| Course Description | |
| This class is a 5-day intense introduction to virtualization using VMware’s immensely popular vSphere™ suite including VMware ESX™ 4 and vCenter™ 4. Assuming no prior virtualization experience, this class starts with the basics and rapidly progresses to more advanced topics. More than 40% of class time is devoted to labs so concepts and skills are reinforced. Initial labs focus on installation and configuration of stand-alone ESX servers. As the class progresses, shared storage, networking and centralized management are introduced. The class then continues on to more advanced topics including resource balancing, high availability, back up and recovery, troubleshooting and more. Disaster recovery, rapid deployment, hot migration and workload consolidation are also covered. This class is unique in its approach; which is to identify common IT pain points and then clearly explain and demonstrate how virtualization delivers immediate, tangible benefits (e.g.: reduced capital and operational costs, greater consistency, responsiveness, reduced administration, server consolidation, etc.). Each topic is presented from the perspective of delivering key business and/or economic value – not just the technical or mechanical aspects of the software. By the end of the class, attendees will have learned the benefits, skills, mechanics and best practices of virtualization. Attendees will be able to design, implement, deploy, configure, monitor, manage, troubleshoot and secure VMware vSphere 4.
Course Length: 5 Days Course Tuition: $2800 (US) |
|
| Prerequisites | |
| User, operator, or administrator experience on common operating systems such as Microsoft Windows®, Linux™, UNIX™ or other platforms. Experience installing, configuring and managing operating systems, storage systems and/or networks is useful but not required. We assume that all attendees have a basic familiarity with PC server hardware, disk partitioning, IP addressing, O/S installation, etc. No Linux command line skills are assumed or required. | |
| Course Outline |
|
• Introduction to VMware vSphere OS, Apps Tied to PC Server Physical Resource Utilization Utilization Solutions Datacenter Issues OS, Application Imaging New Workload Deployment Back Up & Recovery Server Refresh Hardware Maintenance High Windows OS Costs MS Virtualization Calculator Disaster Recovery Test, Development & QA Server Capacity Management IT Technical Career Benefits vSphere Components VMware ESX VMware ESXi VMware ESX Editions Small Business Bundles Best Bang for Buck VMware vCenter Single Host Deployment Multiple ESX Hosts Multiple ESX, Shared Storage Full vSphere Cloud Computing Storage Cloud Server Cloud Network Cloud • VMware ESX and ESXi ESX Block Diagram Simple ESX Server Deployment Scalable ESX Deployment ESX Server Hardware ESXi and ESX ESXi ESXi Set Password Management IP Properties IP Configuration Management Agents ESX Install Steps Install vSphere Client vSphere Client Network Troubleshooting Sizing ESX CPU, Memory Sizing ESX Storage, NICs System Health Status Physical CPU Properties Physical Memory Properties Network Properties • Introduction to Virtual Networking vNetwork Switches Standard vSwitches Distributed vSwitches Physical Networking Virtual Networking ESX Networking Isolated Virtual Networking Outbound Virtual Networking Outbound Teamed Networking vSwitch Properties Multi-homed Networking High Performance Networking vSwitch Properties vSwitch Connection Types Port Groups Network View vSwitch Properties Add Network Wizard ESX Physical NICs vmnic# to Physical NIC Roster vSwitch Rules • Network Attached Storage (NAS) / Network File System (NFS) Basic ESX Deployment Network Attached Storage NAS Options Network File System NAS/NFS Uses NAS Components Defining NFS Shares on Linux NFS Vmkernel Port Define an NFS Share NFS Share in Storage Roster Disconnect an NFS Share NAS/NFS Trade-offs Troubleshooting NFS • Virtual Hardware and Virtual Machines Virtual Machines VM Naming Rules Virtual Hardware Powered Off VMs Datastore Browser VM File Copy New Virtual Machine Wizard Base Virtual Machine HW VM Wizard – CPUs VM Wizard – Memory VM Wizard – Disk Virtual Disk Snapshots Snapshots Manager Complete the Virtual Machine Remote Console Virtual Machine BIOS Install Guest OS VM Running with Stock Drivers VMware Tools VMware Tools – Time Sync VMware Tools – Connections VMware Tools – Scripts Supported Guest OS • Central Management with vCenter vCenter vCenter Base Features Licensed Add On Features vCenter Diagram vCenter Deployment vCenter HW Requirements Supported Databases MS SQL Express MS SQL Database Windows Services Remote Management vSphere is a Management Proxy Don’t Bypass vCenter When Using vCenter Database Size Estimates vCenter Install Sequence vCenter Modules Recovering vCenter To Restart vCenter • vCenter Inventory Views vCenter has 4 Categories Inventory Views Home View Navigation Options – View Location Bar Organizing Inventory Folders Organize Datacenters Folders in Datacenters Folders can Organize Hosts VMs Run on Clusters Primary Inventory Views Network, Datastore Views Enhanced Features vCenter Sessions Resource Maps Schedule Tasks View Past Events View System Logs Licensing vCenter Server Licensing vCenter Server Status vSphere Client Settings Web Access Logging In Reviewing a VM Web Access Remote Console Virtual Machine Shortcut vCenter Pricing • Rapid Deployment with VM Templates, Clones Need to Cut Deployment Time Template Theory Template Benefits Templates Disk Formats Select Template Disk Format Creating a New Template Template Properties Template Maintenance Templates in Hosts and Clusters Deploy VM from Template Clone a VM Clone a Template Windows VM Customization Linux, Solaris OS Customization Pre-Built Virtual Machines Virtual Appliance Pros Virtual Appliance Cons Import Virtual Appliances Export Virtual Appliances Editing Virtual Hardware Adding Virtual Hardware Virtual Machine Options Virtual Machine Resources All VMs Support Simple Changes Hot Add Virtual Disk Raw Disk Map (RDM) After Hot Add, Rescan Disks Hot Grow Disks • vSphere Security & Permission Model Managing Access to vSphere Permissions – Privileges Permissions – Roles Permissions – Users Assigned Permissions Determining Permissions Privilege Hierarchy Inventory Object Permissions Role Assignments Work with Roles Edit a Role vCenter Users, Groups Checking Permissions View vCenter Base Permissions ESX Users, Groups View ESX Default Permissions Permission Best Practices • Advanced Virtual Networking Distributed vSwitches dvSwitch Port Groups, Uplinks Building a New dvSwitch Review/Change dvSwitch dvSwitch Port Assignments VMs to dvSwitch Port Groups Service Console, VMkernel dvSwitch Uplink NICs dvSwitch Properties dvSwitch Advanced Properties Advanced vSwitch Policies Port Group Security Traffic Shaping Traffic Shaping Settings NIC Team Settings Load Balancing Policies Originating Port Forwarding Forward Based on MAC Hash Forward Based on IP Hash IP Hash Forwarding Network Failure Resilient Network Configuration Notify Switches Active and Standby NICs Standard vSwitch VLANs Create Private VLANs vSwitch Guidelines |
• Fibre and iSCSI SAN Shared Storage Fibre Storage Area Networks Fibre San Block Diagram World Wide Names iSCSI Hardware Paths Hardware Paths Fibre HBAs Storage Volumes Storage Device Properties Add Storage Wizard Fibre SAN Review iSCSI iSCSI Redundancy Options iSCSI Motivation iSCSI Capabilities iSCSI Block Diagram iSCSI Qualified Names LUN Discovery Options iSCSI Hardware Initiators iSCSI Software Initiators iSCSI Ports SC iSCSI Firewall Update Enable iSCSI SW Adapter Change iSCSI SW Adapter IQN Enter IP Address of SAN SPs Challenge Authentication Protocol CHAP Authentication Process Enter Your iSCSI Credentials iSCSI SP Correctly Added Scan iSCSI SAN New iSCSI LUNs iSCSI Trade-offs Troubleshooting iSCSI Storage Reports Boot from SAN • VMware File System VMware File System VMFS Features Using a VMFS Building a VMFS Select Disk/LUN VMFS Settings New VMFS VMFS Details VMFS Capacity Management LUN Span To Add an Extent Spanned LUNs Grow Volume, VMFS Grow Volume then Grow VMFS VMFS Consumes Free Space Multipathing FibreSAN Multipathing iSCSI SAN Multipathing Manage Hardware Paths Path Selection Policy Pluggable Storage Architecture • Resource Management and Resource Pools Resource Administration Resource Delegation CPU Resource Tunables Physical to Virtual CPU Service Dynamic Memory Balancing VM Memory Tunables Memory Resource Tunables Shares Resource Pools Resource Pool Settings Expandable Reservations Why Use Resource Pools Auto-Update Resource Pools CPU Resource Allocations Memory Resource Allocations Virtual Hardware Resources Resource Pool Summary Tab • VMware Guiding Consolidation Guided Consolidation Select Domains/Workgroups Selecting Hosts in a Domain Monitored Host Roster Migrating Monitored Hosts Target Host Recommendations Converting the Physical Host Enterprise Planning/Migration • Virtual Machine Cold, Hot and Storage Migration Cold Migration Why Cold Migrate VMotion Migration VMotion Benefits VMotion Requirements VMotion – Initiate Memory Pre-copy Progress is Monitored VM is Descheduled VM Context is Transferred Switch Over VM is Scheduled to Run Housekeeping VMotion Experience Failed Validation Validation Warning Host Compatibility CPU Compatiblity CPU Identification Utility Storage VMotion Storage VMotion Experience • Distributed Resource Scheduler DRS Goals DRS Clusters Resource Management DRS Functions DRS Automation Level Migration Threshold Distributed Power Management EVC and AMD CPUs EVC for Intel CPUs EVC Benefits DRS EVC Requirements VM Swapfile Location Affinity, Anti-Affinity Rules Per-VM Overrides DRS Cluster Summary Tab CPU/RAM Host Distributions Resource Allocation Tab Virtual Machines Tab DRS Tab Adopting DRS DRS Best Practices • VMware High Availability Clusters HA VM Requirements Enabling HA Fail Over VMware HA Host Failures Host Failures Allowed HA Reserve Resources HA Cluster Heartbeat HA Restart Priority HA Isolation Response VM Monitoring How Isolation Response Works Service Console NIC Failure VM Powered off When Isolated Move, Power on VM Adding a Host to a Cluster Maintenance Mode Resolving HA Problems HA and DRS Isolation Response Issues Best Practices VMware Fault Tolerance • ESX & VM Backup Strategies VM Backup Challenge Traditional Network Backup Reduce Backup Stress Service Console Backup VMware Consolidated Backup VCB Layout VCB – Initiate Backup VCB VMDK Image Backup VCB + 3rd Party Backup App Completing a VCB VM Backup VCB File & Directory Restore VM Image Restore • VMware vCenter Converter Physical to Virtual Migrations Clone & Update Disks Install and Enable Converter Manage Plugins Converter Steps Converter Caveats USB Protected Apps Trouble Spots • Performance Analysis Describe Problems ESX CPU Usage StrategyActive VM CPU Scheduling Physical to Virtual CPU Sequential vs. Concurrent Tasks Idle VM CPU Scheduling CPU Over Commit Physical Memory Virtual Machine Memory VM Memory Over Commit Physical RAM to VM Allocation Transparent Page Sharing Memory Ballooning VMkernel Swap Ballooning vs. VMkernel Swap Memory Management Review Disk I/O Bandwidth Contention Basic Performance Charts Advanced Performance Charts Performance Chart Options Performance Problems Tracking VM CPU Ready Time CPU Ready VM Experience To Resolve CPU Over Commit Monitoring Memory Stress Memory Ballooning – Overview Page Faults in Task Manager VM CPU, Memory Consumption Best Practices • vSphere Alarms Resource Tracking and Alerting vCenter Alarms Adding an Alarm Alarm Settings ESX Host Alarms Virtual Machine Alarms Alarm Reporting Set Alarm Actions Default Alarms Set E-Mail Properties Set SNMP Properties Change Custom Alarms Acknowledge Alarms Alarm Best Practices • vSphere Final Thoughts What to Virtualize One-to-One Virtualization CPU Considerations Memory Considerations Storage Considerations Network Considerations Server Capacity Management VM High Availability Contact us for course schedules or more information. |
