TABLE 1.1 Product and Feature Cross-References (CoNTINUED) VMWARE VSPHERE PRODUCT OR FEATURE CHAPTERS WHERE THIS IS COVERED vSphere Virtual Symmetric Multi-Processing here vMotion and Storage vMotion Chapter 12 phere Distributed Resource Scheduler Storage I/O Control and Network I/O Control Char 11 Profile-driven storage Chapter 7 Sphere Storage APIs for Data Protectio VMware Data protection Chapter 7 VMware Virtual San Chapter 7 vSphere Flash Read Cache Installation:-Chapter 6 vSphere Content Library Chapter 9 First we'll look at the products that make up the VMware vSphere suite, and then we 'll examine the major features. Let's start with the products in the suite, beginning wit VMware EsXi Examining the Products in the vSphere Suite In the following sections, we'll describe and review the products found in the vSphere ESX 6.7, the hypervisor comes solely in the form of VMware ESti *b, the virtualization layer that The core of the vSphere product suite is the hypervisor, which is serves as the foundation for the rest of the product line. In vSphere 5 and later, including vSphere ongtime users of VMware vSphere will remember this as a shift in the way VMware ESX and VMware ESXi. Although both products shared the same core virtualization eng neare provides the hypervisor. Prior to vSphere 5, the hypervisor was available in two forms: VMwa
EXPLORING VMWARE vSPHERE 6.7 | 3 First we’ll look at the products that make up the VMware vSphere suite, and then we’ll examine the major features. Let’s start with the products in the suite, beginning with VMware ESXi. Examining the Products in the vSphere Suite In the following sections, we’ll describe and review the products found in the vSphere product suite. VMware ESXi The core of the vSphere product suite is the hypervisor, which is the virtualization layer that serves as the foundation for the rest of the product line. In vSphere 5 and later, including vSphere 6.7, the hypervisor comes solely in the form of VMware ESXi. Longtime users of VMware vSphere will remember this as a shift in the way VMware provides the hypervisor. Prior to vSphere 5, the hypervisor was available in two forms: VMware ESX and VMware ESXi. Although both products shared the same core virtualization engine, VMware vSphere product or feature Chapters where this is covered vSphere Virtual Symmetric Multi-Processing Chapter 9 vSphere vMotion and Storage vMotion Chapter 12 vSphere Distributed Resource Scheduler Chapter 12 vSphere Storage DRS Chapter 12 Storage I/O Control and Network I/O Control Chapter 11 Profile-driven storage Chapter 6 vSphere High Availability Chapter 7 vSphere Fault Tolerance Chapter 7 vSphere Storage APIs for Data Protection Chapter 7 VMware Data Protection Chapter 7 VMware Virtual SAN Chapter 6 vSphere Replication Chapter 7 vSphere Flash Read Cache Installation:—Chapter 6 Usage:—Chapter 11 vSphere Content Library Chapter 9 Table 1.1: Product and Feature Cross-References (continued)
4CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCING VMWARE VSPHERE 6.7 supported the same set of virtualization features, leveraged the same licenses, and were consid ered bare-metal installation hypervisors(also referred to as Type 1 hypervisors; see the sidebar Type 1 and Type 2 Hypervisors"), there were still notable architectural differences In VMware ESX, VMware used a Red Hat Enterprise Linux(RHEL)derived Service Console to provide interactive environment through which users could interact with the hypervisor. The Linu ased Service Console also included services found in traditional operating systems, such as a firewall, Simple Network Management Protocol(SNMP)agents, and a web server. TYPE 1 AND TYPE 2 HYPERVISORS Hypervisors are generally grouped into two classes: Type 1 hypervisors and Type 2 hypervisors Type 1 hypervisors run directly on the system hardware and thus are often referred to as bare-metal hypervisors. Type 2 hypervisors require a host operating system, and the host operating system provides 1/O device support and memory management. VMware ESXi is a Type 1 bare-metal hyper- visor. (In earlier versions of vSphere, VMware ESX was also considered a Type 1 bare-metal hypervi- or.)Other Type 1 bare-metal hypervisors include KVM (part of the open source Linux kernel), Microsoft Hyper-V, and products based on the open source Xen hypervisor like Citrix Hypervisor (formally Xen Server) and Oracle vM VMware ESXi, on the other hand, is the next generation of the VMware virtualization foundation. Unlike VMware ESX, ESXi installs and runs without the Linux-based Service Console. This gives ESXi an ultralight footprint of approximately 150 MB. Despite the lack of the Service Console, ESXi provides all the same virtualization features that VMware ESX supported in earlier versions. Of course, ESXi 6.7 has been enhanced from earlier versions to support even more functionality, as you'll see in this and future chapters. The key reason that VMware ESXi is able to support the same extensive set of virtualization functionality as VMware ESX but without the Service Console is that the core of the virtualize tion functionality wasn't found in the Service Console. It's the VMkernel that is the foundation of the virtualization process. It's the VMkernel that manages the virtual machines'access to the underlying physical hardware by providing CPU scheduling, memory management, and virtual switch data processing. The section"VMware ESXi Architecture"in Chapter 2 will go into more detail on how the VMkernel supports and interacts with the rest of the hyper Figure 1.1 hows the high level structure of VMware ESXi FIGURE 1.1 The VMkernel is the foundation of the 日&& virtualization VMware esXi VMkernel 非P[昌 VMware ESXi
4 | CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCING VMWARE vSPHERE 6.7 supported the same set of virtualization features, leveraged the same licenses, and were considered bare-metal installation hypervisors (also referred to as Type 1 hypervisors; see the sidebar “Type 1 and Type 2 Hypervisors”), there were still notable architectural differences. In VMware ESX, VMware used a Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)-derived Service Console to provide an interactive environment through which users could interact with the hypervisor. The Linuxbased Service Console also included services found in traditional operating systems, such as a firewall, Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) agents, and a web server. Type 1 and Type 2 Hypervisors Hypervisors are generally grouped into two classes: Type 1 hypervisors and Type 2 hypervisors. Type 1 hypervisors run directly on the system hardware and thus are often referred to as bare-metal hypervisors. Type 2 hypervisors require a host operating system, and the host operating system provides I/O device support and memory management. VMware ESXi is a Type 1 bare-metal hypervisor. (In earlier versions of vSphere, VMware ESX was also considered a Type 1 bare-metal hypervisor.) Other Type 1 bare-metal hypervisors include KVM (part of the open source Linux kernel), Microsoft Hyper-V, and products based on the open source Xen hypervisor like Citrix Hypervisor (formally XenServer) and Oracle VM. VMware ESXi, on the other hand, is the next generation of the VMware virtualization foundation. Unlike VMware ESX, ESXi installs and runs without the Linux-based Service Console. This gives ESXi an ultralight footprint of approximately 150 MB. Despite the lack of the Service Console, ESXi provides all the same virtualization features that VMware ESX supported in earlier versions. Of course, ESXi 6.7 has been enhanced from earlier versions to support even more functionality, as you’ll see in this and future chapters. The key reason that VMware ESXi is able to support the same extensive set of virtualization functionality as VMware ESX but without the Service Console is that the core of the virtualization functionality wasn’t found in the Service Console. It’s the VMkernel that is the foundation of the virtualization process. It’s the VMkernel that manages the virtual machines’ access to the underlying physical hardware by providing CPU scheduling, memory management, and virtual switch data processing. The section “VMware ESXi Architecture” in Chapter 2 will go into more detail on how the VMkernel supports and interacts with the rest of the hypervisor. Figure 1.1 shows the high level structure of VMware ESXi. VMkernel VMware ESXi Figure 1.1 The VMkernel is the foundation of the virtualization functionality found in VMware ESXi
Table 1.2: VMware esXi maximums VMWARE VMWARE VMWARE VMWAREVMWARE COMPONENT ESXI 6.7 ESXI 6.5 ESXI 6.0 ESXI ESXI 5.0 4,096 4,096 4.096 CPUs per Number of logical CPUs 768 320 160 Amount of RAM per host 16 TB Number of virtual 1,024 512 Number of virtual CPUs 128 Amount of RAM p 6 T 6 TB 1 1 TB virtual machine We mentioned earlier that VMware EsXi 6.7 is enhanced, and one such area of enhancement is in the configuration limits of what the hypervisor can support Table 1.2 shows the configuration maximums for the last few versions of vmware esXi These are just some of the configuration maximums. Where appropriate, future chapters clude additional values for VMware ESXi maximums for network interface cards(NICs), storage, virtual machines (VMs), and so forth Given that VMware ESXi is the foundation of virtualization within the vSphere product suit you'll see content for VMware ESXi throughout the book. Table 1.1, earlier in this chapter, tells you where you can find more information about specific features of VMware ESXi VMWARE VCENTER SERVER Stop for a moment to think about your current IT environment. Does it include Active Directory? There is a good chance it does. Now imagine your environment without Active Directory, without the ease of a centralized management database, without the single sign-on capabilities, nd without the simplicity of groups. That's what managing VMware ESXi hosts would be like without using VMware vCenter Server. Not a very pleasant thought, is it? Now calm yourself down, take a deep breath, and know that v Center Server, like Active Directory, is meant to provide a centralized management platform and framework for all ESXi hosts and their respe tive VMs vCenter Server allows IT administrators to deploy, manage, monitor, automate, and secure a virtual infrastructure in a centralized fashion. To help provide scalability, vCenter Server leverages a backend database that stores all the data about the hosts and VMs
EXPLORING VMWARE vSPHERE 6.7 | 5 We mentioned earlier that VMware ESXi 6.7 is enhanced, and one such area of enhancement is in the configuration limits of what the hypervisor can support. Table 1.2 shows the configuration maximums for the last few versions of VMware ESXi. These are just some of the configuration maximums. Where appropriate, future chapters will include additional values for VMware ESXi maximums for network interface cards (NICs), storage, virtual machines (VMs), and so forth. Given that VMware ESXi is the foundation of virtualization within the vSphere product suite, you’ll see content for VMware ESXi throughout the book. Table 1.1, earlier in this chapter, tells you where you can find more information about specific features of VMware ESXi. VMware vCenter Server Stop for a moment to think about your current IT environment. Does it include Active Directory? There is a good chance it does. Now imagine your environment without Active Directory, without the ease of a centralized management database, without the single sign-on capabilities, and without the simplicity of groups. That’s what managing VMware ESXi hosts would be like without using VMware vCenter Server. Not a very pleasant thought, is it? Now calm yourself down, take a deep breath, and know that vCenter Server, like Active Directory, is meant to provide a centralized management platform and framework for all ESXi hosts and their respective VMs. vCenter Server allows IT administrators to deploy, manage, monitor, automate, and secure a virtual infrastructure in a centralized fashion. To help provide scalability, vCenter Server leverages a backend database that stores all the data about the hosts and VMs. Table 1.2: VMware ESXi Maximums Component VMware ESXi 6.7 VMware ESXi 6.5 VMware ESXi 6.0 VMware ESXi 5.5 VMware ESXi 5.0 Number of virtual CPUs per host 4,096 4,096 4,096 4,096 2,048 Number of logical CPUs (hyperthreading enabled) 768 576 480 320 160 Number of virtual CPUs per core 32 32 32 32 25 Amount of RAM per host 16 TB 12 TB 6 TB 4 TB 2 TB Number of virtual machines per host 1,024 1,024 1,024 512 512 Number of virtual CPUs per virtual machine 128 128 128 64 32 Amount of RAM per virtual machine 6 TB 6 TB 4 TB 1 TB 1 TB
6CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCING VMWARE vSPHERE 6.7 In previous versions of VMware vSphere, vCenter Server was a Windows-only applicatio Version 6.7 of vSphere still offers this Windows-based installation of vCenter Server, but this will be the last release available for Windows. VMware offers a prebuilt vCenter Server Appliance(a virtual appliance, in fact, something you'll learn about in Chapter 10, "Using Templates and vApps")that is based on Photon, a thin and lightweight Linux distribution. The Linux-based vCenter Server appliance, or vCSA, is now a more feature-rich version of vCenter since develop- ment of new features has ceased on a windows version. Chapter 3, " Installing and Configuring vCenter Server, "will include more details on what is missing from the windows version of vCenter Server. But for now, unless you already have an existing Windows-based installation, all new installations should use the Linux-based v Center Server Appliance to ensure a sup- v Center Server not only provides configuration and management capabilities-which include features such as VM templates, VM customization, rapid provisioning and deployment of VMs, role-based access controls, and fine-grained resource allocation controls--it also provides the tools for the more advanced features of vSphere vMotion, vSphere Distributed Resource Scheduler, vSphere High Availability, and vSphere Fault Tolerance. All of these features are described briefly in this chapter and in more detail in later chapters In addition to vSphere vMotion, vSphere Distributed Resource Scheduler, vSphere High Availability, and vSphere Fault Tolerance, using vCenter Server to manage ESXi hosts enables a Imber of other features. Enhanced vMotion Compatibility(EVO), which leverages hardware functionality from Intel and AMd to enable greater CPU compatibility between servers Host profiles, which allow you to bring greater consistency to host configurations across larger environments and to identify missing or incorrect configurations torage I/O Control, which provides cluster-wide quality of service(QoS)controls so you can ensure critical applications receive sufficient storage I/O resources even during times vSphere Distributed Switches, which provide the foundation for networking settings and third-party virtual switches that span multiple hosts and multiple clusters Network I/O Control, which allows you to flexibly partition physical NIC bandwidth and vSphere Storage DRS, which enables VMware vSphere to dynamically migrate storage resources to meet demand, much in the same way that DRS balances CPU and memory vCenter Server plays a central role in any sizable VMware vSphere implementation. In Chapter 3, we discuss planning and installing v Center Server as well as look at ways to ensure its availability. As previously mentioned, Chapter 3 will examine the differences between the Windows-based version of vCenter Server and the Linux-based vCenter Server virtual appliance. Because of v Center Servers central role in a VMware vSphere deployment, we'll touch on v Center Server in almost every chapter throughout the rest of the book. Refer to Table 1.1, earlier this chapter, for specific cross-references
6 | CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCING VMWARE vSPHERE 6.7 In previous versions of VMware vSphere, vCenter Server was a Windows-only application. Version 6.7 of vSphere still offers this Windows-based installation of vCenter Server, but this will be the last release available for Windows. VMware offers a prebuilt vCenter Server Appliance (a virtual appliance, in fact, something you’ll learn about in Chapter 10, “Using Templates and vApps”) that is based on Photon, a thin and lightweight Linux distribution. The Linux-based vCenter Server appliance, or vCSA, is now a more feature-rich version of vCenter since development of new features has ceased on a Windows version. Chapter 3, “Installing and Configuring vCenter Server,” will include more details on what is missing from the Windows version of vCenter Server. But for now, unless you already have an existing Windows-based installation, all new installations should use the Linux-based vCenter Server Appliance to ensure a supported future. vCenter Server not only provides configuration and management capabilities—which include features such as VM templates, VM customization, rapid provisioning and deployment of VMs, role-based access controls, and fine-grained resource allocation controls—it also provides the tools for the more advanced features of vSphere vMotion, vSphere Distributed Resource Scheduler, vSphere High Availability, and vSphere Fault Tolerance. All of these features are described briefly in this chapter and in more detail in later chapters. In addition to vSphere vMotion, vSphere Distributed Resource Scheduler, vSphere High Availability, and vSphere Fault Tolerance, using vCenter Server to manage ESXi hosts enables a number of other features: ◆ Enhanced vMotion Compatibility (EVC), which leverages hardware functionality from Intel and AMD to enable greater CPU compatibility between servers ◆ Host profiles, which allow you to bring greater consistency to host configurations across larger environments and to identify missing or incorrect configurations ◆ Storage I/O Control, which provides cluster-wide quality of service (QoS) controls so you can ensure critical applications receive sufficient storage I/O resources even during times of congestion ◆ vSphere Distributed Switches, which provide the foundation for networking settings and third-party virtual switches that span multiple hosts and multiple clusters ◆ Network I/O Control, which allows you to flexibly partition physical NIC bandwidth and provide QoS for different types of traffic ◆ vSphere Storage DRS, which enables VMware vSphere to dynamically migrate storage resources to meet demand, much in the same way that DRS balances CPU and memory utilization vCenter Server plays a central role in any sizable VMware vSphere implementation. In Chapter 3, we discuss planning and installing vCenter Server as well as look at ways to ensure its availability. As previously mentioned, Chapter 3 will examine the differences between the Windows-based version of vCenter Server and the Linux-based vCenter Server virtual appliance. Because of vCenter Server’s central role in a VMware vSphere deployment, we’ll touch on vCenter Server in almost every chapter throughout the rest of the book. Refer to Table 1.1, earlier in this chapter, for specific cross-references
vCenter Server is available in three packag v Center Server Essentials is integrated into the vSphere Essentials kits for small office v Center Server Foundation provides all the functionality of v Center Server, but for a limited number of esXi hosts vCenter Server Standard provides all the functionality of vCenter Server, including provisioning, management, monitoring, and automation. You can find more information on licensing and product editions for VMware vSphere in the section"Licensing VMware vSphere. VSPHERE UPDATE MANAGER vSphere Update Manager is a component of v Center Server that helps users keep their ESXi hosts and select VMs patched with the latest updates. vSphere Update Manager provides the following functionalit Scans to identify systems that are not compliant with the latest updates User-defined rules for identifying out-of-date systems Automated installation of patches for ESXi hosts Full integration with other vSphere features like Distributed Resource Scheduler vSphere Update Manager works as an installable package with the Windows-based installa- tion of vCenter Server as well as the prepackaged feature pre-installed in the vCenter Server virtual appliance. Refer to Table 1.1 for more information on where vSphere Update Manager is described in this book VMWARE VSPHERE CLIENT AND VSPHERE HOST CLIENT vCenter Server provides a centralized management framework for VMware ESXi hosts, but it's the web-based vSphere Client (like its predecessor, the Windows-based vSphere Desktop Client) re you will spend most of your time. With the release of vSphere 5, VMware shifted its primary administrative interface to a web-based vSphere Client built on Adobe Flash. The"vSphere Web Client"provided a web-based user interface for managing a virtual infrastructure and enabled you to manage your infrastruc- ture without needing to install the Windows-based vSphere Desktop Client on a system Unfortunately, the Flash-based client was not well received and ultimately VMware decided to move to the html5 web standard. This transition took a number of releases and as a result multiple clients could be used to do some(but not all)administrative task Initially, the HTML5-based vSphere Web Client(simply known as the vSphere Client offered only a subset of the functionality available to the"Flash"vSphere Web Client. However, in subsequent releases-including the 6.7 releasethe vSphere Client has been enhanced and expanded to include most of the functionality you need to manage a vSphere environment
EXPLORING VMWARE vSPHERE 6.7 | 7 vCenter Server is available in three packages: ◆ vCenter Server Essentials is integrated into the vSphere Essentials kits for small office deployment. ◆ vCenter Server Foundation provides all the functionality of vCenter Server, but for a limited number of ESXi hosts. ◆ vCenter Server Standard provides all the functionality of vCenter Server, including provisioning, management, monitoring, and automation. You can find more information on licensing and product editions for VMware vSphere in the section “Licensing VMware vSphere.” vSphere Update Manager vSphere Update Manager is a component of vCenter Server that helps users keep their ESXi hosts and select VMs patched with the latest updates. vSphere Update Manager provides the following functionality: ◆ Scans to identify systems that are not compliant with the latest updates ◆ User-defined rules for identifying out-of-date systems ◆ Automated installation of patches for ESXi hosts ◆ Full integration with other vSphere features like Distributed Resource Scheduler vSphere Update Manager works as an installable package with the Windows-based installation of vCenter Server as well as the prepackaged feature pre-installed in the vCenter Server virtual appliance. Refer to Table 1.1 for more information on where vSphere Update Manager is described in this book. VMware vSphere Client and vSphere Host Client vCenter Server provides a centralized management framework for VMware ESXi hosts, but it’s the web-based vSphere Client (like its predecessor, the Windows-based vSphere Desktop Client) where you will spend most of your time. With the release of vSphere 5, VMware shifted its primary administrative interface to a web-based vSphere Client built on Adobe Flash. The “vSphere Web Client”provided a web-based user interface for managing a virtual infrastructure and enabled you to manage your infrastructure without needing to install the Windows-based vSphere Desktop Client on a system. Unfortunately, the Flash-based client was not well received and ultimately VMware decided to move to the HTML5 web standard. This transition took a number of releases, and as a result, multiple clients could be used to do some (but not all) administrative tasks. Initially, the HTML5-based vSphere Web Client (simply known as the “vSphere Client”) offered only a subset of the functionality available to the “Flash” vSphere Web Client. However, in subsequent releases—including the 6.7 release—the vSphere Client has been enhanced and expanded to include most of the functionality you need to manage a vSphere environment