What You'll Learn

• Functionality of VMware Infrastructure 3
• Install ESX Server
• Configure ESX Server networking and storage
• Install and configure VirtualCenter
• Control user access to the VMware infrastructure
• Deploy and manage virtual machines using VirtualCenter
• Allocate and monitor virtual machines' resources
• Ensure high availability of applications

Course Outline

1. Introduction

• What Virtual Infrastructure Is
• VMware Infrastructure

2. Virtual Infrastructure Overview

• Virtualization
• A Virtual Machine
• How Virtualization Works
• Virtualization using a Bare-Metal Hypervisor
• ESX Server Architecture
• Using VMware Infrastructure in a Data Center

3. ESX Server Installation

• ESX Server Physical Setup
• Hardware Prerequisites
• Partitioning an x86 Disk
• After Installation Is Complete
• ESX Server Physical Console After Install
• VMware Infrastructure (VI) Client
• Single-Host Licensing

4. Networking

• Virtual Switches
• Network Connections
• Virtual Switch Property: Ports
• Virtual Switch Property: Network Adapters
• Port Group Property: VLANs
• Virtual Switch and Port Group Policies
• Security Policy
• Traffic-Shaping Policy
• NIC Teaming Policy
• Load-Balancing
• Detecting and Handling Network Failure

5. Storage

• How Fibre Channel is used with ESX Server
• Addressing SAN LUNs in the VMkernel
• Making SAN Storage Available to ESX Server
• How iSCSI is used with ESX Server
• How iSCSI Storage Authenticates the ESX Server
• iSCSI Software and Hardware Initiators
• VMFS
• Multipathing with Fibre Channel
• Multipathing with iSCSI
• Manage Multiple Paths
• How NAS/NFS is used with ESX Server
• Addressing and Access Control with NFS

6. VirtualCenter Installation

• VirtualCenter Components
• VirtualCenter Architecture
• Hardware and Software Prerequisites
• VirtualCenter Database
• VMware License Server (Centralized Licensing)
• VirtualCenter Server Services
• VI Client Overview
• ESX Server and VirtualCenter Communication
• Managing Across Geographies
• Backup Strategy for VirtualCenter Server
• VirtualCenter Inventory: Multiple Data Centers
• VirtualCenter Inventory: Clusters

7. Virtual Machine Creation and Management

• Files that Make Up a Virtual Machine
• Display a Virtual Machine's Files using the VI Client
• Virtual Machine Virtual Hardware
• Virtual Machine Console
• Install Guest Operating System into a Virtual Machine
• Deploy a Virtual Machine from Template
• Clone a Virtual Machine
• Guest Operating System Customization
• Deploying Across Datacenters
• Virtual Appliances
• VMware Converter Enterprise
• Hot Cloning
• Cold Cloning
• Importing a Server
• Move VM Between ESX Servers: Cold Migration
• Modify Virtual Machine Settings
• Guided Consolidation

8. Virtual Infrastructure Access Control

• Security Model Overview
• Defining Users and Groups
• Privileges and Roles
• Permissions
• VirtualCenter Security Model
• ESX Server Security Model
• Web Access

9. Resource Management

• How Virtual Machines Compete for Resources
• Resource Pool
• Configuring a Pool's Resources
• Move VM Between ESX Servers: VMotion Migration
• How VMotion Works
• Virtual Machine Requirements for VMotion
• Host Requirements for VMotion
• What a DRS Cluster Is
• Create a DRS Cluster
• Best Practices for DRS
• Resource Pools in a DRS Cluster
• Delegated Administration
• Monitor Cluster Usage
• Planned Downtime: Maintenance Mode

10. Resource Monitoring

• Systems for Optimizing VM Resource Use
• Monitoring Virtual Machine Performance
• Performance-Tuning Methodology
• Monitoring VM Resource Use with Performance Graphs
• Tools for Improving VM CPU and Memory Performance
• Monitoring Using Performance-Based Alarms

11. Data and Availability Protection

• Backup Strategies
• What To Back Up
• General Guidelines for Virtual Machine Backups
• Virtual Machine High Availability
• Clustering Inside VMs for High Availability

12. Planning VI Deployment

• ESX Server 3 Hardware Support
• ESX Server Sizing
• Booting ESX from a Fibre Channel or iSCSI SAN LUN
• VirtualCenter Deployment
• Storage Considerations
• Storage Comparison: Fibre Channel, NAS, iSCSI

Labs

Lab exercises are interspersed throughout the course.

To request a location or date, use our By Request service.