Once again the team at wiley /sybex have been so supportive. Mariann Barsolo, thank you for your guidance and support; Stephanie Barton and Dassi Zeidel and the rest of the editing team thank you for all that you did to ensure the quality of this work. Your attention to detail is second to none Internal to VMware, I was helped by so many people. I'dlike to thank manish Patel for his internal review. Thanks also to william lam and alan renouf- your lunchtime banter always keeps me sane. Cormac Hogan, Rawlinson Rivera, Doug Baer, Ryan Johnson, and Tim Gleed thanks for answering my spontaneous questions without context And to those I havent named, the hallway conversations, the quick emails to verify settings and the iMs late at night. Thank you to all, your assistance made a real difference There is also a list of v Experts who reviewed some late drafts of this work that I very much appreciated. Although I couldnt incorporate all of their feedback, having a fresh set of eyes look over things certainly helped. Thank you to the following eXperts DerekSeaman-www.derekseaman.com AtherBeg-atherbeg.com ChristopherKusek-pkguild.com KeiranShelden-www.readysetvirtual.com Kyleruddy-www.thatcouldbeaproblem.com Steve Flanders-sflanders net PaulBraren-www.tinkertry.com David hanacek-transformation emc2at Abdullah abdullah-notes doodzzz net Finally, Id like to thank the VMware community as a whole. To all the bloggers, speakers, tweeters, and podcasters: without you all, I would never have started down this road Nick marshall
Once again the team at Wiley/Sybex have been so supportive. Mariann Barsolo, thank you for your guidance and support; Stephanie Barton and Dassi Zeidel and the rest of the editing team, thank you for all that you did to ensure the quality of this work. Your attention to detail is second to none. Internal to VMware, I was helped by so many people. I’d like to thank Manish Patel for his internal review. Thanks also to William Lam and Alan Renouf— your lunchtime banter always keeps me sane. Cormac Hogan, Rawlinson Rivera, Doug Baer, Ryan Johnson, and Tim Gleed, thanks for answering my spontaneous questions without context. And to those I haven’t named, the hallway conversations, the quick emails to verify settings and the IMs late at night. Thank you to all, your assistance made a real difference. There is also a list of vExperts who reviewed some late drafts of this work that I very much appreciated. Although I couldn’t incorporate all of their feedback, having a fresh set of eyes look over things certainly helped. Thank you to the following vExperts: Derek Seaman—www.derekseaman.com Ather Beg—atherbeg.com Christopher Kusek—pkguild.com Keiran Shelden—www.readysetvirtual.com Kyle Ruddy—www.thatcouldbeaproblem.com Steve Flanders—sflanders.net Paul Braren—www.tinkertry.com David Hanacek—transformation.emc2.at Abdullah Abdullah—notes.doodzzz.net Finally, I’d like to thank the VMware community as a whole. To all the bloggers, speakers, tweeters, and podcasters: without you all, I would never have started down this road. —Nick Marshall
About the Author Nick Marshall is an integration architect with over 15 years IT experience He holds multiple advanced it certifications, including VMware Certified Advanced Professional 5-Datacenter Administrator (VCAP5-DCA) and VMware Certified Advanced Professional 5-Datacenter Design(VCAP5 DCD). He is currently working for VMware in the SDDC Design and Test engineering group. Previously, Nick has worked in a number of roles, ranging from computer assembler, to infrastructure architect, to product manager. Nick loves to solve business problems with technical solutions Outside of his day job, Nick continues to work on his passion for virtualization by helping run the most popular virtualization podcast, ubroWnBag,writingonhispersonalblogatwww.nickmarshall.com.au,and writinghow-toarticlesonwwwlabguides.com.Youcanalsofindhim speaking at industry conferences such as VMUG(VMware User group) and PEX (Partner Exchange). To recognize his contributions to the vmware community, Nick has been awarded the vExpert award for 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 Nick lives with his wife Natalie and son ethan in Palo alto. california
About the Author Nick Marshall is an integration architect with over 15 years’ IT experience. He holds multiple advanced IT certifications, including VMware Certified Advanced Professional 5—Datacenter Administrator (VCAP5-DCA) and VMware Certified Advanced Professional 5—Datacenter Design (VCAP5- DCD). He is currently working for VMware in the SDDC Design and Test engineering group. Previously, Nick has worked in a number of roles, ranging from computer assembler, to infrastructure architect, to product manager. Nick loves to solve business problems with technical solutions. Outside of his day job, Nick continues to work on his passion for virtualization by helping run the most popular virtualization podcast, vBrownBag, writing on his personal blog, at www.nickmarshall.com.au, and writing how-to articles on www.labguides.com. You can also find him speaking at industry conferences such as VMUG (VMware User Group) and PEX (Partner Exchange). To recognize his contributions to the VMware community, Nick has been awarded the vExpert award for 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015. Nick lives with his wife Natalie and son Ethan in Palo Alto, California
About the contributors The following individuals also contributed to this book Grant Orchard( Chapters 5, 7, 8, 11, and 12) is a systems engineer for VMware focusing on their Cloud automation portfolio. he is an active member of the australian virtualization community and has been involved with the local chapters of the VMUG and u Brownbag community podcasts Grants holds the VMware Certified Advanced Professional 5 design and Administration certifications for both Datacenter Virtualization (vCA-DCD VCAP-DCA) and Cloud (VCAP-CIA, VCAP-CID) He recently became a father for the second time and, despite the sleep deprivation, loves to get quality time with his wife liz and two children, all of whom have been incredibly patient with the time he has spent working on this book. When he' s not trying the latest fad diet, he blogs at grantorchard. com and engages with the virtualization community on Twitter (@grantorchard) Josh atwell( Chapter 14)is a Cloud architect at SolidFire, focused on integration with automation platforms and management tools. He has worked hard for over a decade to allow little pieces of code to do his work for him. Now he focuses on building code and tools to help others. Josh has been highly active in the virtualization and datacenter communities, where he can be seen regularly on podcasts such as Engineers Unplugged and uBrown Bag, and as a co-host of the VUPaas podcast He also still works actively with various technical user groups Never known for lacking an opinion, he blogs at tesseract. com and talks shop on Twitter as @Josh_Atwell. When not working, he enjoys spending time with his three children and his supportive wife Stephanie
About the Contributors The following individuals also contributed to this book. Grant Orchard (Chapters 5, 7, 8, 11, and 12) is a systems engineer for VMware, focusing on their Cloud Automation portfolio. He is an active member of the Australian virtualization community and has been involved with the local chapters of the VMUG and vBrownbag community podcasts. Grants holds the VMware Certified Advanced Professional 5 Design and Administration certifications for both Datacenter Virtualization (VCA-DCD, VCAP-DCA) and Cloud (VCAP-CIA, VCAP-CID). He recently became a father for the second time and, despite the sleep deprivation, loves to get quality time with his wife Liz and two children, all of whom have been incredibly patient with the time he has spent working on this book. When he’s not trying the latest fad diet, he blogs at grantorchard.com and engages with the virtualization community on Twitter (@grantorchard). Josh Atwell (Chapter 14) is a Cloud Architect at SolidFire, focused on integration with automation platforms and management tools. He has worked hard for over a decade to allow little pieces of code to do his work for him. Now he focuses on building code and tools to help others. Josh has been highly active in the virtualization and datacenter communities, where he can be seen regularly on podcasts such as Engineers Unplugged and vBrownBag, and as a co-host of the VUPaaS podcast. He also still works actively with various technical user groups. Never known for lacking an opinion, he blogs at vtesseract.com and talks shop on Twitter as @Josh_Atwell. When not working, he enjoys spending time with his three children and his supportive wife Stephanie
CONTENTS foreword Introduction What Is Covered in This Book The Mastering Series The hardware behind the book Who Should Buy This Book How to Contact the author Chapter 1: Introducing VMware vSphere 6 Exploring VMware vSphere 6.0 Why Choose vSphere? The Bottom Line Chapter 2: Planning and Installing VMware ESXi Planning a vMware vSphere Deployment Depl ploying VMware ESXi Performing Postinstallation Configuration The Bottom Line Chapter 3: Installing and Configuring vCenter Server Introducing vCenter Server ChoosingtheVersion Server Planning and designing a vCenter Server Deployment Installing vCenter Server and Its Components Installing vCenter Server in a Linked Mode group Deploying the vCenter Server Virtual appliance Exploring v Center Server Creating and Managing a vCenter Server Inventory Exploring vCenter Servers Management Features Managing vCenter Server Settings vSphere Web client Administration The bottom line
CONTENTS Foreword Introduction What Is Covered in This Book The Mastering Series The Hardware behind the Book Who Should Buy This Book How to Contact the Author Chapter 1: Introducing VMware vSphere 6 Exploring VMware vSphere 6.0 Why Choose vSphere? The Bottom Line Chapter 2: Planning and Installing VMware ESXi Planning a VMware vSphere Deployment Deploying VMware ESXi Performing Postinstallation Configuration The Bottom Line Chapter 3: Installing and Configuring vCenter Server Introducing vCenter Server Choosing the Version of vCenter Server Planning and Designing a vCenter Server Deployment Installing vCenter Server and Its Components Installing vCenter Server in a Linked Mode Group Deploying the vCenter Server Virtual Appliance Exploring vCenter Server Creating and Managing a vCenter Server Inventory Exploring vCenter Server’s Management Features Managing vCenter Server Settings vSphere Web Client Administration The Bottom Line
Chapter 4: vSphere Update Manager and the v center Support Tools vSphere Update Manager Installing vSphere Update Manager Configuring vSphere Update Manager Creating Baselines Routine updates Upgrading Hosts with v Sphere Update Manager Performing an Orchestrated Upgrade Investigating Alternative Update Options vCenter Support Tools The Bottom Line Chapter 5: Creating and Configuring virtual Networks Putting Together a Virtual Network Working with vSphere Standard Switches Working with vSphere Distributed Switches Examining Third-Party Distributed virtual Switches Configuring Virtual Switch Security Looking ahead The Bottom Line Chapter 6: Creating and Configuring Storage Devices Reviewing the Importance of Storage Design Examining Shared Storage Fundamentals Implementing vSphere Storage Fundamentals Leveraging san and nas best practices The bottom line Chapter z: Ensuring High Availability and Business continuity Understanding the Layers of High Availability Clustering VMs Implementing vSphere high availability Introducing vSphere SMP Fault Tolerance Planning for Business continuity
Chapter 4: vSphere Update Manager and the vCenter Support Tools vSphere Update Manager Installing vSphere Update Manager Configuring vSphere Update Manager Creating Baselines Routine Updates Upgrading Hosts with vSphere Update Manager Performing an Orchestrated Upgrade Investigating Alternative Update Options vCenter Support Tools The Bottom Line Chapter 5: Creating and Configuring Virtual Networks Putting Together a Virtual Network Working with vSphere Standard Switches Working with vSphere Distributed Switches Examining Third-Party Distributed Virtual Switches Configuring Virtual Switch Security Looking Ahead The Bottom Line Chapter 6: Creating and Configuring Storage Devices Reviewing the Importance of Storage Design Examining Shared Storage Fundamentals Implementing vSphere Storage Fundamentals Leveraging SAN and NAS Best Practices The Bottom Line Chapter 7: Ensuring High Availability and Business Continuity Understanding the Layers of High Availability Clustering VMs Implementing vSphere High Availability Introducing vSphere SMP Fault Tolerance Planning for Business Continuity