vSphere and Virtualization

Overview

© 2022 VMware, Inc.

Learner Objectives
• Explain basic virtualization concepts
• Describe vSphere
• Describe how vSphere fits in the software-defined data center
• Describe vSphere+
• Recognize the user interfaces for accessing vSphere

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Terminology (1)
Virtualization is associated with several key concepts, products, and features.

Term Definition Examples

Operating system Software designed to allocate physical resources Microsoft Windows,
to applications Linux
Application Software that runs on an operating system, Microsoft Office, Chrome
consuming physical resources
Hypervisor Specialized operating system designed to run ESXi, Workstation,
VMs Fusion
Virtual machine Specialized application that abstracts hardware
resources into software
Guest The operating system that runs in a VM (also Microsoft Windows,
called the guest operating system) Linux
Host Physical computer that provides resources to the
ESXi hypervisor

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Terminology (2)

Term Definition
vSphere Server virtualization product of VMware that combines the ESXi
hypervisor and the vCenter Server management platform
Cluster Group of ESXi hosts whose resources are shared by VMs
vSphere vMotion Feature that supports the migration of powered-on VMs from host
to host without service interruption
vSphere HA Cluster feature that protects against host hardware failures by
restarting VMs on hosts that are running normally
vSphere DRS Cluster feature that uses vSphere vMotion to place VMs on hosts and
ensure that each VM receives the resources that it needs

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Data Center Physical Infrastructure

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M02_vSphere and Virtualization Overview | 1-8

About the Virtual Infrastructure

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About Virtual Machines
A virtual machine (VM) is a software representation of a physical computer and its components.

The virtual machine includes the following

components:
• Guest operating system
• VMware Tools
• Virtual resources, such as:
– CPU and memory
– Network adapters
– Disks and controllers
– GPUs

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Benefits of Using Virtual Machines
Physical machines have the following constraints: Virtual machines provide the following benefits:
• Difficult to move or copy • Easy to move or copy
• Bound to a specific set of hardware • Independent of physical hardware because
components VMs are encapsulated into files
• Often have a short life cycle • Isolated from other VMs running on the same
physical hardware
• Require personal contact to upgrade hardware
• Insulated from physical hardware changes

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About vSphere
vSphere is the virtualization platform that
includes two core administrative components for
running virtual machines:
• ESXi: Hypervisor on which you run virtual
machines
• vCenter: Central administration platform for
ESXi hosts, virtual machines, storage, and
networking

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Types of Virtualization
Virtualization is the process of
creating a software-based
representation of a physical unit,
such as a server, desktop,
network, or storage device.
Virtualization is the single most
effective way to reduce IT
expenses while boosting
efficiency and agility for all
business sizes.

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About the Software-Defined Data Center
In a software-defined data center (SDDC), all infrastructure is virtualized, and the control of the data
center is automated by software. vSphere is the foundation of the SDDC.

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About vSphere+
VMware vSphere+ is a subscription-based offering that brings the benefits of cloud to on-premises
workloads.
vSphere+ consists of on-premises and cloud components that interact with each other.
vSphere+ lets you centrally manage your on-premises workloads from a cloud console, with access
to cloud services.

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vSphere+: Accessing Cloud Services
vSphere+ lets you access cloud services to
augment and enhance on-premises capabilities:
• Admin Services
– Inventory management
– Events and alerts management
– VM provisioning
– Lifecycle management
– Configuration management
• Developer Services
– Tanzu Kubernetes Grid
– Tanzu integrated services
• Add-On Services
– Disaster recovery

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vSphere User Interfaces
You can use the vSphere Client, PowerCLI, VMware Host Client, vSphere ESXi Shell and ESXCLI to
interact with the vSphere environment.
For information about ports and protocols, see https://ports.vmware.com.

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vSphere Virtualization of Resources

© 2019 VMware Inc. All rights reserved.

Learner Objectives
• Explain how ESXi interacts with resources:
– CPUs
– Memory
– Networks
– Storage
– GPUs

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Virtual Machine: Guest and Consumer of ESXi Host
Any application in any supported
OS can run in a VM (guest) and
use CPU, memory, disk, and
network from host-based
resources.

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Physical and Virtual Architecture
Virtualization technology abstracts physical components to software components and provides
solutions for many IT problems.

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Physical Resource Sharing
Multiple VMs, running on a
physical host, share computing,
memory, network, and storage
resources of the host.

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CPU Virtualization
In a physical environment, the operating system assumes the ownership of all the physical CPUs in
the system.
CPU virtualization emphasizes performance and runs directly on the available CPUs.

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Physical and Virtualized Host Memory Usage
In a physical environment, the operating system assumes the ownership of all the physical memory in
the system.
Memory pages are allocated to virtual machines on first access.

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Physical and Virtual Networking
Virtual Ethernet adapters and virtual switches are key virtual networking components.

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Physical File Systems and Datastores
vSphere datastores provide a distributed storage architecture, where multiple ESXi hosts can read or
write to the shared storage concurrently.

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GPU Virtualization
GPU graphics devices optimize complex graphics operations. These operations can run at high
performance without overloading the CPU.

Virtual GPUs can be added to VMs for the

following use cases:
• Rich 2D and 3D graphics
• VMware Horizon virtual desktops
• Graphics-intensive applications
• Scientific computation applications
• Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning
(ML) workloads

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Sharing GPUs with vSphere Bitfusion
vSphere Bitfusion virtualizes hardware accelerators such as GPUs to provide a pool of shared,
network-accessible resources that support AI and ML workloads.

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Key Points
• Virtual machines are hardware independent.
• vSphere consists of two core components, ESXi and vCenter Server.
• The ESXi hypervisor runs directly on the host.
• VMs share the physical resources of the ESXi host on which they reside.
• vSphere abstracts CPUs, GPUs, memory, storage, and networking for VM use.
Questions?

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Installing and Configuring ESXi

© 2019 VMware Inc. All rights reserved.

Learner Objectives
• Describe the ESXi host architecture
• Navigate the Direct Console User Interface (DCUI) to configure an ESXi host
• Recognize the user account best practices
• Install an ESXi host
• Configure the ESXi host settings

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About ESXi
ESXi is a bare-metal hypervisor that is licensed as a part of vSphere. A free version is also available
as a standalone server.

ESXi has the following features:

• High security:
– Host-based firewall
– Memory hardening
– Kernel module integrity
– Trusted Platform Module (TPM 2.0)
– UEFI secure boot
– Encrypted core dumps
• Small disk footprint
• Quick boot for faster patching and upgrades
• Installable on hard disks, SAN LUNs, SSD,
SATADOM, and diskless hosts
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ESXi Installation Requirements
Ensure that the host meets the minimum hardware configurations supported by ESXi 8.0:
• Supported server platform
• At least two CPU cores
• At least 8 GB of physical RAM, 12 GB for a production environment
• One or more Gigabit or faster Ethernet controllers
• Boot disk of at least 32 GB of persistent storage

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Interactive ESXi Installation
An interactive installation is
recommended for small
deployments of fewer than five
hosts.
You boot from the installer and
follow the prompts in the
installation wizard:
• Start at the Welcome page.
• Accept the EULA.
• Select the disk.
• Select the keyboard layout.
• Enter the root password.
• Start the installation.

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Configuring an ESXi Host
During the ESXi installation, the ESXi host is given a DHCP-assigned IP address.
You use the ESXi host's DCUI to configure certain settings, such as the host's network settings.
The DCUI is a text-based user interface with keyboard-only interaction.

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Configuring an ESXi Host: Management Network
You must configure management network settings before your ESXi host is operational. By default, a
DHCP-assigned IP address is configured for the ESXi host.

Use the DCUI to configure management network

settings:
• Network adapter selection
• VLAN ID
• IPv4 and IPv6 configuration (IP address,
subnet mask, default gateway)
• Host name
• DNS servers and suffixes

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Configuring an ESXi Host: Root Access
Administrators use the DCUI to configure the root access settings:
• Change the root password (complex passwords only)
• Activate or deactivate the lockdown mode:
– Limits the management of the host to vCenter
– Can be configured only for hosts managed by a vCenter instance

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Configuring an ESXi Host: Other Settings
Using the DCUI, you can configure the keyboard layout, activate troubleshooting services, view
support information, and view system logs.

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Time Synchronization for the ESXi Host
To ensure precise timekeeping and synchronization between the ESXi host and the other
components of the vSphere network, you can synchronize an ESXi host's clock to a time reference.
Time synchronization is important:
• For accurate performance graphs
• For accurate time stamps in log messages
• So that virtual machines have a source to synchronize

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Methods for Synchronizing Time
You can use the time synchronization options:
• Manual configuration
• NTP, Network Time Protocol, providing
millisecond timing accuracy
• PTP, Precision Time Protocol, providing
microsecond timing accuracy
You can configure NTP or PTP using VMware Configuring time and date in VMware Host
Host Client or the vSphere Client. Client
The NTP and PTP services cannot run
simultaneously.

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Configuring NTP
An ESXi host can be configured
as an NTP client. It can
synchronize time with an NTP
server on the Internet or your
corporate NTP server.
NTP client uses UDP over port
123.

Configuring NTP using VMware Host Client

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Configuring PTP
PTP provisions hardware-based
timestamping for the virtual
machines and the hosts within a
network.
PTP client uses UDP over ports
319 and 320.
You can use NTP as a fallback if
the PTP service does not work.

Configuring PTP using the vSphere Client

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Controlling Remote Access to an ESXi Host
You can use the vSphere Client to customize the
essential security settings that control remote
access to an ESXi host:
• The ESXi firewall is activated by default.
The firewall blocks incoming and outgoing
traffic, except for the traffic activated in the
host’s firewall settings.
• Services, such as the NTP client and the SSH
client, are managed by users with
administrator privileges.
• Lockdown mode prevents remote users from
logging in to the host directly. The host is
accessible only through the DCUI or vCenter.

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Managing User Accounts: Best Practices
When assigning user accounts to access ESXi hosts or vCenter systems, you must follow these
security guidelines:
• Strictly control root access to the ESXi hosts.
• Create strong root account passwords that have at least eight characters. Use special characters,
case changes, and numbers. Change passwords periodically.
• Manage the ESXi hosts centrally through vCenter Server by using the vSphere Client.
• Minimize the use of local users on the ESXi hosts:
– Add the ESXi hosts to a domain and add the relevant administrator users to the ESX Admins
domain group. Users in the domain group have root privileges on the ESXi hosts.

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Key Points
• The Direct Console User Interface (DCUI) allows you to configure certain settings for ESXi hosts.
• Securing the root user account is very important to secure an ESXi host, as the user is the host's
most powerful user.
• NTP provides millisecond timing accuracy and PTP provides microsecond timing accuracy for
ESXi hosts.
Questions?

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 Deploying Virtual
Machines

© 2022 VMware, Inc.

Importance
Virtual machines are the foundation of your virtual infrastructure. Deploying VMs effectively involves
recognizing the different types of virtual hardware. It also requires skills in creating, cloning and
managing VMs and templates, modifying VMs, and updating templates.

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Module Lessons
1. Creating Virtual Machines
2. Virtual Machine Hardware Deep Dive
3. Modifying Virtual Machines
4. Creating Templates and Cloning VMs
5. Introduction to Content Libraries
6. Subscribing to Content Libraries
7. Managing Templates in a Content Library

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About Provisioning Virtual Machines
You can create VMs in several ways.

Provisioning Method Use vSphere Client Use VMware Host Client

Use the New Virtual Machine Yes Yes
wizard.
Deploy VMs from existing Yes No
templates or clones.
Deploy VMs from OVF Yes Yes
templates.

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Creating VMs with the New Virtual Machine Wizard
In the vSphere Client, you can use the New Virtual Machine wizard to create a VM.

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New Virtual Machine Wizard: Name, Folder, Compute Resource
You can use the New Virtual
Machine wizard in the vSphere
Client to create a VM.
The New Virtual Machine wizard
prompts you for standard
information:
• The VM name
• Folder in which to place the
VM
• Resource on which the VM
runs

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New Virtual Machine Wizard: Storage, Compatibility
You select the datastore on
which to store the VM’s files.
You select the ESXi version that
this virtual machine will be
compatible with.

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New Virtual Machine Wizard: Guest Operating System
You select the guest OS to be installed in the VM.

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New Virtual Machine Wizard: Virtual Hardware
You can configure the virtual
machine hardware. The default
values for CPU, memory and
hard disk size are based on the
guest OS that you selected.
You can also mount the ISO
image containing the guest
operating system installation
files.

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Installing the Guest Operating System
Installing a guest operating system in your VM is similar to installing it on a physical computer.

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About VMware Tools
VMware Tools is a set of features that enhance the performance of a VM’s guest operating system.
Benefits and features include:
• Device drivers
— SVGA display
— VMXNET/VMXNET3
— Balloon driver for memory management
— Sync driver for quiescing I/O
— Paravirtual SCSI controller
• Increased graphical performance
• Improved mouse performance
• Guest OS heartbeat service
• Time synchronization
• Ability to shut down the VM remotely

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Installing VMware Tools
Ensure that you select the latest version of VMware Tools for your guest operating system.
To find out which VMware Tools ISO images are bundled with vSphere 8, see the vSphere 8 Release
Notes.
The method for installing VMware Tools depends on the guest operating system type.

Guest Operating VMware Tools Installation Method

System Type
Microsoft Windows Install from windows.iso for Vista and later guests
Linux Use one of the following methods:
• Install from linux.iso.
• For later Linux distributions, use open-vm-tools, available in various
Linux package management systems, such as yum, apt, or rpm.

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Downloading VMware Tools
You can download a specific version of VMware Tools from the VMware Tools product download
page.

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Deploying OVF Templates
You can deploy any VM or
virtual appliance stored in OVF
format.
Virtual appliances are
preconfigured VMs:
• They are usually designed for
a single purpose.
• They are also available from
VMware Marketplace.

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Removing VMs
You can remove a VM in the following ways:
• Remove from the inventory:
— The VM is unregistered from the ESXi host and vCenter.
— The VM’s files remain on the disk.
— The VM can later be registered (added) to the inventory.
• Delete from disk:
— All VM files are permanently deleted from the datastore.
— The VM is unregistered from the ESXi host and vCenter.

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Virtual Machine Hardware Deep Dive

© 2019 VMware Inc. All rights reserved.

Learner Objectives
• Identify the files that make up a VM
• Compare VM hardware versions
• Recognize the virtual hardware components of a VM
• Navigate the vSphere Client and examine VM settings
• Identify methods for accessing a VM console

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Virtual Machine Encapsulation
Each VM is stored either as a
collection of files or objects:
• Files in a directory on a VMFS
or NFS datastore
• Objects on a vSAN or vSphere
Virtual Volumes datastore
Each virtual disk is encapsulated
into a single file or object.

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About Virtual Machine Files
A VM includes a set of related files.

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About VM Virtual Hardware

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Virtual Hardware Versions
The virtual hardware version, or VM compatibility level, determines the operating system functions
that a VM supports.
Do not use a later version that is not supported by the VMware product.

Compatibility Virtual Hardware Version

ESXi 8.0 20
ESXi 7.0 U2 and later 19
ESXi 7.0 U1 and later 18
ESXi 7.0 and later 17
ESXi 6.7 U2 and later 15
ESXi 6.7 and later 14
Virtual hardware version 16 is specific to Workstation and Fusion Pro.

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About CPU and Memory
You can add, change, or configure CPU and memory resources to improve VM performance.
The maximum number of virtual CPUs (vCPUs) that you can assign to a VM depends on the following
factors:
• The number of logical CPUs on the host
• The type and version of installed guest operating system
A VM running on an ESXi 8.0 host can have up to 768 vCPUs.
The maximum memory size of a VM depends on the VM’s compatibility setting.
The maximum memory size of a VM with ESXi 8.0 compatibility running on ESXi 8.0 is 24 TB.

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Compute Maximums
vSphere provides compute maximums, which are available at https://configmax.vmware.com.

vSphere 8
Virtual CPUs per VM 768
Memory per VM 24 TB
CPUs per host 896
Memory per host 24 TB
Hosts per cluster 96

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About Virtual Storage
Virtual disks are connected to virtual storage adapters.
The ESXi host offers VMs several choices in storage adapters:
• BusLogic Parallel
• LSI Logic Parallel
• LSI Logic SAS
• VMware Paravirtual SCSI
• AHCI SATA controller
• Virtual NVMe

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About Thick-Provisioned Virtual Disks
Thick provisioning uses all the defined disk space
at the creation of the virtual disk, regardless of
how much disk space is actually used by the
guest operating system file system.
Thick-provisioned disk types are either eager
zeroed or lazy zeroed:
• In an eager-zeroed thick-provisioned disk,
every block is prefilled with a zero.
• In a lazy-zeroed thick-provisioned disk, a block
is filled with zeroes before data is written for
the first time.

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About Thin-Provisioned Virtual Disks
With thin provisioning, VMs use the disk space as
needed:
• Virtual disks use only the capacity needed to
hold the current files.
• The VM always sees the full allocated disk size.
Run the unmap command to reclaim the unused
space from the virtual disks.
Reporting and alerts help manage allocations and
capacity.
You can mix thick and thin formats.
The following examples show efficient use of
storage:
• Provisioned space for virtual disks: 140 GB
• Available datastore capacity: 100 GB
• Used datastore capacity: 80 GB

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Managing Datastores Containing Thin-Provisioned Disks
When the total provisioned space of thin-provisioned disks is greater than the size of the datastore,
the datastore becomes overcommitted.

To actively monitor datastore capacity: To actively manage datastore capacity:

• Set alarms to send notifications about: • Increase datastore capacity when necessary.
– Datastore disk overallocation • Use vSphere Storage vMotion to mitigate
space use problems on a particular datastore.
– VM disk use
• Use reporting to view space use.

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Thick-Provisioned and Thin-Provisioned Disks
Virtual disk options differ in terms of creation time, block allocation, layout, and zeroing out of
allocated file blocks.

Thick Provisioned Thick Provisioned Thin

Lazy-Zeroed Eager-Zeroed Provisioned
Creation time Fast Slow and proportional to Fastest
disk size
Block allocation Fully preallocated Fully preallocated Allocated and zeroed
out on demand at first
write to block
Virtual disk layout Higher chance of Higher chance of Layout varies
contiguous file blocks contiguous file blocks according to the
dynamic state of the
volume at time of block
allocation
Zeroing out of File blocks are zeroed File blocks are allocated File blocks are zeroed
allocated file blocks out when each block is and zeroed out when disk out when blocks are
first written to is created allocated

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About Virtual Networks
VMs and physical machines
communicate through a virtual
network.
When you configure networking
for a VM, you select or change
the following settings:
• Network adapter type
• Port group to connect to
• Network connection state
• Whether to connect to the
network when the VM powers
on

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About Virtual Network Adapters
When you configure a VM, you can add network adapters (NICs) and specify the adapter type.
Whenever possible, select VMXNET3.

Network Adapter Type Description

E1000-E1000E Emulated version of an Intel Gigabit Ethernet NIC, with drivers available
in newer guest operating systems.
VMXNET3 Available only with VMware Tools.
Flexible Can function as either a Vlance or VMXNET adapter.
PVRDMA Paravirtualized device that provides improved virtual device
performance. It provides an RDMA-like interface for vSphere guests.
SR-IOV pass-through Allows VM and physical adapter to exchange data without using the
VMkernel as an intermediary.

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About PCI Passthrough Devices
Passthrough devices help your environment use resources efficiently and improve performance.
You connect a VM's guest OS to PCI or PCIe passthrough devices that are configured on an ESXi
host.

PCI Passthrough Device Description

vSphere DirectPath I/O • VM accesses directly the physical PCI or PCIe device on a specific
host.
• VM is restricted to that particular host.
vSphere Dynamic • PCI or PCIe passthrough device is not directly mapped to the VM.
DirectPath I/O • Allows vSphere DRS to place a VM on any ESXi host in the cluster
that provides the assigned passthrough device
NVIDIA GRID GPU • Graphics device that uses the NVIDIA GRID vGPU technology
• Lets VMs use partial, full, or multiple GPU allocations

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Other Virtual Devices
A VM must have a vCPU and virtual memory. The addition of other virtual devices makes the VM
more useful:
• CD/DVD drive: For connecting to a CD, DVD, or ISO image.
• USB 3.0 and 3.1: Supported with host-connected and client-connected devices.
• Floppy drive: For connecting a VM to a floppy drive or a floppy image.
• Generic SCSI devices: A VM can be connected to additional SCSI adapters.
• vGPUs: A VM can use GPUs on the physical host for high-computation activities.
• Precision Clock: Provides a virtual machine with access to the system time of the primary ESXi
host.
• vTPM: Trusted Platform Module 2.0 virtual cryptoprocessor, providing hardware-based security-
related functions.

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About the Virtual Machine Console
The VM console provides the mouse, keyboard, and screen features to control the VM.
You can use the remote console or the Web console to connect to client devices.

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Lab 3: Adding Virtual Hardware
Use the vSphere Client to examine a virtual machine's configuration and add virtual hardware to the
virtual machine:
1. Examine a Virtual Machine's Configuration
2. Add Virtual Hard Disks to the Virtual Machine
3. Compare Thin-Provisioned and Thick-Provisioned Disks

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Review of Learner Objectives
• Identify the files that make up a VM
• Compare VM hardware versions
• Recognize the virtual hardware components of a VM
• Navigate the vSphere Client and examine VM settings
• Identify methods for accessing a VM console

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Modifying Virtual Machines

© 2019 VMware Inc. All rights reserved.

Learner Objectives
• Describe virtual machine settings and options
• Add a hot-pluggable device
• Dynamically increase the size of a virtual disk

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Modifying Virtual Machine Settings
You can modify a VM’s
configuration by editing the
VM's settings:
• Add virtual hardware:
– You can add some
hardware while the VM is
powered on.
• Remove virtual hardware:
– You can remove some
hardware only when the
VM is powered off.
• Set VM options.
• Control a VM’s CPU and
memory resources.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M07_Deploying Virtual Machines | 1 - 43

Hot-Pluggable Devices
With the hot plug option, you
can add resources to a running
VM.
Examples of hot-pluggable
devices:
• USB controllers
• Ethernet adapters
• Hard disk devices
With supported guest operating
systems, you can also add CPU
and memory while the VM is
powered on.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M07_Deploying Virtual Machines | 1 - 44

Dynamically Increasing Virtual Disk Size
You can increase the size of a
virtual disk that belongs to a
powered-on VM.
• It must not have snapshots
attached.
• It might require system tools
to make the new space
usable.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M07_Deploying Virtual Machines | 1 - 45

Inflating Thin-Provisioned Disks
Thin-provisioned virtual disks can be converted to a thick, eager-zeroed format.
Choose one of the following methods to inflate a thin-provisioned disk on a VM that is either
powered on or off:
• Select the VM’s file with the .vmdk extension and select Inflate.
• Select thick-provisioned when you use vSphere Storage vMotion to migrate the VM to a different
datastore.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M07_Deploying Virtual Machines | 1 - 46

VM Options: General Settings
You can use the VM Options tab to modify properties such as the display name for the VM and the
type of guest operating system that is installed.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M07_Deploying Virtual Machines | 1 - 47

VM Options: VMware Tools Settings
You can use the VMware Tools controls to customize the power buttons on the VM.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M07_Deploying Virtual Machines | 1 - 48

VM Options: VM Boot Settings
Occasionally, you might need to set the VM boot options.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M07_Deploying Virtual Machines | 1 - 49

Lab 4: Modifying Virtual Machines
Modify a VM’s memory size, increase a VM's storage size, and rename a VM:
1. Adjust Memory Allocation on a Powered-On Virtual Machine
2. Increase the Size of a Virtual Disk
3. Configure the Guest OS to Recognize the Additional Disk Space
4. Rename a Virtual Machine in the vCenter Inventory

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M07_Deploying Virtual Machines | 1 - 50

 Deploying and
Configuring vCenter

© 2022 VMware, Inc.

Importance
vCenter helps you centrally manage multiple ESXi hosts and their virtual machines. If you do not
properly deploy, configure, and manage vCenter, your environment might experience reduced
administrative manageability of the ESXi hosts and virtual machines.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1-2

Module Lessons
1. Centralized Management with vCenter
2. Deploying vCenter Server Appliance
3. vSphere Licenses
4. Managing vCenter Inventory
5. vCenter Roles and Permissions
6. Monitoring vCenter Events

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1-3

About the vCenter Management Platform
vCenter acts as a central
administration point for ESXi
hosts and virtual machines. The
ESXi hosts and virtual machines
connected in a network:
• Directs the actions of VMs
and hosts
• Runs on a Linux-based
appliance

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1-6

About vCenter Server Appliance
vCenter Server Appliance is a prepackaged Linux-based VM, optimized for running vCenter and
associated services.
The vCenter Server Appliance package contains the following software:
• Photon OS
• PostgreSQL database
• vCenter services
During deployment, you can select the vCenter Server Appliance size for your vSphere environment
and the storage size for your database requirements.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1-7

vCenter Services
vCenter services include:
• vCenter Server
• vSphere Client
• License service
• Content Library
• vSphere Lifecycle Manager
When you deploy vCenter
Server Appliance, all these
services are included.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1-8

vCenter Architecture
vSphere Client, vCenter database, and managed hosts supports vCenter.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1-9

About vCenter Single Sign-On
vCenter Single Sign-On allows vSphere components to communicate with each other through a
secure token mechanism.
vCenter Single Sign-On can authenticate users using built-in or external identity providers.
Built-in identity providers:
• By default, vCenter uses the vsphere.local domain as the identity source.
• You can configure vCenter to use Active Directory as the identity source using LDAP, LDAPS,
OpenLDAP, or OpenLDAPS.
External identity provider using federated authentication:
• vSphere supports Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS).

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 10

vCenter Single Sign-On with Built-In Identity Provider
The following is the user login flow when vCenter
acts as the identity provider:
1. User logs in to the vSphere Client.
2. vCenter Single Sign-On authenticates
credentials against a directory service (for
example, Active Directory).
3. A SAML token is sent back to the user's
browser.
4. The SAML token is sent to vCenter, and the
user is granted access.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 11

About Enhanced Linked Mode
With Enhanced linked mode, you can log in to the vSphere Client and manage the inventories of all
the vCenter instances in the group:
• You can link up to 15 vCenter instances in one vCenter Single Sign-On domain.
• You can create an enhanced linked mode group during the deployment of vCenter Server
Appliance.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 12

ESXi and vCenter Communication
The vSphere Client is the primary method to manage ESXi hosts. vSphere Client communicates
directly with vCenter.

If vCenter is not available, you use VMware Host Client to communicate directly with the ESXi host.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 13

vCenter Scalability

Metric vCenter 8.0

Hosts per vCenter instance 2,500
Powered-on VMs per vCenter instance 40,000
Registered VMs per vCenter instance 45,000
Hosts per cluster 96
VMs per cluster 8,000

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 14

Deploying vCenter Server Appliance

© 2019 VMware Inc. All rights reserved.

Learner Objectives
• Deploy vCenter Server Appliance into an infrastructure
• Configure vCenter settings

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 17

Preparing for vCenter Server Appliance Deployment
Before deploying vCenter Server Appliance, you must complete several tasks:
• Verify that all vCenter Server Appliance system requirements are met.
• Get the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or the static IP of the host machine on which you
install vCenter Server Appliance.
• Get FQDN and IP address to assign to vCenter Server Appliance.
• Ensure that date and time on all VMs in the vSphere network are synchronized.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 18

vCenter Server Appliance Native GUI Installer
The vCenter Server Appliance
Native GUI installer has several
features:
• With the GUI installer, you
can perform an interactive
deployment of vCenter Server
Appliance.
• The GUI installer is a native
application for Windows,
Linux, and macOS.
• The GUI installer performs
validations and prechecks
during the deployment.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 19

vCenter Server Appliance Installation
The vCenter Server Appliance
installation is a two-stage
process:
• Stage 1: Deployment of OVF
• Stage 2: Configuration
The deployment can be fully
automated by using JSON
templates with the CLI installer
on Windows, Linux, or macOS.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 20

vCenter Server Appliance Installation: Stage 1
Stage 1 begins with the UI phase:
1. Accept the EULA.
2. Connect to the target ESXi host or vCenter
system.
3. Define the vCenter Server Appliance name and
root password.
4. Select compute size, storage size, and
datastore location (thin disk).
5. Define networking settings.
Stage 1 continues with the deployment phase:
6. OVF is deployed to the ESXi host.
7. Disks and networking are configured.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 21

vCenter Server Appliance Installation: Stage 2
Stage 2 is the configuration
phase:
• Configure time
synchronization mode and
SSH access.
• Create a vCenter Single Sign-
On domain or join an existing
SSO domain.
• Join the Customer Experience
Improvement Program
(CEIP).

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 22

Getting Started with vCenter
After you deploy vCenter Server Appliance, use the vSphere Client to log in and manage your
vCenter inventory: https://<vCenter_FQDN_or_IP_address>/ui.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 23

Configuring vCenter Using the vSphere Client
Using the vSphere Client, you can configure vCenter, including settings such as licensing, statistics
collection, and logging.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 24

vCenter Management Interface
Using the vCenter Management
Interface, you can configure and
monitor your vCenter instance.
Tasks include:
• Monitoring resource use by
the appliance
• Backing up the appliance
• Monitoring vCenter services
• Adding additional network
adapters

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 25

Multi-homing the vCenter Server Appliance
With vCenter Server Appliance
multi-homing, you can configure
multiple NICs to manage
network traffic.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 26

vSphere Licensing

© 2019 VMware Inc. All rights reserved.

About vSphere Licenses
VMware provides a number of vSphere products to suit your needs.

vSphere Essential Kit vSphere Essential Plus vSphere Standard vSphere Enterprise
Kit Plus
For small businesses For small businesses Entry-level solution Full range of features
(up to three hosts with (up to three hosts with for basic server for transforming your
up to two CPUs each) up to two CPUs each) consolidation data center into a
simplified cloud
infrastructure
vCenter and ESXi vCenter and ESXi vCenter and ESXi vCenter and ESXi
vSphere vMotion, vSphere vMotion, vSphere vMotion,
vSphere Storage vSphere Storage vSphere Storage
vMotion, vSphere HA, vMotion, vSphere HA, vMotion, vSphere HA,
vSphere Data vSphere Replication vSphere Trust
Protection, vSphere Authority, VM
Replication encryption, vSphere
Replication

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 31

vSphere License Service
The vSphere License Service
runs on vCenter.
The vSphere License Service
performs the following functions:
• Provides centralized license
management
• Provides an inventory of
vSphere licenses
• Manages the license
assignments for products that
integrate with vSphere, such
as Site Recovery Manager.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 33

Adding License Keys to vCenter
You must assign a license to
vCenter before its 60-day
evaluation period expires.
In the vSphere Client from the
main menu, select
Administration > Licenses to
open the Licenses pane.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 34

Assigning the License to the vSphere Component
You can assign a license to an asset, such as vCenter.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 35

Viewing Licensed Features
You manage licenses using the License pane in vCenter's Configure tab. This pane shows the type of
license and available features.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 36

Managing vCenter Inventory

© 2019 VMware Inc. All rights reserved.

Learner Objectives
• Use the vSphere Client to manage the vCenter inventory
• Create and organize vCenter inventory objects
• Add data center and organizational objects to vCenter
• Add ESXi hosts to the inventory
• Create custom inventory tags for inventory objects

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 40

vSphere Client Main Menu
From the vSphere Client main menu, you can manage your vCenter system inventory, manage your
infrastructure environment, and complete system administration tasks.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 41

Navigating the Inventory
You can use the navigation pane to browse and select objects in the vCenter inventory.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 42

Views for Hosts, Clusters, VMs, and Templates
Host and cluster objects appear
in one view, and VM and
template objects are displayed in
another view.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 43

Views for Storage and Networks
The storage inventory view
shows all the details for
datastores in the data center.
The networking inventory view
shows all the port groups on
standard switches and
distributed switches.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 44

Viewing Object Information
Because you can view object information and access related objects, monitoring and managing
object properties is easy.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 45

About Data Center Objects
A virtual data center is a logical organization of all the inventory objects. Those inventory objects are
required to complete a fully functional environment for operating VMs:
• You can create multiple data centers to organize sets of environments.
• Each data center has its own hosts, VMs, templates, datastores, and networks.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 46

Organizing Inventory Objects into Folders
You can place Objects in a data center in folders. You can create folders and subfolders to better
organize systems.

Each of the four inventory views has its own folder structure.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 47

Adding a Data Center and Organizational Objects to vCenter
You can add a data center, a host, a cluster, and folders to vCenter.
You can use folders to group objects of the same type for easier management.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 48

Adding ESXi Hosts to vCenter
You can add ESXi hosts to vCenter using the vSphere Client.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 49

Creating Custom Tags for Inventory Objects
You can use tags to attach metadata to objects in
the vCenter inventory. Tags help make these
objects more sortable.
You can associate a set of objects of the same
type by searching for objects by a given tag.
You can use tags to group and manage VMs,
clusters, and datastores, for example:
• Tag VMs that run production workloads.
• Tag VMs based on their guest operating
system.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 50

vCenter Roles and Permissions

© 2019 VMware Inc. All rights reserved.

Learner Objectives
• Define the term permission in the context of vCenter
• Recognize the rules for applying permissions
• Create a custom role
• Assign global permission to a user

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 54

About vCenter Permissions
Using the access control system, the vCenter administrator can define user privileges to access
objects in the inventory.

The following concepts are important:

• Privilege: An action that can be performed
• Role: A set of privileges
• Object: The target of the action
• User or group: Indication of who can perform
the action
• Permission: Gives one user or group a role (set
of privileges) for the selected object

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 55

About Roles
Privileges are grouped into
roles:
• A privilege allows access to a
specific task and is grouped
with other privileges related
to it.
• Roles allow users to perform
tasks.
vCenter provides a few system
roles, which you cannot modify.
Sample roles are also provided.
You can clone them to create
custom roles.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 56

About Objects
Objects are entities on which actions are performed. Objects include data centers, folders, clusters,
hosts, datastores, networks, and virtual machines.
All objects have a Permissions tab. The Permissions tab shows which user or group and role are
associated with the selected object.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 57

Assigning Permissions
To assign a permission:
1. Select an object
2. Select a Domain
3. Select a User/Group
4. Select a Role
5. Propagate the permission to
the child objects

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 58

Viewing Roles and User Assignments
The Roles pane shows which users are assigned the selected role on a particular object.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 59

Applying Permissions: Scenario 1
A permission can propagate down the object hierarchy to all sub-objects, or a permission can apply
only to a specific object.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 60

Applying Permissions: Scenario 2
When a user is a member of multiple groups with permissions on the same object, the user is
assigned the union of privileges assigned to the groups for that object.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 61

Activity: Applying Group Permissions (1)
If Group1 has the Administrator role and Group2 has the No Access role, what permissions does
Greg have?

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 62

Activity: Applying Group Permissions (2)
Greg has Administrator privileges.
Greg is assigned the union of privileges assigned to Group1 and Group2.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 63

Applying Permissions: Scenario 3
A user can be a member of multiple groups with permissions on different objects. In this case, the
same permissions apply for each object on which the group has permissions, as though the
permissions were granted directly to the user.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 64

Applying Permissions: Scenario 4
A user (or group) is given only one role for any given object.
Permissions defined explicitly for the user on an object take precedence over all group permissions
on that same object.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 65

Creating a Role
Create roles with only the necessary privileges.
For example, you can create a Provision VMs role
that allows a user to deploy VMs from a template.
Use folders to contain the scope of permissions.
For instance, you can assign the Provision VMs
role to user [email protected] and apply it to
the Production VMs folder.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 66

About Global Permissions
Global permissions support assigning privileges across solutions from the global root object:
• Span solutions, such as vRealize Orchestrator, and multiple vCenter instances
• Give a user or group privileges for all objects in all vCenter hierarchies

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 67

Monitoring vSphere Events

© 2019 VMware Inc. All rights reserved.

Learner Objectives
• Monitor tasks and events that occur on objects in the vCenter inventory
• Recognize the vCenter log levels for controlling the amount of data collected in the vCenter
database

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 72

About vSphere Tasks
Every action that you perform in vSphere as a part of your day-to-day operations is called a task, for
example:
• Powering on a virtual machine
• Updating the network configuration
• Modifying the configuration of hosts and virtual machines

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 73

About vSphere Events
vSphere events are records of user actions or system actions that occur on objects in the vCenter
inventory:
• User-action information includes the user’s account and specific event details.
• Event details are reported, such as the event's date and time, type, description, and the object on
which the event occurred.
• Events and alarms are displayed to alert the user to changes in the vCenter service health or when
a service fails.
The vCenter Tasks and Events panes provide an audit trail, maintaining a 30-day history, by default.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 74

About vCenter Log Levels
vCenter services create their own log files, which can be used for troubleshooting purposes.
You can set log levels to control the quantity and type of information stored by vCenter.
Examples of when to set log levels:
• When troubleshooting complex issues, set the log level to verbose or trivia.
• For controlling the amount of information being stored in the log files.
Option Description
None Turns off logging
Error (errors only) Displays only error log entries
Warning (errors and warnings) Displays warning and error log entries
Info (normal logging) Displays information, error, and warning log entries
Verbose Displays information, error, warning, and verbose log entries
Trivia (extended verbose) Displays information, error, warning, verbose, and trivia log entries

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 75

Setting Log Levels
You can configure the amount of log information detail that vCenter collects in log files:
• Edit the log levels in the vSphere Client.
• More verbose logging requires more space on your vCenter system.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 76

Forwarding vCenter Log Files to a Remote Host
vCenter can stream its log
information to a remote Syslog
server.
You can activate this feature in
the vCenter Management
Interface.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 77

Forwarding ESXi Host Log Files to a Remote Host
For ESXi hosts, specify the
remote Syslog server name in
the Advanced System Settings
pane in the vSphere Client.
You can further analyze ESXi
host log files with log analysis
products, such as vRealize Log
Insight.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 78

Key Points
• vCenter Server Appliance uses the Photon operating system and the PostgreSQL database.
• You can use the vCenter Management Interface to manage vCenter, including vCenter networking
and vCenter services.
• You use the vSphere Client to connect to vCenter instances and manage vCenter inventory
objects.
• A permission, defined in vCenter, gives one user or group a role (set of privileges) for a selected
object.
• Global permission allows access to all vCenter objects, including content libraries, vCenter
instances, and tags.
• You can control the vCenter logging level. Changing the logging level affects the vCenter's
filesystem usage.
Questions?

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M04_Deploying and Configuring vCenter | 1 - 80

 Configuring vSphere
Storage

© 2022 VMware, Inc.

Importance
Understanding the available storage options helps you set up your storage according to your cost,
performance, and manageability requirements.
You can use shared storage for disaster recovery, high availability, and moving virtual machines
between hosts.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1-2

Module Lessons
1. Storage Concepts
2. Fibre Channel Storage
3. iSCSI Storage
4. VMFS Datastores
5. NFS Datastores

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1-3

 Configuring vSphere
Networking

© 2022 VMware, Inc.

Importance
When you successfully configure ESXi networking, virtual machines can communicate with other
machines, both virtual and physical. Additionally, a successfully configured ESXi network allows the
VMkernel to operate remote host management and IP-based storage effectively.
vSphere standard switches provide effective networking for small environments. As you scale your
vSphere environment, the built-in features and functions of vSphere distributed switches can help
you manage networking in larger environments.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1-2

Module Lessons
1. vSphere Standard Switches
2. Virtual Switch Networking Policies
3. vSphere Distributed Switches

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1-3

About Virtual Switches
Virtual switches connect VMs to the physical network.
They provide connectivity between VMs on the same ESXi host or on different ESXi hosts.
They also support VMkernel services, such as vSphere vMotion migration, iSCSI, NFS, and access to
the management network.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1-6

Types of Virtual Switches
A virtual network supports standard and distributed switches. Both switch types are elastic, ports are
created and removed automatically:

• Standard switch: • Distributed switch:

– Virtual switch that is configured for a single – Virtual switch that is configured for an entire
host. data center.
– Up to 2,000 hosts can be attached to the
same distributed switch.
– The configuration is consistent across all
attached hosts.
– Hosts must either have an Enterprise Plus
license or belong to a vSAN cluster.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1-7

Types of Virtual Switch Connections
A virtual switch has specific connection types:
• VM ports
• VMkernel ports
– IP storage, vSphere vMotion migration, vSphere Fault Tolerance, vSAN, vSphere Replication,
and the ESXi management network
• Uplink ports
VM ports and VMkernel ports exist in port groups.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1-8

Virtual Switch Connection Examples
Networks (port groups) can coexist on the same virtual switch or on separate virtual switches.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1-9

About VLANs and Virtual Switch Tagging
ESXi provides VLAN support by assigning a
VLAN ID to a port group. ESXi supports 802.1Q
VLAN tagging.
Virtual switch tagging is one of the supported
tagging policies:
• Frames from a VM are tagged as they exit the
virtual switch.
• Tagged frames arriving at a virtual switch are
untagged before they are sent to the
destination VM.
• The effect on performance is minimal.
Physical switch ports must be configured as trunk
ports.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 10

Viewing Standard Switches
In the vSphere Client, you can view a host’s standard switch configuration by selecting Virtual
Switches on the Configure tab.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 11

Adding Standard Switches
You can add new standard switches to an ESXi host or configure existing ones using the vSphere
Client or VMware Host Client.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 12

VMkernel Adapter Properties
The VMkernel adapters pane shows details about the VMkernel interfaces, such as its name, the
switch on which it is located, the IP address, and enabled services.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 13

VMkernel Adapter Properties: Enabled Services
You can activate services for the VMkernel adapter.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 14

Physical Adapter Properties
The Physical adapters pane shows adapter details such as speed, duplex, and networks.
Although the speed and duplex settings are configurable, the best practice is to leave the settings to
auto negotiation.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 15

Virtual Switch Networking Policies

© 2019 VMware Inc. All rights reserved.

Learner Objectives
• Explain how to set security policies for a virtual switch
• Explain how to set traffic shaping policies for a virtual switch
• Explain how to set NIC teaming and failover policies for a virtual switch

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 19

About Networking Policies
As an administrator, you set networking policies on virtual switches to configure virtual network
properties, such as security, performance, and availability.
Depending on the virtual switch type, networking policies can be applied at different levels of the
virtual switch.

Virtual Switch Type Set Default Policy At Override Default Policy At

vSphere Standard Switch Standard switch level Port group level
vSphere Distributed Switch Distributed port group level Individual port level

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 20

Configuring Security Policies
As an administrator, you can define security policies at both the standard switch level and the port
group level:
• Promiscuous mode: Allow or disallow all traffic to be forwarded, regardless of the destination.
• MAC address changes: Accept or reject inbound traffic when the MAC address is altered by the
guest.
• Forged transmits: Accept or reject outbound traffic when the MAC address is altered by the guest.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 21

Traffic-Shaping Policies
Network traffic shaping is a mechanism for limiting a virtual machine’s consumption of available
network bandwidth.
Average rate, peak rate, and burst size are configurable.
Network traffic shaping is deactivated by default.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 22

Configuring Outbound Traffic Shaping
A traffic-shaping policy is defined by average bandwidth, peak bandwidth, and burst size.
Parameters apply to each virtual NIC in the standard switch.
On a standard switch, traffic shaping controls only outbound traffic. Outbound traffic travels from the
VMs to the virtual switch and out onto the physical network.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 23

Configuring NIC Teaming and Failover
With NIC teaming, you can
increase the network capacity of
a port group by including two or
more physical NICs in a team.
Add the physical NICs (or
uplinks) to the Active uplinks
group.

VM traffic is load balanced across the Active uplinks using the

selected Load balancing option.
© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 24
Load Balancing Method: Originating Virtual Port ID
With the load balancing method that is based on the originating virtual port ID, a virtual machine’s
outbound traffic is mapped to a specific physical NIC.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 25

Load Balancing Method: Source MAC Hash
A virtual machine's outbound traffic, when load balanced using the source MAC hash method, is
mapped to a specific physical NIC based on the virtual NIC’s MAC address.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 26

Load Balancing Method: Source and Destination IP Hash
With the IP-based load balancing method, a NIC for each outbound packet is selected based on its
source and destination IP addresses.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 27

Detecting and Handling Network Failure
Network failures are monitored and detected by
the VMkernel. The VMkernel monitors the link
state and performs beacon probing (if selected)
on one second intervals to ensure network
uptime.
If the VMkernel determines a network failure, the
VMkernel notifies physical switches of changes in
the physical location of a MAC address.
Failover is implemented by the VMkernel based
on configurable parameters:
• Failback: How the physical adapter is returned
to active duty after recovering from failure.
• Load-balancing option: Use explicit failover
order. Always use the vmnic uplink at the top
of the active adapter list.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 28

Physical Network Considerations
Your virtual networking environment relies on the physical network infrastructure. As a vSphere
administrator, you should discuss your vSphere networking needs with your network administration
team.
The following issues are topics for discussion:
• Number of physical switches
• Network bandwidth required
• Physical switch configuration support for 802.1Q, for VLAN tagging
• Physical switch configuration support for NIC teaming: 802.3ad, Link Aggregation Control
Protocol (LACP), or EtherChannel
• Network port security
• Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) and Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) and their operation
modes, such as listen, broadcast, listen and broadcast, and disabled

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 29

Activity: Networking Security Policy (1)
Which statement accurately describes Promiscuous mode when it is set to Accept?
(Choose one.)
o The ESXi host is allowed to drop network packets that seem suspicious.
o An administrator provides enhanced security to the virtual switch.
o An administrator can use a network-based intrusion detection system in a VM.
o The guest OS is given permission to change the VM's MAC address.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 30

Activity: Networking Security Policy (2)
Which statement accurately describes Promiscuous mode when it is set to Accept?
(Choose one.)
o The ESXi host is allowed to drop network packets that seem suspicious.
o An administrator provides enhanced security to the virtual switch.
✓ An administrator can use a network-based intrusion detection system in a VM.
o The guest OS is given permission to change the VM's MAC address.
When promiscuous mode is set to Accept, an administrator can run legitimate software such as a
network-based intrusion detection system. However, when this mode is enabled, the virtual switch is
vulnerable to security breaches.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 31

Activity: Traffic Shaping Policy (1)
Which statement accurately describes the traffic
shaping policy configuration?
(Choose one.)
o Traffic shaping is activated on the entire
standard switch.
o The traffic shaping policy for the TestDev port
group overrides the policy defined on the
standard switch.
o The bandwidth used for normal operation by
VMs on the TestDev port group is 100 Mbps.
o The Accounting port group is subject to traffic
shaping, with an average bandwidth of 1 Gbps.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 32

Activity: Traffic Shaping Policy (2)
Which statement accurately describes the traffic
shaping policy configuration?
(Choose one.)
o Traffic shaping is activated on the entire
standard switch.
✓ The traffic shaping policy for the TestDev port
group overrides the policy defined on the
standard switch.
o The bandwidth used for normal operation by
VMs on the TestDev port group is 100 Mbps.
o The Accounting port group is subject to traffic
shaping, with an average bandwidth of 1 Gbps.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 33

Activity: NIC Teaming and Failover Policy (1)
The load balancing method called Originating Virtual Port ID is only available on distributed
switches.
o True
o False

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 34

Activity: NIC Teaming and Failover Policy (2)
The load balancing method based on the originating virtual port ID is only available on distributed
switches.
o True
✓ False
The load balancing method based on physical NIC load is the only method supported on distributed
switches.
The load balancing method that is only available on distributed switches is the Route based on
physical NIC load option. This method ensures that physical NIC capacity in a NIC team is optimized.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 35

Review of Learner Objectives
• Explain how to set security policies for a virtual switch
• Explain how to set traffic shaping policies for a virtual switch
• Explain how to set NIC teaming and failover policies for a virtual switch

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 36

vSphere Distributed Switches

© 2019 VMware Inc. All rights reserved.

About Distributed Switches
A distributed switch functions as a single virtual switch across all associated hosts. Distributed
switches have several benefits over standard switches:
• Distributed switches centralize the virtual network administration, and simplifies the data center
administration.
• Distributed switch ports are statically assigned by vCenter and offer more granular control over
network statistics and policies.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 39

Distributed Switch Architecture
Managed by vCenter, a distributed switch is a logical entity that you can use to create and maintain a
consistent virtual networking configuration throughout all your ESXi hosts.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 40

Standard and Distributed Switches: Shared Features
Standard and distributed switches share some features.

Feature Standard Switch Distributed Switch

Layer 2 switch ✓ ✓
VLAN segmentation ✓ ✓
802.1Q tagging ✓ ✓
IPv4 and IPv6 support ✓ ✓
NIC teaming ✓ ✓
Outbound traffic shaping ✓ ✓

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 41

Distributed Switch Features
Distributed switches have several features that standard switches do not have.

Feature Standard Switch Distributed Switch

Inbound traffic shaping ✓
Configuration backup and restore ✓
Private VLANs ✓
Link Aggregation Control Protocol ✓
Data center level management ✓
vSphere vMotion migration of network state ✓
Network I/O Control ✓
Per-port policy settings ✓
Port state monitoring ✓
NetFlow ✓
Port mirroring ✓
Support for NSX ✓
© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 42
Viewing Distributed Switches
In the vSphere Client, you can view the distributed switch configuration using the Topology pane in
the Configure tab.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 43

Discovery Protocols
Switch discovery protocols help network administrators gather configuration and connection
information about physical or virtual switches.
vSphere supports the following discovery protocols:
• Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP): For vSphere standard switches and distributed switches
connected to Cisco physical switches
• Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP): A vendor-neutral protocol for distributed switches only
Standard switches can be configured to use CDP.
Distributed switches can use CDP or LLDP.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 44

Configuring CDP or LLDP
With CDP or LLDP enabled, you can configure a
virtual switch for different modes of operation:
• Listen: Information is received from the
physical switches.
• Advertise: Information is sent to the physical
switches.
• Both: Information is both sent to and received
from the physical switches.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 45

About Port Binding
Port binding determines when and how a VM
virtual NIC is assigned to a virtual switch port.
Port binding is configured at the distributed
port group level, and binding options include:
• Static binding (default): vCenter assigns a
permanent port for the VM or VMkernel
interface.
• Ephemeral: ESXi (not vCenter) assigns the
port to the VM. The assigned port changes
when the VM reboots.
Port allocation options for static binding:
• Elastic (default): When all ports are
assigned, a new set of eight ports is
created.
• Fixed: No additional ports are created when
all ports are assigned.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 46

Configuring Inbound Traffic Shaping
Distributed switches support inbound traffic shaping and outbound traffic shaping.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 47

Load Balancing Method: Physical NIC Load
This method is supported only on distributed switches and is the recommended policy for distributed
port groups.

Load balancing based on physical NIC load

ensures that physical NIC capacity in a NIC team
is optimized. This feature works in the following
ways:
• It moves I/O flows among uplinks.
• A flow is moved only when the mean send or
receive utilization of an uplink exceeds 75
percent of the capacity over a 30-second
period.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 48

Key Points
• Virtual switches can have the following connection types: VM ports, VMkernel port, and physical
uplinks.
• A standard switch is a virtual switch configuration for a single host.
• A distributed switch provides functions that are similar to a standard switch. But the distributed
switch defines a single configuration that is managed by vCenter and is shared across all
associated hosts.
• You set networking policies on virtual switches to configure properties for security, performance,
and availability.
• Network policies set at the standard switch level can be overridden at the port group level.
Network policies set at the distributed switch port group level can be overridden at the individual
port level.
Questions?

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M05_Configuring vSphere Networking | 1 - 51

Storage Concepts

© 2019 VMware Inc. All rights reserved.

Learner Objectives
• Recognize vSphere storage technologies
• Identify types of datastores
• Recognize storage device naming conventions

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1-5

About Datastores
A datastore is a logical storage unit that can use
space on one or more physical storage devices.
Datastores are used to hold data such as VMs,
VM templates, and ISO images.
vSphere supports the following types of
datastores:
• VMFS
• NFS
• vSAN
• vSphere Virtual Volumes

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1-6

Datastore Access Methods
vSphere datastores store and access data as blocks or files:
Block-backed storage:
• Stores data as blocks (a sequence of bytes)
• Used on local storage
• Used on Storage Area Networks (SANs) and accessed through either iSCSI or Fibre Channel
• Used by VMFS, vSAN, and vSphere Virtual Volumes datastores
File-backed storage:
• Stores data hierarchically in files and folders
• Used on network-attached storage (NAS)
• Used by NFS and vSphere Virtual Volumes datastores

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1-7

Datastore Contents
Depending on the datastore type, contents can
be stored in the form of files or objects.
File-based datastores:
• A VM consists of a set of files.
• Each VM has its own directory.
• VMFS and NFS datastores hold files.
Object-based datastores:
• A VM consists of a set of data containers called
objects.
• vSAN and vSphere Virtual Volumes datastores
hold objects.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1-8

Datastore Summary
To summarize, vSphere datastores can be categorized by its access method and its contents.

Datastore Type Datastore Access Method Datastore Contents

VMFS Block access Files
NFS File access Files
vSAN Block access Objects
vSphere Virtual Volumes Block or file access Objects

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1-9

Storage Overview
ESXi hosts should be configured with shared access to datastores.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1 - 10

Storage Device Naming Conventions
Storage devices are identified in
several ways:
• Runtime name: Uses the
vmhbaN:C:T:L convention.
This name is not persistent
through reboots.
• Target: Identifies the target
address and port.
• LUN: A unique identifier
designated to individual or
collections of storage devices.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1 - 11

Storage Protocol Overview
Each datastore uses a protocol with varying support features.

Datastore Type Storage Protocol Boot from vSphere vSphere vSphere

SAN vMotion HA DRS
Support Support Support Support
VMFS Fibre Channel Yes Yes Yes Yes
FCoE Yes Yes Yes Yes
iSCSI Yes Yes Yes Yes
iSER/NVMe-oF (RDMA) No Yes Yes Yes
DAS (SAS, SATA, NVMe) N/A Yes* No No
NFS NFS No Yes Yes Yes
vSphere Virtual FC/Ethernet (iSCSI, NFS) No Yes Yes Yes
Volumes
vSAN Datastore vSAN No Yes Yes Yes

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1 - 12

About vSphere Virtual Machine File System
ESXi hosts support vSphere Virtual Machine File
System (VMFS) VMFS5 and VMFS6:
• Features supported by both VMFS5 and
VMFS6:
– Concurrent access to shared storage
– Dynamic expansion
– On-disk locking
• Features supported by VMFS6:
– 4K native storage devices
– Automatic space reclamation
– 128 hosts per datastore

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1 - 13

About NFS
A Network File System (NFS) is a
file-sharing protocol that ESXi
hosts use to communicate with a
network-attached storage (NAS)
device.
NFS supports NFS 3 and 4.1
over TCP/IP.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1 - 14

About vSAN
vSAN is a hypervisor-converged, software-
defined storage solution for virtual environments
that does not use traditional external storage.
By clustering host-attached solid-state drives
(SSDs) and hard disk drives (HDDs), vSAN
creates an aggregated datastore that is
accessible to all the ESXi hosts in the vSAN
cluster.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1 - 15

About vSphere Virtual Volumes
vSphere Virtual Volumes provides several
functionalities:
• Native representation of VMDKs on SAN/NAS:
No LUNs or volume management
• Works with existing SAN/NAS systems
• A new control path for data operations at the
VM and VMDK level
• Snapshots, replications, and other operations
at the VM level on external storage
• Automates control of per-VM service levels by
using storage policies
• Standard access to storage with the vSphere
API for Storage Awareness protocol endpoint
• Storage containers that span an entire array

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1 - 16

About Raw Device Mapping
Although not a datastore, raw
device mapping (RDM) gives a
VM direct access to a physical
LUN.
The mapping file (-rdm.vmdk)
that points a VM to a LUN must
be stored on a VMFS datastore.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1 - 17

Physical Storage Considerations
Before implementing your vSphere environment, discuss the storage needs with your storage
administration team. Consider the following factors:
• LUN sizes
• I/O bandwidth required by your applications
• I/O requests per second that a LUN is capable of
• Disk cache parameters
• Zoning and masking
• Multipathing setting for your storage arrays (active-active or active-passive)
• Export properties for NFS datastores

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1 - 18

VMFS Datastores

© 2019 VMware Inc. All rights reserved.

Learner Objectives
• Create a VMFS datastore
• Increase the size of a VMFS datastore
• Delete a VMFS datastore

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1 - 43

About VMFS Datastores
VMFS is a high-performance, cluster file system that serves as a repository for files such as VM files,
VM templates and ISO images.
A VMFS datastore is optimized for storing and accessing large files, such as virtual disks and memory
images of suspended VMs.
A VMFS datastore can have a maximum volume size of 64 TB.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1 - 44

Creating a VMFS Datastore
You can create VMFS datastores on any SCSI-based storage devices that the host discovers,
including Fibre Channel, iSCSI, and local storage devices.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1 - 45

Browsing Datastore Contents
You use the datastore file browser to manage the contents of your datastores.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1 - 46

Increasing the Size of VMFS Datastores
Increase a VMFS datastore’s size to give it more
space or to possibly improve performance.
In general, before changing your storage
allocation:
• Perform a rescan to ensure that all hosts see
the most current storage.
• Record the unique identifier of the volume that
you want to expand.
To dynamically increase the size of a VMFS
datastore, use one of the following methods:
• Add an extent (LUN).
• Expand the datastore within its extent.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1 - 47

Datastore Maintenance Mode
Before taking a datastore out of service, place the datastore in maintenance mode.
Before placing a datastore in maintenance mode, you must first move all VMs (powered on and
powered off) and templates to a different datastore.
The datastore enters maintenance mode after all VMs and templates are moved off the datastore.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1 - 48

Deleting or Unmounting a VMFS Datastore
An unmounted datastore remains intact, but
cannot be seen from the hosts that you specify.
It continues to appear on other hosts, where it
remains mounted.
A deleted datastore is destroyed and disappears
from all hosts that have access to it.
The deleted datastore permanently removes all
files on the datastore.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1 - 49

Multipathing Algorithms
Arrays provide active-active and active-passive storage processors. Multipathing algorithms interact
with these storage arrays:

• vSphere offers native path selection, load-

balancing, and failover mechanisms.
• Third-party vendors can create software for
ESXi hosts to properly interact with the
storage arrays.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1 - 50

Configuring Storage Load Balancing
Path selection policies provide:
• Scalability:
— Round Robin
• Availability:
— Most Recently Used
— Fixed

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1 - 51

NFS Datastores

© 2019 VMware Inc. All rights reserved.

Learner Objectives
• Identify NFS components
• Recognize the differences between NFS 3 and NFS 4.1
• Configure and manage NFS datastores

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1 - 55

NFS Components
An NFS file system is on a NAS device that is called the NFS server.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1 - 56

NFS v3 and NFS v4.1
An NFS datastore can be created as either NFS 3 or NFS 4.1.

NFS 3 NFS 4.1

ESXi managed multipathing Native multipathing and session trunking
AUTH_SYS (root) authentication Optional Kerberos authentication
VMware proprietary client-side file locking Server-side file locking
Client-side error tracking Server-side error tracking

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1 - 57

NFS Version Compatibility with Other vSphere Technologies
vSphere supports NFS 4.1 to overcome many limitations when using NFS 3. Both NFS 3 and NFS 4.1
shares can be used, but you must consider important constraints when designing a vSphere
environment in which both versions are used.

vSphere Technology NFS 3 NFS 4.1

vSphere vMotion and vSphere Storage vMotion Yes Yes
vSphere HA and vSphere Fault Tolerance Yes Yes
vSphere DRS and vSphere DPM Yes Yes
Stateless ESXi and Host Profiles Yes Yes
vSphere Storage DRS and Storage I/O Control Yes No
Site Recovery Manager Yes Partial*
vSphere Virtual Volumes and vSphere Replication Yes Yes
vRealize Operations Manager Yes Yes
Host Profiles Yes Yes
© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1 - 58
Configuring NFS Datastores
To configure an NFS datastore:
1. Create a VMkernel port:
• For better performance and security, separate your NFS network from the iSCSI network.
2. Create the NFS datastore by providing the following information:
• NFS version: 3 or 4.1
• Datastore name
• NFS server names or IP addresses
• Folder on the NFS server, for example, /templates or /nfs_share
• Whether to mount the NFS file system as read only
• Hosts that mount the datastore
• Authentication parameters

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1 - 59

Configuring ESXi Host Authentication and NFS Kerberos Credentials
As a requirement of Kerberos authentication, you must add each ESXi host to the Active Directory
domain. Then you configure NFS Kerberos credentials.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1 - 60

Configuring the NFS Datastore to Use Kerberos
When creating each NFS 4.1
datastore, you activate Kerberos
authentication by selecting one
of the security modes:
• Kerberos5 authentication
• Kerberos5i authentication and
data integrity

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1 - 61

Unmounting an NFS Datastore
Unmounting an NFS datastore causes the files on
the datastore to become inaccessible to the
selected ESXi hosts.
Before unmounting an NFS datastore, you must
power off all VMs whose disks reside on the
datastore.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1 - 62

Multipathing and NFS Storage
For a highly available NAS architecture, configure NFS multipathing to avoid single points of failure.

Example of a multipathing configuration:

• Configure one VMkernel port.
• Attach NICs to the same physical switch to
configure NIC teaming.
• Configure the NFS server with multiple IP
addresses (same subnet is OK).
• To better use multiple links, configure NIC
teams with the IP hash load-balancing policy.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1 - 63

Configuring Multipathing for NFS 4.1
NFS 4.1 supports native
multipathing and session
trunking.
To configure multipathing, enter
multiple server IP addresses
when configuring the datastore.

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1 - 64

Key Points
• ESXi hosts support various storage technologies: Direct-attached storage, Fibre Channel, FCoE,
iSCSI, and NAS.
• VMFS and NFS datastores hold VM files.
• vSAN and vSphere Virtual Volumes hold VM objects.
• With port binding, each VMkernel port that is connected to a separate NIC becomes a different
path that the iSCSI storage can use.
• Shared storage is integral to vSphere features such as vSphere vMotion, vSphere HA, and
vSphere DRS.
Questions?

© 2022 VMware, Inc. M06_Configuring vSphere Storage | 1 - 67