VMware vSphere: Overview [V5.0]

This hands-on training course introduces the most compelling features of VMware vSphere® 5, which is the foundational component of the cloud infrastructure suite of software from VMware®. This course demonstrates vSphere features that help reduce your IT costs while improving efficiency, availability, scalability, flexibility, and manageability. The course is based on VMware ESXi™ 5.0 and VMware vCenter Server™ 5.0.

By the end of the course, you will be able to explain vSphere 5.0 storage, network, and virtualization concepts and have hands-on experience with the following:

• Using the VMware vSphere® Client™ to deploy and manage virtual machines
• Using VMware vSphere® vMotion® to migrate live virtual machines
• Using vSphere Storage vMotion to migrate live virtual machine data
• Configuring ESXi clusters to automatically balance virtual machine workloads
• Hierarchically allocating CPU and memory resources to specific business functions
• Using vCenter Server alarms and performance graphs to actively monitor the datacenter

This course is designed for technical persons responsible for evaluating vSphere 5, including IT managers, system architects, and system administrators.

1 Course Introduction

• Understand the course goals
• Understand the course objectives
• Become familiar with the course outline

2 Virtual Infrastructure Overview

• Describe server virtualization concepts
• Identify vSphere components, including vCenter Server, ESXi, and the vSphere Client
• View and describe virtual network and storage components
• Learn to use the vSphere Client management interface

3 Creating Virtual Machines

• Describe virtual machine virtual hardware components
• Create and use templates to deploy virtual machines
• Describe the functionality and benefits of installing VMware Tools on virtual machines
• Automate guest operating system customization

4 Allocating Compute Resources to Business Functions

• Describe CPU and memory resource management techniques used in ESXi
• Use virtual machine resource controls to allocate CPU and memory resources
• Use resources pools to hierarchically allocate CPU and memory resources

5 Migrating Virtual Machines

• Describe the operation and benefits of vMotion and Storage vMotion
• Use vMotion to migrate a live virtual machine
• Use Storage vMotion to migrate a live virtual machine’s data

6 Balancing Virtual Machine Workloads

• Describe the operation and scalability benefits of vSphere Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS)
• Configure a DRS cluster and resource pools
• Describe the operation and scalability benefits of Storage DRS
• Configure a Storage DRS cluster
• Describe the operation and cost benefits of vSphere Distributed Power Management

7 Monitoring the Virtual Datacenter

• Describe vCenter Server monitoring capabilities, including performance graphs and alarms
• Use performance graphs to monitor ESXi hosts
• Configure ESXi host and virtual machine alarms

8 High Availability and Fault Tolerance

• Describe the operation and availability benefits of vSphere High Availability
• Configure a vSphere HA cluster
• Describe the operation and availability benefits of VMware Fault Tolerance
• Configure a virtual machine for fault tolerance

9 Extending VMware vSphere Capabilities

• Discuss how different VMware products and features work together to reduce the costs and improve the efficiency, availability, flexibility, and manageability of your datacenter

Before attending this course, the student must have:

• System administration knowledge or experience on Microsoft Windows or Linux operating systems is helpful.