

withoutneedingtoreboot.YouarereturnedtotheStatusMonitorpage.

33.NextfollowtheReconfigurelinknexttothewarningaboutvirtualEthernetswitchestocreatethe

switchestobeusedbyyourvirtualmachines.Youwillnowseeapagedescribingvirtualswitches,portgroupsandtheirconnections.Clickthe Createlinkatthebottomofthepagetobegincreating

yourswitches.

34. Createtwoorthreevirtualswitcheschangingthelabelfromthe defaultNetwork0toamore

descriptivelabel.

a. Createavirtualswitchwith networklabelInternal0with noboundnetworkadapter

b. Createavirtualswitchwith networklabelExternal0with anoutboundadapter

c. IfyouareevaluatingVMotion,createathirdvirtualswitchVMotionforthededicatedVMotion

networkpath.


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35. Notethatyouwillreturnherelatertocreateadditionalswitchesbasedonthenetworkingneedsof

futurevirtualmachines.Reviewyourvirtualswitchestoensurethateachoutboundadapterisbound

toitsownvirtualswitch,andthatthereisatleastoneinternalvirtualswitchthatisnotboundtoany

physicalNIC.Theresultingconfigurationwillshowthetwoorthreebasicvirtualswitches.ClosethiswindowtoreturntotheStatusMonitor.Noticethatbothwarningsarenowcleared.

36. OntheOptionstab,clickonSecurity Settingstab.Securityissetto HighbydefaultforallESX

Serverinstallations,disablingunnecessaryserveraccessprotocolsandencryptingallcommunication.

IfyouneedtoaccessortransferfilestoorfromtheESXServer,youwillneedtoselectivelyreduce

thedefaultHighSecuritySettingstoMedium, Low oraCustomleveltoenableservicessuchasFTP,

Telnet,SSHsecureremoteloginsandNFSfilesharing.ClickOKtocontinue.

37. ThiscompletestheESXServerconfigurationusingtheMUIclient.Youmightspendafewminutes

browsingtheuserinterfacetofamiliarizeyourselfwiththeoptionsavailable.

Forexample,noticethatthereisaManage FileslinkintheupperrightcorneroftheMUIthatletsyou

browsethefilesontheESXServer.YoucanalsoelecttodownloadandinstalltheVMwareRemote

ConsoleforWindowsorLinuxfromthebottomoftheStatusMonitorwindow.Thisisastandaloneversion

oftheconsolebrowseravailableintheVirtualCenterclientthatallowsyoutoviewandmanagevirtual

machineswithkeyboardandmouseinput.

Closethewindowtologoutwhenfinished.


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11. inn vCene Mnemen see

n CenThefollowingstepsshouldbeastraightforwardinstallationoftheVirtualCentersoftwareintoaWindows

environment.AsingleinstallerpackagecontainstheVirtualCenterclient,VirtualCenterserver,andthe

VMwareSDKWebservice.YoucaninstalltheVirtualCenterclientandVirtualCenterservercomponents

separatelyoronthesameWindowssystem.Youcanalsorepeatthisinstallationtoinstalljustthe

VirtualCenterclientonothercomputersforeaseofaccessduringtheevaluation.

NotethatifasystemisntavailabletohosttheVirtualCenterServerandDatabase,thesecomponents

canbeinstalledandhostedwithinavirtualmachineontheESXServer.RefertoChapter2,Creatingand

ConfiguringVirtualMachines,intheESXServer2AdministrationGuideforinstructionsoncreatinga

virtualmachineusingtheESXServerManagementUserInterface.YoucantheninstalltheVirtualCenter

ServerontoavirtualmachinerunningontheESXServer.

VirtualCentersupportsthreetypesofdatabaseformats:

MicrosoftAccess(default) MicrosoftSQLServer2000,MicrosoftSQLServer7

Oracle8i,9i,10g

ThisevaluationwillusethedefaultMicrosoftAccessdatabasefordemonstrationandtrialpurposes.Using

theMicrosoftAccessdatabaseforproductionenvironmentsisnotrecommendedforperformancereasons.

inn he vCene Mnemen see n Cen

ThissectiondescribeshowtoinstallVirtualCenteronyoursystemwhenthereisnootherVirtualCenter

installationpresent.ToinstalltheVirtualCenterclientandserveronyoursystem:

1. EitherloadtheinstallationdiskimagecreatedearlierordownloadtheVirtualCenterinstallerfilefrom

theVMwaresecureWebsitetoalocaldrive.

2. Runtheinstaller.Double-clicktheVMwareinstallationiconorselectStart > Runandenterthe

locationoftheinstallerintheRunwindow.TheVirtualCenterinstallerpreparestoinstallthe

components.IfyoudonothaveMicrosoft.NETFrameworkversion1.1onyourmachine,aprompt

appearstoaskifyouwishtoinstallit.IfyouclickYes,thentheinstallerautomaticallyinstallsthis

package.Ifyouhaveinstalledanolderversion,

thentheinstallerautomaticallyupgradesyour

versiontoversion1.1.

3. VerifyyouareinstallingtheVirtualCenterproduct.

ClickNext.

4. AccepttheVMwarelicenseterms.ClicktheAccept

button,thenclickNext.

5. EnteryourcustomerinformationUser Nameand

Organizationname.ThenclickNexttocontinue

theinstallation.


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9. OnthenextVirtualCenterWebServiceconfigura-

tionwindow,enterauser nameandpassword

ofauserintheadministratorsgrouponthelocal

machinetoenableWebServicesaccesstotheVirtualCenterManagementServer.

10.Verifythatyouarereadytoproceedwithinstallation.ClickInstalltocontinuetheinstallation.

11.Progressmessagesappearwhiletheinstallationproceeds.TheVirtualCenterinstaller,asspecified,

installstheVirtualCenterserver,startstheVirtualCenterdatabase,performsadefaultAccessdatabase

setupoftheopendatabaseconnectivity(ODBC),registersandactivatestheVirtualCenterserver,and

installstheVirtualCenterclient.

12.ClickFinishtoclosetheinstallationwizard.TheselectedVirtualCentercomponentsareinstalledon

yourWindowscomputer.

Note:TheVirtualCenterservermustbeabletosenddatatoeveryVirtualCentermanagedhostand

receivedatafromeachVirtualCenterclient.Toenableanymigrationorprovisioningactivitiesbetween

VirtualCentermanagedhosts,thesourceandtargethostsmustbeabletoreceivedatafromeachother.

Duringnormaloperations,VirtualCenterislisteningfordatafromitsmanagedhostsandclientson

designatedports.Additionally,VirtualCenterassumesthatitsmanagedhostsarelisteningfordatafrom

VirtualCenterondesignatedports.Ifthereisafirewallbetweenanyoftheseelements,aholemustbe

createdtoallowdatatransfertothesedesignatedports.RefertotheVirtualCenterUsersGuidefor

instructionsifyouneedtoconnectyourVirtualCenterservertoclientsandhoststhroughafirewall.

Also,anoptionalsteptothatcanbeemployedtoimprovetheperformanceoftheMicrosoftAccess

database:

1. OpentheWindowsODBCDataSourceAdministrator.SelectSettings > Control Panel >

Administrative Tools > Data Sources (ODBC).

2. SelecttheSystem DSNtab.

3. SelectODBC Microsoft Access Setup.ClickOptions.

4. IncreasethebuffersizeandclickOK.Thedefaultvalueis2048.Changeitto8192.

RestarttheVirtualCenterserver,ifitisrunning.


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5. IfyourVirtualCenterserverdoesnot haveitslicensesinstalledyet,

thelicensingscreenappears.Tomakelicensesavailabletothe

VirtualCenterserver:

a. ClicktheAddLicenses

buttonandselectthelicensefilecreatedinthepreviousstep.

b. ClickOpenandyouwill

seethelicensesaddedtothelist.

c. ClickDoneontheLicensingscreen.Youarenowreadytoadd

hosts.

6.Next,intheinventorypaneoftheVirtualCentermanager,selectthe Server Farmsnodeandselectthe

File > New FarmmenutocreateanewFarm.Nameitsomethingdescriptivelike Evaluation Farm.

Youcanoptionallyselecttocreateasecondserverfarmcalled Production Farm.

7. NowselecttheEvaluation FarmyoujustcreatedandselectFile > New > Hostfromthemenu.Enter

theIPaddressoftheESXServerandtherootusersusernameandpassword.Notethatthispassword

isnotgoingtobestoredontheVirtualCenterServer.Inproductionenvironments,abestpracticeisto

createanewuseraccountontheESXServerhosttosupportthisconnection.Theconnectionprocess

maytakeseveralminutesasVirtualCenterinstallstheVirtualCenterAgentontheESXServertoenable

ongoingmanagementoftheESXServer.Onthenextscreen,selectto Not enable VMotiononthis

host.VMotionwillbeaddressedlaterinthisguideasanoptionalevaluationactivity,asitcanbecon-

figuredatanytimeforthishostviathehostproperties.Click Finishonthenextscreentocomplete

theAddHostwizard.


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8.NotethatyoucannowclickonanyoftheinventoryassetsintheleftInventoryPanefromtheFarms

toHoststovirtualmachinestoviewthestatusandpropertiesandselectfromtheavailable

managementactions.Wearenowreadytoaddandmanagenewvirtualmachinesandwillcontinue

withthatfollowingthenextchapterthatintroducessomenewconceptsusefulforunderstandingvirtualinfrastructure.


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12. unenn he v infce

12.1 vCene Mne v Mchne rnnn n Phyc H

VirtualCentermonitorsandmanagesvariouscomponentsofyourvirtualandphysicalinfrastructure:

Virtual machinesVirtualizedx86computerenvironmentsinwhichaguestoperatingsystem

andassociatedapplicationsoftwarecanrun.Multiplevirtualmachinescanoperateonthesame

managedhostmachineconcurrently.VirtualizationplatformsareVMwareproducts,suchasESX

Server,GSXServer,orWorkstation.Theseareusedtocreatethevirtualmachinesintheformofaset

ofconfigurationanddiskfilesthattogetherperformallthefunctionsofaphysicalmachine.Through

thevirtualizationplatform,yourunthevirtualmachines,installoperatingsystemsandrunapplications,

andconfigurethevirtualmachines.

HostsThephysicalcomputersonwhichthevirtualizationplatformsoftware,suchasESXServeror

GSXServer,isinstalled.ThesecomputersareaddedtotheVirtualCenterenvironmenttohostvirtual

machinesthroughtheAddHostwizard.WhenVirtualCenteraddsahost,itautomaticallydiscoversand

registersallthevirtualmachinesonthathost.Eachmanagedhostisthenassociatedwithaspecific

farm.

DatastoresVirtualmachinedisksareencapsulatedintofiles,whichinturnarestoredondatastores.

Virtualinfrastructuresabilitytoencapsulatedisksintofilessimplifiesstoragemanagementbyhiding

thedifferencesbetweenvariousstorageoptionssuchaslocalstorage,SANandNAS.

12.2 CPu, Memy n Hwe vzn

Theheartofvirtualizationisbasedonmanagingtheexecutionof

manyvirtualmachinesonafewprocessors.CPUsarevirtualized

whentheESXServerVMkernelhypervisordisplacestheoperating

systemkernelfromRing0intheCPUtoRing1.TheVMkernel

thendynamicallyschedulesprocessingtimeforvirtualmachines

andtheServiceConsole.Thisvirtualizationofprocessorscan

takeadvantageofhyperthreading,multi-coreandsymmetricmulti-processingCPUs.

Thisabilitytoshareapoolofprocessorsacrossmultipleworkloads

allowsapplicationsfromunder-utilizedserverstobesafelyconsoli-

datedontoasingleservertosafelyachievehigherutilization.


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MemoryisvirtualizednexttodynamicallyprovideeachvirtualmachinewithsufficientRAMtorun

efficiently.AswiththeCPUs,theadvantageofvirtualizationisthatallserverscanbesizedcollectivelyfor

peakloadsratherthanindividually,greatlyincreasingtheresourceutilization.

Twoadditionalvirtualizationfeatureshelpimprovememoryutilizationforvirtualmachines:RAMover-commitmentandtransparentpagesharing.

RAMover-commitmentsafelyincreasesRAMutilization

byallowingthesumofconfiguredmemoryforallvirtual

machinestoexceedthehostsphysicalmemory.ESXServer

handlesthisbyusingapre-configuredswapfilefor

temporarystorageifthememorydemandsfromvirtual

machinesexceedtheavailabilityofphysicalRAMonthe

hostserver.ESXServerletsvirtualmachinesmanage

theirownmemoryswapprioritizationbyusingmemory

ballooningtodynamicallyshiftmemoryfromidleVMsto

activeVMs.Memoryballooningartificiallyinducesmemory

pressurewithinidleVMsasneeded,forcingthemtouse

theirownpagingareasandreleasememoryformoreactive

orhigherpriorityVMs.RAMover-commitmentenables

greatflexibilityinsharingphysicalmemoryacrossmanyvirtualmachinessothatasubsetcanbenefitfrom

increasedallocationsofmemorywhenneeded.

Transparentpagesharingconservesmemoryacrossvirtualmachineswith

similarguestoperatingsystemsbyseekingoutmemorypagesthatare

identicalacrossmultiplevirtualmachinesandconsolidatingthemsothey

arestoredonlyonceandshared.

Thefinalcomponentsvirtualizedforsharing

withinhostserversaretherestofthehardware

devices.TheVMkernelvirtualizesthephysical

hardwareandpresentseachvirtualmachine

withastandardizedvirtualdevice.Itisexactly

thisstandardizationthatenablestheencapsu-

lationandportabilitybenefitsofvirtualization.

Thediagramontherightdepictsthecommon

standardcomponentsthatarevirtually

availabletoeveryvirtualmachinebasedon

dynamicmappingstophysicalhardware.


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Virt

Documents

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