CHAPTER 1 SYSTEM CONSIDERATIONS 1
Basic Hardware Considerations 2
Feature Considerations 3
Processor Considerations 6
Cache Considerations 8
Memory Considerations 11
I/O Card Considerations 13
10Gb Ethernet 16
Converged Network Adapters 16
Disk Drive Space Considerations 16
Basic Hardware Considerations Summary 17
Specific Hardware Considerations 19
Blade Server Systems 19
1U Server Systems 20
2U Server Systems 21
Large Server-Class Systems 22
The Effects of External Storage 23
Examples 27
Example 1: Using Motherboard X and ESXi Will Not Install 27
Example 2: Installing ESX and Expecting a Graphical Console 27
Example 3: Existing Datacenter 28
Example 4: Office in a Box 29
Example 5: The Latest and Greatest 30
Example 6: The SAN 31
Example 7: Secure Environment 32
Example 8: Disaster Recovery 33
Hardware Checklist 34
Conclusion 35
CHAPTER 2 VERSION COMPARISON 37
VMware ESX/ESXi Architecture Overview 38
vmkernel Differences 40
ESX Boot Differences 44
Tool Differences 51
Virtual Networking 52
vNetwork Distributed Switch 53
Third-Party Virtual Switches 53
Fault Tolerance (FT) Logging 54
iSCSI Participation 54
IPv6 Support 54
VMsafe-Net 54
Summary 54
Storage 56
Grow a VMFS Volume 57
Storage IO Control (SIOC) 57
Multipath Plug-in (MPP) 57
iSCSI and NFS Improvements 57
FCoE 58
Storage Summary 58
Availability 60
Host Profiles 60
Fault Tolerance 60
Dynamic Power Management 62
High Availability (HA) Improvements 62
vMotion 62
Storage vMotion 62
Availability Summary 63
Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Differences 64
Virtual Hardware 66
Virtual Machine and Server Management 68
Security Differences 69
Installation Differences 70
Licensing Differences 71
VMware Certification 74
Conclusion 75
CHAPTER 3 INSTALLATION 77
Preinstallation Checklist 77
Preinstallation/Upgrade Steps 80
Step 1: Back Up ESX 81
Step 2: Read the Release Notes 82
Step 3: Perform a Pre-Upgrade Test 82
Step 4: Prepare Your ESX Host 84
Installation/Upgrade Steps 85
Step 1: Read the Release Notes 85
Step 2: Read All Relevant Documentation 85
Step 3: Is Support Available for the Hardware Configuration? 85
Step 4: Verify the Hardware 85
Step 5: Are the Firmware Levels at Least Minimally Supported? 86
Step 6: Is the System and Peripheral BIOS Correctly Set? 87
Step 7: Where Do You Want the Boot Disk Located? 88
Step 8: VMware ESX Host License 89
Step 9: Guest OS License and Installation Materials 89
Step 10: Service Console Network Information 89
Step 11: Memory Allocated to the Service Console 89
Step 12: vmkernel Network Information 90
Step 13: Number of Virtual Network Switches 90
Step 14: Virtual Network Switch Label Name(s) 91
Step 15: File System Layouts 91
Step 16: Configure the Server and the FC HBA to Boot from SAN or Boot from iSCSI 93
Step 17: Start ESX/ESXi Host Installations 102
Step 18: Connecting to the Management User Interface for the First Time 112
Step 19: Third-Party Tools to Install 116
Step 20: Additional Software Packages to Install 117
Step 21: Patch ESX or ESXi 117
Step 22: Guest Operating System Software 117
Step 23: Guest Operating System Licenses 117
Step 24: Network Information for Each Guest Operating System 118
Step 25: Guest Upgrades 118
Automating Installation 118
EXi 4.1 118
ESX 4 118
Kickstart Directives 119
Conclusion 121
CHAPTER 4 AUDITING AND MONITORING 123
Auditing Recipe 124
ESX and ESXi 124
ESX 128
ESXi 134
Auditing Conclusion 134
Monitoring Recipe 135
Host Hardware Monitoring 135
Virtual Machine State Monitoring 136
Network Monitoring 136
Performance Monitoring 137
Application Monitoring 137
Security Monitoring 137
ESX-Specific Auditing and Monitoring Concerns 138
vmkernel Considerations 139
vMotion and Fault Tolerance Considerations 139
Other ESX Considerations 139
What to Do If There Is a Break-In 141
Conclusion 142
CHAPTER 5 STORAGE WITH ESX 143
Overview of Storage Technology with ESX 144
FC Versus SCSI Versus SAS Versus ATA Versus SATA, and So On 145
FCoE and Converged Network Adapters (CNAs) 147
iSCSI (SCSI over IP) 147
NAS (Network-Attached Storage) 149
SANs (Storage Area Networks) 149
Storage Best Practices for ESX 160
SAN/iSCSI Best Practices 160
iSCSI/NFS Best Practices 161
Virtual Machine File System 161
VMDK and VMFS Manipulation 163
VMFS Types 164
Structure of VMFS 164
Storage Checklist 169
Assessing Storage and Space Requirements 171
LUN Sizes 172
Example of LUN Sizing 175
Storage-Specific Issues 176
Increasing the Size of a VMDK 177
Increasing the Size of a VMFS 178
Searching for New LUNs 178
VMFS Created on One ESX Host Not Appearing on Another 179
How to Unlock a LUN 179
Boot from SAN or iSCSI 180
Conclusion 180
CHAPTER 6 EFFECTS ON OPERATIONS 181
SCSI-2 Reservation Issues 182
Performance-Gathering and Hardware Agents Within a VM 189
Network Utilization 191
Virtual Machine Mobility 192
Data Store Performance or Bandwidth Issues 193
Other Operational Issues 194
Life-Cycle Management 195
Conclusion 197
CHAPTER 7 NETWORKING 199
Basic Building Blocks 199
Details of the Building Blocks 202
vNetwork Functionality 215
Network Definitions 237
Virtual Environment Management Network 240
Out-of-Band Management Network 242
vMotion Network 242
Fault Tolerance Logging Network 243
NFS Network 243
iSCSI Network 244
VM Network 244
Checklist 246
pSwitch Settings Checklist 250
vNetworking 252
vNetworks: The Great VLAN Debate 252
vNetworks: Network Splits 253
vNetworks: Simple Network 256
vNetworks: Adding More to the Virtualization Network 257
vNetwork: DMZ 260
pNIC Determination 262
Conclusion 263
CHAPTER 8 CONFIGURING ESX FROM A HOST CONNECTION 265
Configuration Tasks 266
Server-Specific Tasks 266
ESXi Root Password 268
ESXi Management Network 269
Create Administrative Users 270
Security Configuration 278
Network Time Protocol (NTP) 280
Service Console Memory 284
Command Line (ESX v3) 286
vSC (ESX v3) 287
Patching ESX and ESXi 287
Patching VIA vSphere Host Update Utility 287
Patching VIA VMware Update Manager 289
Conclusion 292
CHAPTER 9 CONFIGURING ESX FROM A VIRTUAL CENTER OR HOST 295
Configuration Tasks 296
Join Host to vCenter 296
Licensing 297
ESX v4 298
Virtual Swap 305
VMFS Manipulation 306
Rename Local VMFS via Command Line 307
Connect to Storage Device 307
VMFS Manipulation with the vSphere Client 319
Growing a VMFS 333
Upgrading from VMFS v3.xx to v3.33 or v3.34 334
Masking and Max LUN Manipulations 335
Virtual Networking 337
Configuring the Service Console or ESXi Management Appliance 337
Creating a VM Network vSwitch 340
Creating a vNetwork Distributed Virtual Switch 344
vSC 344
Setting Up PVLANs Within a Distributed Virtual Switch 347
Creating a vMotion vSwitch 348
Creating a FT Network 352
Command Line 353
Adding an iSCSI Network 356
Adding a NAS vSwitch for Use by NFS 357
Adding a Private vSwitch 358
Adding Additional pNICs to a vSwitch 359
Adding vSwitch Portgroups 360
Removing vSwitch Portgroups 360
Distributed vSwitch Portgroup 361
vSwitch Removal 361
Distributed vSwitch Removal 362
vSwitch Security 362
vSwitch Properties 364
Changing vmkernel Gateways 367
Changing pNIC Settings 369
Changing Traffic-Shaping Settings 370
iSCSI VMFS 372
Command Line 372
vSC 373
Network-Attached Storage 375
Command Line 375
vSC 376
Mapping Information 378
Secure Access to Management Interfaces 379
Advanced Settings 380
Conclusion 380
CHAPTER 10 VIRTUAL MACHINES 383
Overview of Virtual Hardware 383
Creating VMs 389
VM Creation from vSC 393
VM Creation from Command Line 435
Installing Guest Operating Systems 442
Using Local to the ESX Host CD-ROMs 443
Using a Local or Shared ESX Host ISO Image 444
Using Client Device or ISO 445
Importance of DVD/CD-ROM Devices 447
Other Installation Options 447
Special Situations 447
Using CD/RW and DVD/RW/R+/R- Devices 447
Virtual Guest Tagging Driver 448
Virtual Hardware for Non-Disk SCSI Devices 448
Virtual Hardware for Raw Disk Map Access to Remote SCSI 450
Virtual Hardware for RDM-Like Access to Local SCSI 450
VM Disk Modes and Snapshots 452
OS Installation Peculiarities 456
Cloning, Templates, and Deploying VMs 457
VM Solutions 458
Private Lab 458
Firewalled Private Lab 458
Firewalled Lab Bench 460
Cluster in a Box 462
Cluster Between ESX Hosts 462
Cluster Between Virtual and Physical Servers 463
vCenter as a VM 463
Virtual Appliances 464
VMware Tools 465
VMX Changes 466
Conclusion 467
CHAPTER 11 DYNAMIC RESOURCE LOAD BALANCING 469
Defining DRLB 469
The Basics 470
The Advanced Features 473
Shares 486
Resource Pool Addendum 488
Network Resources 489
Disk Resources 490
CPU Resources 491
Memory Resources 491
vApps 492
Monitoring 494
Alarms 495
Performance Analysis 504
Putting It All Together 511
Conclusion 512
CHAPTER 12 DISASTER RECOVERY, BUSINESS CONTINUITY, AND BACKUP 513
Disaster Types 514
Recovery Methods 517
Best Practices 521
Backup and Business Continuity 522
Backup 523
Business Continuity 529
The Tools 531
Local Tape Devices 534
VMware Data Recovery 534
Third-Party Tools 538
Conclusion 538
EPILOGUE: THE FUTURE OF THE VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT 539
REFERENCES 543
INDEX 545
