Foreword xxiii
Introduction xxv
Chapter 1 • Introducing VMware vSphere 55 1
Exploring VMware vSphere 55 1
Examining the Products in the vSphere Suite 3
Examining the Features in VMware vSphere 8
Licensing VMware vSphere 18
Why Choose vSphere? 22
The Bottom Line 24
Chapter 2 • Planning and Installing VMware ESXi 25
Planning a VMware vSphere Deployment 25
Choosing a Server Platform 26
Determining a Storage Architecture28
Integrating with the Network Infrastructure 29
Deploying VMware ESXi 30
Installing VMware ESXi Interactively 31
Performing an Unattended Installation of VMware ESXi 35
Deploying VMware ESXi with vSphere Auto Deploy 39
Performing Post-installation Confi guration 47
Installing the vSphere C# Client 47
Reconfiguring the Management Network 50
Configuring Time Synchronization 52
Configuring Name Resolution 53
The Bottom Line 54
Chapter 3 • Installing and Configuring vCenter Server 57
Introducing vCenter Server 57
Centralizing User Authentication Using vCenter Single Sign-On 59
Using the vSphere Web Client for Administration 62
Understanding the vCenter Inventory Service 62
Providing an Extensible Framework 63
Choosing the Version of vCenter Server 64
Planning and Designing a vCenter Server Deployment 65
Sizing Hardware for vCenter Server 66
Choosing a Database Server for vCenter Server 68
Planning for vCenter Server Availability 70
Running vCenter Server and Its Components as VMs 72
Installing vCenter Server and Its Components 74
Configuring the vCenter Server Backend Database Server 75
Installing the vCenter Server Components 80
Installing vCenter Server in a Linked Mode Group 88
Deploying the vCenter Server Virtual Appliance 91
Configuring an IP Address on the vCenter Server Virtual Appliance 94
Accepting the End-User License Agreement 95
Configuring the Database 96
Setting Up Single Sign-On 96
Active Directory Settings 97
Starting the vCenter Server Services 97
Exploring vCenter Server 97
What’s in the vSphere Web Client Home Screen? 98
Using the Navigator 100
Creating and Managing a vCenter Server Inventory 100
Understanding Inventory Views and Objects 100
Creating and Adding Inventory Objects 103
Exploring vCenter Server’s Management Features 106
Understanding Basic Host Management 106
Examining Basic Host Confi guration 108
Using Scheduled Tasks 111
Using Events Console in vCenter Server 113
Working with Host Profi les 114
Tags 116
Managing vCenter Server Settings 120
General vCenter Server Settings 120
Licensing 123
Message of the Day 123
Advanced Settings 123
vSphere Web Client Administration 123
Roles 124
Licensing 124
vCenter Solutions Manager 124
Log Browser 124
The Bottom Line 126
Chapter 4 • vSphere Update Manager and the vCenter Support Tools 129
vSphere Update Manager 129
Installing vSphere Update Manager 131
Defining the Requirements 132
Configuring VUM’s Database 133
Creating the Open Database Connectivity Data Source Name 136
Installing VUM 137
Installing the Update Manager Download Service (Optional) 140
Installing the vSphere Update Manager Plug-in 141
Reconfiguring the VUM or UMDS Installation with the Update Manager Utility 142
Upgrading VUM from a Previous Version 143
Configuring vSphere Update Manager 143
Creating Baselines 149
Routine Updates 153
Attaching and Detaching Baselines or Baseline Groups 153
Performing a Scan 156
Staging Patches 159
Remediating Hosts 160
Upgrading VMware Tools 164
Upgrading Virtual Appliances and Host Extensions 166
Upgrading Hosts with vSphere Update Manager 166
Importing an ESXi Image and Creating the Host Upgrade Baseline 167
Upgrading a Host 168
Upgrading VM Hardware 171
Performing an Orchestrated Upgrade173
Investigating Alternative Update Options 173
Using vSphere Update Manager PowerCLI 173
Upgrading and Patching without vSphere Update Manager 174
vCenter Support Tools175
ESXi Dump Collector 175
Syslog Collector 181
Other vCenter Support Tools 185
The Bottom Line 185
Chapter 5 • Creating and Configuring Virtual Networks 189
Putting Together a Virtual Network 189
Working with vSphere Standard Switches 192
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