EVALUATION VMware vSphere 5 - Training Materials for IT …€¦ · · 2014-02-17VMware vSphere...

Study Guide

5 Day

VMware vSphere 5.5with ESXi and vCenterA step by step approach to successful virtualization planning, deployment and administration.

Featuring VMware vSphere with

VMware ESXi™ 5.5,VMware vCenter™ 5.5,

and related products

February 2014

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Unauthorized reproduction or distribution is prohibited.

VMware vSphere 5.5 with ESXi and vCenterCopyright © 2009 - 2014 by ESXLab.com – All rights reserved. No reproduction by any means, mechanical, electronic or otherwise, without prior written permission from the authors.

Researched, written, published by:

Larry Karnis, ESXLab.com15 Claypine TrailBrampton, Ontario CanadaL6V 3L8

Phone:Toll Free:Facsimile:

LinkedInE-mail:

Web:Twitter:

(905) 451-9488(888) 451-3131(905) 451-7823ca.linkedin.com/[email protected] www.esxlab.com @ESXLab

First edition published October 2009Second update for vSphere 4.1, December 2010Fourth edition updated for vSphere 5, April 2012Fifth edition updated for vSphere 5.1, November 2012Sixth edition updated for vSphere 5.5, February 2014

To find out more about our products and services including consulting services, renting our remote lab facilities, running your own VMware class or custom training and content solutions, please visit our website www.esxlab.com or e-mail the author: [email protected].

This document was prepared in its entirety using the open source LibreOffice 4.13 office suite. LibreOffice can be freely downloaded for free from www.LibreOffice.org. Microsoft Visio™ 2007was used to create some of the slide graphics. Final PDF assembly was performed with PDFFactory Pro™ available at www.FinePrint.com. Screen grabs were captured with Snagit fromTechSmith.

This document, the images, screen grabs, etc. are original works. This document is copyright 2009-2014 by ESXLab.com. All rights reserved. No reproduction by any means including photo-copying or electronic imaging is permitted without prior written authorization from the copyright holder.

This training material is provided 'as is', without any warranty either expressed or implied. ESXLab.com prepared this material with due care for accuracy and completeness, but does not warrant that the content is either error free or suitable for any specific use. By using this courseware, the user agrees to accept responsibility for all results – desirableor otherwise. Customer agrees that all lab exercises are for illustration purposes only, and assumes all risks including but not limited of data damage or loss, resulting from such use. Customer agrees to indemnify ESXLab.com and its employees/contractors from all claims arising out of the use or misuse of the material in our courseware.

Microsoft, Microsoft Windows, Windows NT, Windows Server 2000/2003/2008, etc. are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. GroupWise and NetMail are trademarks of Novell Inc. Lotus Domino is a trademark of IBM Corporation. RedHat Enterprise Linux, and Fedora are trademarks of RedHat Inc. VMware, VMware Workstation, VMware Server, VMware Player, VMware ESX, VMotion, vSphere, etc. are registered trademarks of VMware Corporation. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

ESXLab.com is an independent training and content development company that is in no way affiliated with or in any way related to VMware Inc. In no case is any such relationship either implied or intended.

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mailto:[email protected]

http://www.esxlab.com

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http://www.LibreOffice.org

http://www.FinePrint.com

Time Line & Table of Contents

Day 1 Topics

Chapter 0 - Overview

Chapter 1 – VMware vSphere Overview

Chapter 2 – Standalone ESXi

Chapter 3 – Virtual & Physical Networking

Chapter 4 – NAS Shared Storage

Day 2 Topics

Chapter 5 – Virtual Machines

Chapter 6 – vCenter

Chapter 7 – Virtual Machine Rapid Deployment

Day 3 Topics

Chapter 8 – Permission Model

Chapter 9 – Fibre and iSCSI Shared Storage

Chapter 10 – VMware File System

Chapter 11 – Alarms

Chapter 12 – Resource Pools

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Day 4 Topics

Chapter 13 – VMware Converter Standalone

Chapter 14 – VM Migration

Chapter 15 – Distributed Resource Scheduler

Chapter 16 – VMware High Availability Clusters

Day 5 Topics

Chapter 17 – Host Profiles

Chapter 18 – VMware Update Manager

Chapter 19 – VMware vSphere Replication

Chapter 20 – Performance Monitoring and Tuning

Chapter 21 – Final Thoughts

Appendix

Appendix 1 – Definitions & Acronyms

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Author's Note

Twenty five years ago, I started my IT career as a UNIX/C programmer. By 1992, I was working as a very busy UNIX administrator so I gave up the safety of fulltime work for consulting. As a hedge against down time, I contacted a major training company and offered my services. Soon,I was teaching their UNIX and C programming classes (very popular at the time). Over time, my love of UNIX morphed into a love of Linux so by 2002 I was teaching Linux for RedHat.

In 2004, I had the very good fortune to be contacted by VMware. Would I like a job working as atrainer? I said “no” and asked if they wanted a contractor. They said no. I had this conversationwith VMware three times in 2004 until they finally agreed to hire me as a contractor. I sat the ESX I & II classes and earned my VMware Certified Professional on ESX 2.0 (VCP# 993).

I worked as a contract resource for VMware for about 4 years. I got to watch ESX grow from a niche product used primarily for testing into a full blown production platform. VMware was a young, company creating technical magic (VMotion was absolutely unbelievable in 2003). IMHO,their software magicians were, and still are without equal. They have since delivered Storage VMotion, High Availability, DRS clusters, Fault Tolerant VMs and much, much more.

In 2008, I left VMware to work again as an independent. I enjoy training and was still a huge advocate of VMware's technology, so I decided to start a company to provide vendor independent VMware training courses that anyone could run. The result is this book set.

This Study Guide fully explains how each vSphere feature works. The accompanying Lab Guide takes you through the mechanics. Each lab starts at the very beginning and takes you through all the steps needed to complete the job. There is no magic in this course because nothing is done for you. In most cases, you can perform the labs at work exactly the same way and get the same result (just be careful and don't break anything!).

Developing courseware is much like developing software (my first job). You write, re-write, review, edit update, test until you truly believe that it is bug free. The reality is that bugs exist – and no doubt, some are lurking in this book set. If you find one, please let me know. I'll fix the issue and the next version of the courseware will be better for your input. As a bonus, I will provide a free ESXLab Certified Virtualization Specialist exam voucher to the first person who reports each unique bug

VMware vSphere has rekindled my love of IT, and I've seen it do the same for others. Demand for VMware vSphere skills is growing – and so will your career once you master VMware vSphere 5.5. My hope is that this class will help you get there much faster.

Larry KarnisE-mail: [email protected] Phone: 1 (905) 451-9488 x100

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Notes

Chapter 0 – IntroductionPhotocopying this book in whole or in part is not permitted

Overview-1Copyright © 2013 by ESXLab.com. All rights reserved. No reproduction without prior written authorization.

Chapter 0 - Overview

VMware vSphere 5.5 with

ESXi and vCenter

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Notes



Virtualization➲ Introduction to Virtualization in general➲ Introduction to vSphere 5.5 features➲ Class OverviewEVALUATION COPY


Notes



Virtualization – Before & After

➲ A software abstraction that creates virtual hardware & maps it to physical hardware

➲ Is completely transparent to guest OS and applications

AppO/S

AppO/S

AppO/S

VMware vSphere

Before Virtualization

Traditional PC Server Deployments

●One O/S and Application per server●Captive local disk●Workloads locked to server

Virtual Deployment●Require fewer physical servers●Can run many workloads as Virtual Machines●Workloads not locked to server (cold migration, VMotion, Storage VMotion)●Load balancing and high availability options depend on shared disk●Higher hardware utilization rates●Lower marginal cost to deploy new workloads (just make a new VM)●Better reliability and performance due to more capable hardware●New options for Disaster Recovery, Back Up

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VMware vSphere➲ VMware ESXi● Enterprise class server virtualization software

➲ Management, Performance, Monitoring● vCenter Server, vCenter Server Appliance

➲ Workload Resource Balancing● VMotion, DRS Load Balancing Clusters

➲ Storage Resource Balancing● Storage VMotion, Storage Profiles, Storage DRS

➲ High Availability● HA Clusters, Fault Tolerant VMs

➲ Workload Migration and Back Up● vCenter Converter● Data Recovery / Data Protection / Replication

VMware provides a complete suite of products both for virtualization as well as for management, back up, disaster recovery, testing, replication and much more. These products make migrating to virtualization deployments very beneficial.

The primary risk of virtualization is too many eggs in one basket... That is, you cre-ate risk if you consolidate workloads into virtual machines but lack the ability to:

- Load balance your VMs across physical servers- Load balance storage capacity and performance across storage volumes- Rapidly recover VMs that fail when a physical host fails- Easily manage and monitor VMs- Deploy VMs from known good images

If you cannot load balance, then you run the risk of poor VM performance (due to host resource over-commit).

If you cannot automatically place and restart VMs due to a physical server failure, then you may have critical production VMs down for hours if a host fails. Further-more, if a physical host that supports a large VM population fails catastrophically, then your VMs might be down for days (until the hardware can be repaired).

VMware Virtual Infrastructure provides solutions for all of the above. Other products are maturing but do not yet offer the same breadth or depth of functionality as VMware.

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Notes



Key Topics➲ Virtualization Overview➲ Stand Alone ESXi➲ Virtual & Physical Networking➲ Virtual Machines, Rapid Deployment➲ vSphere Management➲ NAS and SAN Shared Storage➲ VM Migration, Load Balancing➲ High Availability➲ Physical to Virtual Conversions➲ VM Back Up, Recovery and Replication➲ Scalability and Performance

The above items are key topics in this class but not a complete list of topics. For a complete list of topics, please consult the Table of Contents.

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Notes



Public Class Daily Timetable

09:00 a.m. Start10:30 a.m. Break12:00 p.m. Lunch01:00 p.m. Resume03:00 p.m. Break05:00 p.m. End of Day

➲ Informal● Ask questions anytime

➲ Cell phones on vibrate please● Please take calls

outside class

Schedule

The above schedule is for public classes based on our standard timetable. Your training company/partner may set a different schedule.

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Problems & Opportunities➲ Business or IT

problem we face● Identify common

pain points. E.g.● Provisioning● Deployment● Management● Imaging● Back Up & DR● Etc.

➲ Virtual Solution● Explain how Virtual

Infrastructure addresses the problem● New methods● Streamlined

procedures● Less risk● Faster results● Reduced costs● Simplify● Etc.

Virtualization addresses most of the common pain points experienced by modern PC server deployments. As we go through this class you will learn how virtualization de-livers the above benefits – and much more.

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Introductions➲ Who● Name and current job

➲ Why are you here?● Official reason, then the honest reason!● Personal goals for this class

➲ Prior experience with● Windows● Linux/UNIX● VMware hosted products (Player, Server, etc.)● vSphere 5.x/4.x, ESX 3.x, VirtualCenter 2.x● 3rd party Virtualization (Xen/Hyper-V)

➲ Favorite vacation destination?

Experience with virtualization is not a prerequisite for this class... If you do have prior virtualization experience either with VMware products or other products – please feel free to share them with the class.

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VMware Certified Associate➲ VCA-DV (Datacenter Virtualization)● New vSphere certification track

● Authorized training not required● Register with VMware to sit the exam● Pass the VMware VCA-DV exam● 50 Questions in 75 minutes● Must score 300+ out of a possible 500● No retake cooling-off period● Cost is about $120USD

● We cover most things you need to know you to pass the VCA-DV exam!● Should also learn the basic features and

capabilities of● vCenter Operations Manager● VMware Site Recovery Manager

VMware Certified Associate – DataCenter VirtualizationA new certificate created by VMware August, 2013. VCA-DV is an first-tier certificate that indicates that holders posess a solid grounding in virtualiza-tion fundamentals including design, implementation, administration and troubleshooting. The test is managed through Pearson/VUE and has a stan-dard price of $120USD (as of October, 2013).

Holders of VCA-DV will be able to:- define the use cases and benefits of datacenter virtualization- Show cost, administrative and operational benefits- Install, configure, administer and operate all major components- Be able to back up and recover VMs- Create and manage scalable clusters- Deliver high service availability

For more information on the new VMware VCA-DV certificate, please visit:

http://mylearn.vmware.com/mgrReg/plan.cfm?plan=41162&ui=www_cert

The exam blueprint (requirements/details, etc.) is here: http://mylearn.vmware.com/lcms/web/portals/certification/VCA_Blueprints/VCAD510%20Exam%20Blueprint%20Guide%201.0.pdf

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http://mylearn.vmware.com/mgrReg/plan.cfm?plan=41162&ui=www_cert

http://mylearn.vmware.com/lcms/web/portals/certification/VCA_Blueprint

Notes



ESXLab vSphere Certification➲ ESXLab Certified Virtualization

Specialist, Technician● Exam based certifications for

virtualization professionals● Score 80%+ and earn ECVS ● Score 60-79% and earn ECVT

➲ About the exam● Available at the end of class● 75 questions in 90 minutes● Multiple choice or True/False● Use as a practice exam before

VMware VCA-DVFor more information see the brochure at the back of this book

VMware will not award certification to candidates unless you attend their class and then pass their exam. In response, ESXLab.com has created verifiable, vendor neu-tral VMware vSphere certifications so that attendees of ESXLab vSphere classes can achieve certification. Our exam fully tests a candidates knowledge and skill with VMware's vSphere products.

There are two certifications you can earn. ECVS is awarded to candidates who, by scoring 80% or higher in the exam, demonstrate a superior level of knowledge and experience. ECVT is awarded to candidates who, by scoring 60% to 79%, demonstrate a solid understanding of the skills needed to effectively manage vSphere.

The ECVS exam is free to any one who attends an ESXLab.com class. Your instructor should make the exam available to you on Friday afternoon at the end of the lec-ture/lab portion of the class. If you cannot stay for the exam (or if it is not offered), you can make arrangements with your local training center to sit the exam at a later time (note: a fee may apply).

To be successful in the exam, we strongly suggest you: - Review the course book daily giving extra time to topics you found challenging - Review and/or redo the labs so that you fully understand the mechanics - Ask questions in class - Review VMware official product documentation available at www.vmware.com

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http://www.vmware.com

Notes


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Notes

Chapter 1 - Introduction to vSphere 5.5Photocopying this book in whole or in part is not permitted

Copyright © 2013 by ESXLab.com. All rights reserved. No reproduction without prior written authorization. Introduction-1

Chapter 1 - Introduction

Introduction to

VMware vSphere 5.5

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Notes



VMware vSphere➲ Common IT problems● vSphere solutions to these problems

➲ Scaling vSphere deployments➲ Storage, Network and Server private

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Problems & Opportunities ➲ Low server resource utilization➲ Data center costs, space, power, cooling➲ Application, OS deployment➲ Back Up & Recovery➲ Server Refresh➲ Remote access and support➲ Hardware maintenance➲ Operating system license costs➲ Disaster Recovery➲ Test, Development, Training, QA

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Server Resource Utilization➲ Pre-virtualization server resource utilization

rates are often very low● Typically, one OS/application per server● Dedicated server average utilization: 3%-35%● Usually one critical resource

● Other sub-systems mostly idle➲ Why deploy only 1 OS, application/server?● For political, administrative isolation● I own/manage my own server

● For application, DLL isolation● To simplify backup, recovery, DR● Because of the perception that PC servers are

cheap to buy, license, run

The most common method of deploying PC servers is one application per server. The reason for this is many-fold but is based on the belief that the complexities, risks and inflexibility of running many applications on a single server and operating system are simply not worth the cost savings of running many applications or services on a single PC server.

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Server Consolidation➲ Many VM's/physical server● VMs compete for available host

CPU, RAM, Disk, Network ● VMs get needed resources● Not declared resources● Idling VMs may give up CPU, RAM

● Ensures active VMs run well under CPU, memory over commit (i.e.:when vCPU count > physical core count)

● Share network, storage bandwidth● Administrators can tune VMs● Weighted scheduling, memory

management and disk I/O● Ensures critical VMs get resources

as needed

vSphere Virtualization

Virtualization solves the one-workload/server problem without the traditional costs, risks or complexities of installing many applications on a single server.

A PC server running VMware ESXi is capable of running many virtual machines con-currently. Each virtual machine is an independent software entity that functions as a complete, generic PC server. Each virtual machine has:

- A virtual hardware layer that includes a generic motherboard, chipset, keyboard, mouse, video controller, IDE controller, CD/DVD device, NIC, PCI bus, SCSI controller, SCSI disk(s), CPU(s) and memory sized appropriately for the intended operating system and application- An operating system that recognizes and can drive virtual hardware- One or more applications

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Datacenter Issues ➲ Problems● Power, cooling costs● Square foot costs● Out of rack space● Expensive to build out

● Additional concerns● Networking costs● Shared SAN storage● Back up procedures,

time, costs● Disaster Recovery● Administrator time● Config. consistency

➲ Virtual Solutions● VM Consolidations:

5-50+ VMs ESXi host ● Relieves rack space

congestion● Reduces power,

cooling costs● Leverages existing

networking, storageresources (SAN switches)

● Fewer physical servers to administer, back up, network, etc.

Data center power and cooling costs are substantial and are expected to continue to rise. Here are some sobering facts about what it takes to power a server in a data center:

- A 1U PC Server can draw 100W to 600W of power- A 2U PC Server can draw 200-900W of power on each of its power supplies- A 42U rack of 1U servers at just 200W/server will consume 8+kw/hr of power- Many data centers double their power consumption every 3 years- As servers become more powerful, the power draw per server increases- Data centers often run out of power/cooling before running out of rack space- Idle servers often consume more than 50% of their maximum power draw- It can take up to 2 times the energy to cool a server as the server uses to operate- Servers with 32+GB of RAM use more power to run RAM than they do to run CPUs (especially true of servers that run high frequency FB memory)

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OS, Application Imaging➲ Problems● Bare metal installs● Complex● Drivers, agents, etc.

● Time consuming● Introduce needless

variation, risk● Imaging solutions not

universal● Tied to manufacturer,

hardware components● Images may not help if

maker changes hardware configuration

➲ Virtual Solutions● VMs use generic

virtual hardware, not the underlyingphysical hardware

● Easy to create VM master images● Clones, Templates

● VM copy, customize...● Easy to create a VM

Image Library● Easier to maintain● Not tied to hardware● Easy to change

server H/W vendors

OS and application imaging solutions ease the task of deploying operating systems and their applications. Typically an administrator installs their preferred OS and apps onto a PC server and then uses an imaging tool to harvest a deployment image for future use. This works great if you need to deploy the same image onto the same hardware but can cause problems if:

- Your vendor changes underlying hardware (chipsets, storage controllers, etc.)- Your images require frequent maintenance- You change hardware vendors

Virtual machines don't suffer from these problems because their virtual hardware is in-dependent from the underlying physical hardware seen by ESXi. So, even if you change hardware (or hardware vendors), you can still deploy VMs from your pre-built VM images or migrate VMs from one physical PC server to another.

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Notes



Back Up & Recovery➲ Virtual Solutions● Legacy LAN backup tools work in VMs● File system back ups● Expensive, complex, not always 100% reliable

● Backup/recovery/application/open file agents, etc.● Disk Block Change Tracking● ESXi marks disk blocks changed since the last

back up● Snapshot VM, copy changed block, commit

● Many solutions use this approach● VMware Data Protection / Data Recovery● Veeam● Phd Virtual / Unitrends● others...

VMs work with traditional LAN based back up tools – so you can continue to use these if you like. However, VM networking is not as efficient as pure physical networking, so you should expect your back up windows (time to complete a back up) to increase when us-ing network based back up tools in a VM.

There are a number of solutions to this problem...

VMware Data Protection (VDP) performs snapshot based back ups with full virtual disk de-duplication, so backups are fast and complete. And Data Recovery provides you with the ability to do both file level and full virtual machine level recoveries.

Third party back up tools such as VRanger Pro (www.vizioncore.com), PHD Virtual Back Up (www.phdvirtual.com) or Veeam Backup & Replication (www.veeam.com) leverage ESXi storage APIs to quickly and safely back up VMs. These tools are easy to install and use, are (relatively) low in cost (unlike traditional network back up tools) and make it easy to recover individual files or complete VMs.

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http://www.vizioncore.com)

http://www.phdvirtual.com)

http://www.veeam.com

Notes



Server Refresh➲ Problems● PC servers have a

short life span● 3-5 yrs depending on

available maintenance support contracts

● OS, application migrations are timeconsuming, risky● Workload down during

migration● Done off hours● Hard to do remotely● Inherently risky

➲ Virtual Solution● Virtual hardware● VM H/W is independent

of physical hardware● Easy to migrate VMs

to another ESXi host● Hot, cold VM migration ● Limits down time

● 4 simple steps...● Provision new server● Install ESXi, join cluster● Migrate VMs to new host● Shut down, wipe server

● Can be performed remotely

Virtual Machine hardware is a software abstraction that is independent of physical PC server hardware. ESXi maps virtual hardware operations to physical hardware ac-tivity.

Virtual machines see:

● A virtual motherboard with a chipset, keyboard, mouse, IDE, floppy controller● A virtual PCI video controller● One to four virtual IDE CD/DVD devices● One to two virtual floppy drives● A virtual PCI bus● Up to 10 virtual Network Interface Cards (NICs)● One to 4 virtual SCSI Host Bus Adapters (SCSI HBAs)● Up to 15 virtual SCSI disks per SCSI HBA● Up to 8-64 virtual CPUs that map to physical CPU cores (depending on your vSphere license and cannot exceed the physical cores in your ESXi host)● Virtual memory that is indistinguishable from physical memory

Virtual hardware presented to VMs is the same regardless of the underlying physical hardware. Therefore a VM can migrate from ESXi host to ESXi host (even if the ESXi hosts are different makes or models of hardware) without issue.

The only exception is CPU. The make, model and stepping, but not cores or hyper-threading, of the physical CPU is exposed to the Guest OS at boot time. These prop-erties must not change (due to VM migration) as the VM runs.

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Hardware Maintenance➲ Problems● HW maintenance

requires down time● Short maintenance

windows● Weekend vendor support

is costly● Must be on site

● 7x24 4hr response● Expensive● No guarantee of a fix

within 4hr window● Without top tier contract,

hardware issues may keep a server down for days

➲ Virtual Solutions● To perform H/W

tasks on ESXi host● Evacuate ESXi host of

Virtual Machines● VMotion, cold migrate

VMs to other ESXi hosts● Patch, upgrade, repair,

reconfigure host● With hot migration, there

is no VM down time when doing H/W maintenance

● If ESXi capacity permits, maintenance can be done during production hours

Before virtualization, server hardware maintenance was a costly and risky task that was usually performed on weekends.

With virtualization, server hardware maintenance is greatly simplified and risk is elimi-nated. To perform physical server maintenance on ESXi hosts:

- VMotion all VMs off the host that will be maintained- Shut down and power off the host when all fully evacuated of VMs- Add, upgrade, fix hardware- Power on the server- Rejoin clusters- Migrate VMs back to the fixed host

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Notes



Windows Licensing for VMs➲ Some Windows Server 2003/2008

editions have VM friendly licensing ● Windows Server 2k3/2k8 Standard

● Each VM needs its own license● Windows Server Enterprise

● Each license key licenses up to four VM on one host at no additional charge

● Datacenter VM friendly pricing● Each license key licenses an unlimited VMs on

one host at no additional charge● Always check your license agreements● Use volume license keys, multiple activation keys

Microsoft may grant you the right to run additional instances of Windows 2003/2008 Server depending on the base license installed...

Windows 2003/2008 Standard licenses do not permit additional VM instances so every VM would require a unique Windows Standard license.

Windows 2003/2008 Enterprise permits a limited number of Windows VMs (up to 4) to be run on the same machine running the original license without additional charge.

Windows 2003/2008 Datacenter permits an unlimited number of Windows VMs to run on the same host running the original Windows license at no additional cost.

As VM consolidation rates go up (more VMs/ESXi host), the cost to license Windows per VM can go down dramatically if you select the appropriate Windows edition (Enterprise or Datacenter). You also get the added benefit of the enhanced features (e.g.: Cluster-ing) offered by premium Windows editions).

Windows Datacenter simplifies license compliance because you are entitled to run an unlimited number of VMs/server. You are also entitled to downgrade your Windows edi-tions in the same family (e.g.: If you have W2k8 Datacenter, you can deploy W2k8 Stan-dard or Enterprise in your VMs).

For more information on licensing Windows Server 2003/2008 for VMs, please visit:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/howtobuy/licensing/calc_2.htm

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http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/howtobuy/licensing/calc_2.htm

Notes



Windows Server 2012➲ Windows 2k12 Virtualization entitlements● Standard Edition● 2 sockets per license● Only 2 VMs permitted per license● You must buy more W2k12 Standard licenses if

● If you have > 2 processors in your server, or ● You want to run > 2 VMs in your server

● Enterprise Edition - no longer available● Datacenter Edition● One license required for every 2 physical CPUs● Unlimited number of VMs / server

Source: ws2012_licensing-pricing_faq.pdf from download.microsoft.com

The following is quoted directly from the ws2012_licensing-pricing_faq.pdf document provided by Microsoft:

“Both Standard and Datacenter editions provide the same set of features; the only thing that differentiates the editions is the number of Virtual Machines (VMs). A Standard edition license will entitle you to run up to two VMs on up to two proces-sors (subject to the VM use rights outlined in the Product Use Rights document). A Datacenter edition license will entitle you to run an unlimited number of VMs on up to two processors.”

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Disaster Recovery➲ Problems● Ensure business

continuity● Replication is costly● Duplicate all HW, SW

at remote site● Complex● DR procedures must

be tested, reviewed, refined, retested

● Risky● Failure of DR plan

puts business at extreme risk

➲ Virtual Solutions● SAN Replication +

Site Recovery Mgr● Shadow SAN LUNS

to DR site● ESXi host(s) at DR

site set to run VMs● vSphere Replication● Duplicates VMs to

secondary site● Keeps VMs in sync

by replicating disk block changes

● Included in many vSphere licenses

The traditional approach to disaster recovery is to duplicate all of your expensive hard-ware and software at a second datacenter. This is costly and must be carefully planned and tested before being trusted.

With virtualization, you can simplify disaster planning by replicating VMs and storage at your DR site. If you have SANs that support LUN shadowing, you could shadow critical LUNs from your production SAN to your DR SAN. If you have a primary site failure, just boot the VMs at your DR site's ESXi hosts and SAN.

If you don't have LUN shadowing capabilities, you can still replicate VMs at a DR site. In this case, you need to decide how you are going to replicate your VMs. You could:

- Use vSphere Replication to perform online replication of VMs to your remote site- Use 3rd party tools to perform snapshot nightly back ups. There are many 3rd party products available that perform this task- Use 3rd party tools to do on-the-fly VM replication at your DR site.

A number of 3rd party tools are available to perform VM hot replication including:

- Veeam Backup & Replication (www.veeam.com)- Vizioncore vReplicator (www.vizioncore.com)

Check out a comparison of these two products here:

http://www.itcomparison.com/DR/VizioncorevsVeeam/VizioncorevsVeeam.htm

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http://www.veeam.com)

http://www.vizioncore.com)

http://www.itcomparison.com/DR/VizioncorevsVeeam/VizioncorevsVeeam.htm

Notes



Test, Development & QA➲ Problems● Development, test

environments don't match production environment● Too costly to deploy

an exact match● Differences introduce

variation, risk● Hard to validate

changes, test software, catch errors if produc-tion, test/development environments differ

➲ Virtual Solutions● Hot clone VMs● Clone - Exact copy of

the source VM● Test changes on clone● Configuration changes● OS patches● Application upgrades● Validate procedures

● VM snapshots let you back out of changes● Saves VM state● No need to re-image if

problems encountered● Revert back to original● Try again!

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IT Technical Career Benefits

➲ Average salary for IT jobs with virtualization skills● http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Skill=Virtualization/Salary#by_Job

As a IT technical professional, having virtualization skills is good for your career! VMware vSphere virtualization skills remain in demand even though demand for skills for many other aspects of IT are flat.

Note: VMware has been experiencing increased competition from Microsoft with Hyper-V inlcuded with Windows Server 2008/2012 and with XenServer. These products com-pete aggressively on price (XenServer is now free) and have features comparable to VMware vSphere Essentials Plus.

Hyper-V Features- Live Migration (move VMs from one server to another)- Live Storage Migration (move VM files from one datastore to another)- VM Replication for backup and disaster recovery- Failure recovery clustering

XenServer Features (in Free/OpenSource edition)- Live Migration with XenMotion (move VMs from one server to another)- Live Storage Migration (move VM files from one datastore to another)- Central management with XenCenter- High Availability clusters (automatic VM placement power on if a server fails)- Disaster Recovery capability (recover VMs on DR site and put them back into service)- VM Snapshots- XenMotion across servers with non-identical CPUs- Centralized monitoring and alerting

For more information or to do a salary check on your area, browse over to www.payscale.com

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http://www.payscale.com

Notes



Virtualization Over Time

➲ VMs – get bigger and faster over time● Eliminate hardware virtualization capacity

and performance limitations● Resources – make VMs any size you want● Performance – VMs more than fast enough for

99+% of all enterprise workloads

ESX 1 ESX 2.x

ESX(i) 3.x

ESX(i) 4.x

ESXi5.0

ESXi5.1

ESXi 5.5

Year Released 2002 2003 2005 2008 2011 2012 2013Max vCPUs/VM 1 2 4 8 32 64 64Max RAM/VM 2GB 3.6GB 64GB 256GB 1TB 1TB 1TBNetwork I/O .5Gb .9Gb 9Gb 30Gb >36Gb >36Gb 80GbStorage I/O Op/s < 5k 7k 100k 300k 1,000k 1,000k 1,000kCPU Cores/ESXi 4 8 96 128 160 160 320Max RAM/ESXi 256GB 1TB 2TB 2TB 4TB

VMware's goal is to scale up VM performance and size beyond the need of any single enterprise workload.

Over time, VMware has significantly increased the maximum virtual hardware avail-able to a VM (more vCPUs, more RAM, more NICs, etc.). VMware has improved the throughput of virtual networks and virtual disks (as vCPU speed is determined by the speed and capabilities of the physical CPUs and virtual memory speed is determined by the speed of physical RAM).

Virtual networking performance is dependent on the capabilities of the underlying physical network. For fastest virtual networking speed, deploy teamed 10Gb or 40Gb NICs.

Virtual storage performance is improved through the use of very high speed storage adapters (8/16Gb Fibre cards, 10Gb iSCSI adapters) and through the use of virtual-ization aware Storage Area Networks (SANs). For example, VMware can now delegate many storage operations directly to the back end SAN (including file copy for VM cloning) using VMware APIs for Array Integration (VAAI). This dramatically improves storage performance because the VM being copied can be copied within the SAN (and doesn't have to be copied to the ESXi host and back to the SAN as part of the copy operation).

Source: http://www.techhead.co.uk/vmware-vsphere-5-0-whats-new-excitinghttp://longwhiteclouds.com/2013/09/23/vsphere-5-5-record-breaking-network-performance/

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http://longwhiteclouds.com/2013/09/23/vsphere-5-5-record-breaking-network-performance/

Notes



VMware vSphere 5.5 EditionsFree vSphere vSphere vSphereESXi Standard Enterprise Enterprise Plus

Maximum vCPUs per VM 8 8 32 64Maximum Physical RAM per ESXi host unlimited unlimited unlimited unlimitedESXi + VSMP + VMFS ● ● ● ●vSphere Data Protection Hot Backup ● ● ● ●Update Manager ● ● ● ●vSphere Storage Appliance ● ● ●Data Recovery ● ● ●High Availability Clusters ● ● ●vShield EndPoint AntiVirus ● ● ●vSphere VM Hot Replication ● ● ●VMotion ● ● ●vShield Zones ● ● ●Fault Tolerance (1 x vCPU core) ● ● ●Storage VMotion ● ● ●High Reliability Memory for VMkernel ● ●Big Data Hypervisor Extensions ● ●DRS Load Balancing ● ●DRS Power Management ● ●vNetwork Distributed vSwitches ●Network, Storage I/O Control ●Host Profiles ●Auto Deploy ESXi Hosts ●Storage DRS / Profile Driven Storage ●

VMware licenses are expensive. To get the best value out of them, you should plan for high server consolidation rates. Consolidating 10-30+ legacy physical PC servers onto one ESXi host is very reasonable (the author has seen 50+ VMs on a single ESXi host, delivering great performance, on a number of occasions).

By consolidating many workloads onto a single PC server you avoid:

- The cost of refreshing older PC servers- The cost of maintenance contracts for these PC servers- The labor cost of physically migrating the OS and apps to a new server- Administrative and power costs running more PC servers- Reduced network switch and SAN switch port use

VMware licenses ESXi by the socket – so a two physical CPU machine would require two licenses.

vCenter server license(s) are also needed to take advantage of many features such as VMotion, Storage VMotion, Update Manager, High Availability, DRS, Fault Tolerance, Distributed Power Management, Distributed vSwitches and Host Profiles.

vSphere licensing options are explained in the following document http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/vsphere_pricing.pdf

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vShere Small Business BundlesEssentials Essentials + Essentials +

With vSAESXi Servers (2 sockets) 3 3 3Processor Cores/socket no limit no limit no limitvCenter Server Nodes 3 3 3VSMP (Max vCPUs/VM) 8 8 8VMware HA ● ●

Data Protection ● ●

VMotion ● ●

vSphere Replication ● ●

vShield Endpoint ● ●

VM Hot Add CPU, Memory ● ●

vSphere Storage Appliance ●

Retail Price $495 $4,495 $4,995

Features from www.vmware.com as of August, 2013Search for vsphere_pricing.pdf

VMware has created special license bundles that are targeted at small business. These license bundles provide smaller customers with virtualization and management capabilities for less than the cost of one (competent) PC server.

The Essentials Plus bundle adds hot migration (VMotion) rapid VMware failure recov-ery (VMware HA), automated patching and updating capability for ESXi hosts and Windows (Update Manager) and simple back up and recovery (Data Protection). These added features make Essentials Plus a compelling offering.

VMware publishes full pricing information on their web site:

http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere/pricing.html

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http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere/pricing.html

Notes



vSphere Acceleration Kits➲ 'Kits' are bundles of vSphere licenses● Offered at discounted prices● CPU entitlements bumps not available to Small

Business Essentials / Essentials PlusKit Name vCenter vSphere

Storage Appl.Server Entitlement

Max vCPUs per VM

Small Business Essentials

Essentials3 Host Max

No Max 3 Hosts, 2 CPUs each

8

Small Business Essentials Plus

Essentials3 Host Max

Yes Max 3 Hosts, 2 CPUs each

8

vSphere Standard Standard Yes 6+ CPUs 8vSphere Standard + Operations

Standard Yes 6+ CPUs 8

Enterprise Enterprise Yes 6+ CPUs 32Enterprise Plus Ent. Plus Yes 6+ CPUs 64

vSphere Acceleration Kits are bundles of vSphere licenses that provide bet-ter value than purchasing vSphere and vCenter license entitlements sepa-rately.

There are two tiers of vSphere Kits:

Small Business – capped at 6 physical CPUs with no more than 2 CPUs/servervSphere – comes in Standard/Enterprise/Enterprise Plus

Small Business (Essentials / Essentials Plus) are non-expandable license bundles for small businesses who will never need more than 3 ESXi hosts with no more than 2 physical CPUs per host. These are very economical licenses that provide basic (Essentials) or highly capable (Essentials Plus) virtualiza-tion platforms.

vSphere kits are a great way to get started with vSphere virtualization. They provide license entitlements at various vSphere tiers (Standard, Enterprise, Enterprise Plus) for 6 physical CPUs in any arrangement (per host). vSphere Kit customers can purchase additional physical CPU entitlements to grow their virtualization environment. Link:

www.vmware.com/products/datacenter-virtualization/vsphere/compare-kits.html

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Notes



vSphere Acceleration Kits➲ Acceleration kits typically include:● Fixed number of CPU licenses (eg.: 6 CPUs)● One vCenter Server license entitlement● May also include add-on licenses such as:● vSphere Storage Appliance● vSphere Operations Management

➲ Physical CPU entitlements can be added● So you can add servers to your environment● Not available for Small Business Essentials,

Essentials Plus● These max out at 3 servers of 2 CPUs each● vCenter for SBE, SBE+ is ESXi host limited to no

more than 3 ESXi hosts

For full VMware product bundling, pricing and support costs, please visit:

http://www.vmware.com/products/datacenter-virtualization/vsphere/pricing.html

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Notes



VMware Service & Support (SnS)➲ Support contracts must be purchased with

all new licenses● Provides 1-3 years of unlimited support● No per-incident support charges

➲ Upgrades to new releases offered for alllicenses that have valid SnS contracts

➲ For non-active licenses (support expired)● You cannot upgrade across major releases● Can upgrade across minor releases

● E.g.: from vSphere 5.0/5.1 to vSphere 5.5● Out of support customers can reactivate by:● Paying all back support● Paying for the next year(s) support, and● A penalty for allowing your support to lapse

VMware sells its licenses with Service and Support (SnS) as a non-optional component. This entitles you to one year of support with unlimited incidents within the support hours specified in your support contract.

Software support must be renewed yearly. If you keep support renewed, you are entitled to upgrade vSphere licenses to future releases both within the same major release number (e.g.: upgrade from vSphere 5.0/5.1 to vSphere 5.5) or across major release numbers (e.g.: upgrade from vSphere 5.x to vSphere 6.0 when it becomes available).

If you let support lapse, you are no longer entitled to upgrades and VMware may block you from downloading newer versions of the software.

You may bring your licenses back into support by paying:

- support for the current year- support for all years your licenses were out of support- a 20% penalty on top of the above

Note: VMware acknowledges that bringing licenses back into support may, in some extreme cases, cost more than purchasing brand new licenses!

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VMware ESXi➲ Enterprise class

virtualization● Bare metal install● Lean hypervisor● Dynamically load

balances VMs● Assigns CPU, RAM

resources when needed, as needed

● If resources are scarce, idling VMs get little service

● Dynamically tunable

ESXi is a bare metal hypervisor. It is bare-metal because ESXi is installed upon and owns the physical PC server.

A hypervisor is an operating system whose primary task is running virtual machines rather than normal operating system tasks.

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Single Host Deployment➲ Single ESXi host● VMs share host CPU,

RAM, Disk, Network of the host system

● Manage with vSphere Client

● Low-cost or free● ESXi or vSphere

Standard Edition ● Benefits● Lower capital cost● Lowers power use● Faster deployments● Easier upgrades

The primary benefit that moves most organizations to virtualization is server consolida-tion (replacing physically deployed servers/workloads with virtual machines). While there are many benefits to consolidating onto ESXi there is one major risk – you have many workloads now dependent on the health of a single machine.

In the past, if a server failed, only one group of users were inconvenienced. With virtu-alization, a physical server failure has the potential to impact many more users.

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Multiple ESXi w. Shared Storage➲ Migrated VMs

onto shared SAN storage● VMs still run on

single host➲ No VMotion, DRS, HA

without vCenter➲ Some fault tolerance● If an ESXi host fails● Use Datastore Browser

to import VMs onto surviving host(s)

By moving your VMs onto shared storage, you untie your VMs from a single physical host. You also break the storage limits that may be imposed on you by your server platform.

But, best of all, you now have a simple way to recover VMs that fail due to a server failure. As we will see later, VMware provides a piece of software called the Datastore Browser. The Datastore Browser has the ability to reassign ownership of powered off VMs to other hosts.

So, if a server does fail...

- Log into a surviving ESXi host- Launch the Datastore Browser- Identify the VMs that failed when the ESXi host failed- Take ownership of these VMs using the Datastore Browser by adding them to the surviving ESXi host's inventory- Power on these VMs on the new host

While this approach is somewhat labor intensive, it does solve the problem of VMs being down because a host is down. You can automate VM recovery with VMware HA.

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vSphere Private Cloud➲ Add vCenter ● ESXi, VM, LAN,

Storage mgt.● Tasks & Events, Logs● Cold migration● Monitoring, Alarms● Scheduled Tasks

● Enables ● VMotion● Storage VMotion● High Availability● Load balancing ● Fault Tolerance● Back Up● etc.

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Private Cloud Computing➲ Dynamically provision hardware on demand● Provision what's needed, when needed...● For as long as needed● Physical hardware abstracted, shared

● Storage – Storage Area Networks (SANs)● Provision, grow LUNs on demand● LUNs usable by any or all ESXi hosts

● PC Servers – install ESXi to deploy, run VMs● Size servers for high VM tennancy● Provision new ESXi hosts as VM population grows● Dynamically load balance to maintain performance

● Networking – vNetwork Distributed vSwitches● Virtual switches that span ESXi hosts● Add physical uplinks to improve ESXi > LAN speed● Consistent configuration, metrics across ESXi hosts

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Storage Cloud➲ Storage Area

Networks (SANs)● Aggregate physical disks

into LUNs● Presents LUNs to ESXi● VMFS cluster filesystem● Safe concurrent access

● Grow LUNs as needed● Provision LUNs on

demand● Snapshot, back up LUNs● Shadow (replicate)

LUNs

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Server Cloud➲ Add new PC Servers

to meet capacity, recovery, performance needs● Install ESXi● Add to DRS cluster:● VMs rebalance by mi-

grating onto new server● Reduces CPU, memory

use on other servers● Add to HA cluster:● Restarts VMs if an ESXi

host fails

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Network Cloud

➲ Distributed vSwitches span ESXi hosts● Unified view of all Port, Port Group settings● Simple, consistent, VMotion compatible configuration

● Common MAC address table● Supports internal Private vLANs

Distributed vSwitches are software objects that emulate a standard layer 2 switch. Distributed vSwitches span two or more ESXi hosts and provide consistent network functionality across all VMs, etc. that are plugged into the distributed vSwitch.

A distributed vSwitch has a single common MAC table and a unified set of perfor-mance counters. Because a vNetwork Distributed Switch configuration spans all ESXi hosts, they are especially helpful for VMotion because VMs will find exactly the same Port Group (configured exactly the same way) on any ESXi host that shares the dis-tributed vSwitch.

Distributed vSwitches are created and managed with the vSphere Client. You must have vCenter to create a distributed vSwitch.

You must have VMware vSphere Enterprise + to create and use vNetwork Distributed Switches.

For organizations that run Cisco enterprise networking products, VMware offers the Cisco Nexus 1000V distributed switch. This is an upgrade to VMware's default vNet-work Distributed Switch. The Nexus 1000V offers full Cisco IOS compatibility and can be managed and monitored with standard Cisco tools.

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What's New in vSphere 5.1 / 5.5➲ Bigger ESXi host support● 320 physical CPU cores (5.5)● 16 NUMA Nodes● 16Gb end-to-end Fibre SAN connections

➲ Bigger VMs, more VMs● Up to 64 vCPUs/VM● Up to 1TB of RAM/VM● Up to 512 VMs/ESXi host● Up to 4096 powered on vCPUs/ESXi host

➲ Better USB support● USB 1.1, 2.0 and 3.0 support● USB devices can be plugged into the ESXi

host or your vSphere Client PC

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What's New in vSphere 5.1 / 5.5➲ VMFS for vSphere 5.5 supports● Physical / Virtual disk volumes up to 62TB● Raw Device Maps for volumes up to 64TB● Unlimited blocks per file

➲ Solid State Device support for● ESXi host cache improves disk reads perf.● Fast VMkernel paging space● Hot pluggable SSD volumes

➲ vSphere Replication● Hot replicate VMs to another host or site

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What's New in vSphere 5.1 / 5.5➲ Storage vMotion VMs with snapshots➲ vSphere Web Client● New primary administrative interface with

capabilities not in legacy vSphere Client● Simultaneously VMotion + Storage VMotion a VM

➲ VMware vCenter Appliance (vCSA)● SuSE Linux based vCenter server● Includes open source PostgreSQL database● Also connect to Oracle databases

➲ Auto-deploy ESXi host capability● Simplifies install and upgrade of ESXi hosts● New stateful/stateless caching

Auto Deploy Caching

Auto deploy caching is the installation of an ESXi install image to local hard disk storage. In vSphere 5.0, auto deploy simply booted the ESXi host from the network and then applied a Host Profile to set the ESXi host's configura-tion. This created problems when a host rebooted and the auto deploy ser-vice was unavailable. To solve this problem, VMware created:

Stateless Caching where the ESXi host;- Gets its IP properties via a dedicated DHCP lease- Boots from the network- Gets its configuration from Host Profiles- Is added to any configured clustersBenefit is that a local operating system image is present on the host so that if auto deploy is unavailable during a reboot, the local image is booted

Stateful Caching where the ESXi host:- First time boots, installs and runs like Stateless Caching but- The host is configured to boot off local disk for all future bootsSimplifies the install of ESXi operating system images to host local hard disks

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What's New in vSphere 5.1/5.5➲ Additional features in vSphere 5.1 and 5.5● Hardware Version 10 ● Support for shared, high end GPUs in ESXi hosts

● Perfect for CAD/CAM, graphics intensive virtual desktops● vNetwork Distributed Switch upgrades● vSwitch health checks● Configuration change roll back and recovery● Back up and restore● Multiple LACP NIC teams (vSphere 5.5)● Improved vSwitch port replication

● vShield EndPoint hypervisor based antivirus● Save/restore Resource Pool configuration● Useful when you disable/enable DRS

● Normally RP configurations lost on DRS disable/enable

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Notes

Chapter 2 – Installing and Configuring ESXiPhotocopying this book in whole or in part is not permitted

Copyright © 2013 by ESXLab.com. All rights reserved. No reproduction without prior written authorization. ESXi-1

Chapter 2 – VMware ESXi

How to Install, ConfigureVMware ESXi 5.5

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Stand Alone ESXi➲ ESXi Overview➲ ESXi Installation Procedures● Perform the initial install● Post-install steps● Configure Networking, Time Services, Security

➲ Best Practices

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Project Plan

➲ By the end of this chapter, we will have● Installed ESXi onto a stand alone server● Partitioned local storage for ESXi, VM use● Connected to ESXi using the vSphere Client

ESXi ESXi

Our first step in this class is to install ESXi onto stand alone PC servers and then con-nect to those newly installed ESXi hosts using the vSphere Client and SSH. In future chapters we will add to our original implementation. Our ultimate objective is a scalable, highly redundant, load balanced Virtual Infrastructure implementation that supports a large community of Windows 2003 / 2008 / 2012, desktop, Linux and other VMs.

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ESXi Block Diagram

VMware ESXi is a bare-metal virtualization hypervisor solution. As such, it must in-stall on an industry standard PC server. Please check VMware's Hardware Compatibil-ity Guide (portal on www.VMware.com web site) for the most up to date list of sup-ported PC servers.

Because it owns the hardware, ESXi is in full control of resource assignments to run-ning VMs. The VMkernel, allocates hardware resources on an as-needed basis. In this way, the VMkernel can prevent idling VMs from wasting CPU cycles that could other-wise be used by busy VMs. Likewise, the VMkernel keeps track of needed RAM, not just requested or allocated RAM. It can dynamically re-assign RAM to memory starved VMs, thereby ensuring that VMs get the memory they need to run.

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Notes



Scaling Up Networks, Storage

➲ Shared SAN Storage● Centralizes storage capacity,

mgt, performance● Fast storage networks● 8/16Gb Fibre, 10Gb iSCSI

● Multiple storage paths

➲ Networking● Use multiple physical,

virtual LAN segments● Use NIC teams

As your ESXi deployment matures (technically) you will want to introduce:

● Different LAN (virtual or physical) segments to isolate network traffic to improve both security and performance. You could use different LAN segments for things like IP Storage, Management and production systems● Shared storage solutions including iSCSI, Fibre SAN and NFS shares● Hardware redundancy in the form of multipath storage solutions and teamed NIC configurations● You may even wish to consider a Boot From SAN or boot from USB/SD card solution so you don't need to provision and configure local storage.

Boot from SAN is available on supported Fibre SAN controllers and also with iSCSI SAN controllers (using iSCSI hardware initiators).

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ESXi Server Hardware➲ CPUs● Max 320 pCPU cores● Intel Core 2 Xeons or

newer ● 2-10 cores/CPU● Hyperthreading

● All AMD Opteron● 1-16 cores/CPU

● Non Uniform Memory● Up to 16 NUMA nodes

● Memory● Min 2GB, 4TB Max● 5% RAM for VMkernel

● VMs use all remaining

➲ Networking● Up to 32 Gb NICs● Max 8 10Gb NICs● Max 8 40Gb NICs

● Mellanox ConnectX-3 NICs only

➲ Storage● Local SCSI, SAS,

SATA, SSD volumes● Infiniband, iSCSI,

Fibre, SANs● NFS File Shares

● No native SMB/CIFS support

ESXi is capable of using the largest PC server hardware platforms. Apart from what is stated above, ESXi is limited to:

● No more than 320 CPU cores (includes Hyperthreaded logical processors) for CPU scheduling purposes● All available RAM up to 2TB

Furthermore the following implementation limitations need to be considered:

● ESXi supports a modest selection of 10Gb and 40Gb Ethernet controllers● Jumbo Frames supported, which may improve software iSCSI I/O performance.

Notes about Local Storage● ESXi requires enterprise class storage controllers. This means that it usually doesn't work with embedded SATA controllers found on desktop motherboards● ESXi has support for controllers from LSI Logic, Adaptec and many others. Most vendor branded controllers (Dell PERC, HP SmartArray, IBM ServeRAID, etc.) are made by (i.e.: rebranded from) either LSI Logic or Adaptec● HP SmartArray controllers have significant limitations you should know about:

1. They may refuse to boot off a local storage volume that is >2TB in size2. They may refuse to use disk that do not carry HP's brand even if HP OEM's the drive. This means that generic Seagate, Western Digital, Hitachi, etc. enterprise drives (that work fine) may be rejected by HP controllers and/or storage shelves

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ESXi Embedded, Installable➲ ESXi Embedded● Burned into flash on

the motherboard● Host boots ESXi after

POST● Boots from flash drive

● ESXi configuration can reside on local storage or retrieved from the network via Host Profiles / Auto Deploy

➲ ESXi Installable● Local disks● RAID, JBOD● Can run from SSDs

● USB / Flash boot ● No RAID controller● No hard disks● Install, boot from USB,

SD flash storage● Easy to duplicate● Most servers have

internal USB or SD card sockets so the device cannot be accidentally removed

JBOD – Just a Bunch of Disk. Physical disks in a non-RAID configuration.

ESXi comes in two forms – Embedded and Installable. Embedded is baked into firmware on the motherboard of select PC servers. This lets you boot your server without any local storage.

ESXi Installable is a version of ESXi that can be installed onto local storage, USB memory keys or SAN storage. It is installed from CD media that you can download from www.vmware.com.

ESXi does away with the Service Console found in ESX 4.1 and older. This provides a smaller, leaner hypervisor than full ESX. It is also more secure be-cause there is less software (to exploit) and fewer services running on ESXi than there is on ESX.

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Notes



ESXi Install Steps➲ Install steps...● Boot your server from ESXi install media● Accept the EULA● Select target disk for installation● Select keyboard language● Set the root (administrator) password● Agree to partition and format disk● Reboot server when install complete

➲ Post install steps... log in to DCUI and● Select NIC for management traffic● Set static IP, host name, domain name● Test network configuration● Review (enable) local, remote Tech Support

DCUI - Direct Console User Interface This is the Yellow & Grey screen on the console of your ESXi host once it is fully booted.

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ESXi Boot Screen

➲ To begin your ESXi install, boot from CD● Hit ENTER to launch the installer

ESXi is installed in text mode – so your PC server doesn't need to have graphics capa-bility.

VMware makes it possible to set up an install server for ESXi so you can perform network based installs. Using Linux' KickStart capabilities, ESXi installations can be automated/scripted so you can install and configure new servers hands-off.

VMware also offers an ESXi automated deployment capability. This is part of the VMware vCenter Appliance that is new with vSphere 5.x.

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Accept the VMware EULA➲ You must

accept the VMware End User License Agreement before you install ESXi● Hit F11 to

proceed to the next step

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Select the Target Volume

➲ Installer displays available storage volumes● Categorized as Local or Remote● Local - RAID, JBOD volumes on your ESXi host● Remote - Fibre or iSCSI SAN LUNs accessible

via hardware SAN controllers

In the above screen shot, the ESXi 5.5 isntaller detected a local SATA based Intel SSD and a 4.09 TB local RAID array on an LSI Logic hardware RAID controller. Since our in-tent is to use the SSD as a hardware based Read cache (see Performance chapter), we'll select the RAID set as the install target for ESXi

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Performing an In-Place Upgrade

➲ You can upgrade ESXi 5.x hosts to ESXi 5.5 by performing an in-place upgrade● Preserves local VMFS contents● Preserves ESXi host configuration● Preserves VMs, storage settings, etc.

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Keyboard, root Password

➲ Next, you specify:● Keyboard layout being used● The password for the ESXi 5.x root (local

administrator) account● There is no password reset tool for ESXi 5.x so don't

forget the root password

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Hardware Virtualization Assist

➲ All Xeon/Opteron CPUs made after 2007 have (at least) some hardware virtualization assist features● Intel VT technology, AMD-V● Always enable all H/W virtualization features

Virtualization abstracts the physical hardware to the VM. The VM guest oper-ating system normally expects to own all hardware and also expect to be able to execute privileged CPU instructions that are not available to applica-tions. If ESXi allowed guest operating systems full access to these privileged instructions, then the guest OS could manipulate hardware directly, possibly interfere with virtual memory page translation tables and perform other op-erations that could compromise the ESXi host. To avoid this problem, VMware blocked guest OS' from privileged/dangerous instructions and CPU features – and provides this capability through software that emulates (and controlled) what the guest OS could do. This worked but adds overhead to some operations.

Intel and AMD have virtualization hardware assist technology in their CPUs, offering sophisticated memory management capabilities, better hardware emulation features and other improvements that dramatically reduced the overhead of virtualization while maintaining compatibility with Guest OS'.

ESXi probes physical CPUs for Intel VT or AMD-V technology and will not in-stall or run if the feature is not present or enabled, so please be sure to turn on this feature in your machine's BIOS.

For more information see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86_virtualization

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Notes



Hardware Virtualization Assist➲ Hides privileged CPU

instructions from the Guest OS● Restrict guest OS physical

hardware access● Intel VT, AMD-V

➲ I/O Memory Management● Gives Guest OS access to

RAM on adapter cards● Includes NICs, Video Cards● Called device Passthrough

● VMware calls it DirectPath● Requires Intel VT-d, AMD-Vi

support on physical CPUs

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Ready to Install

➲ The installer is ready to proceed...● Selected volume is re-partitioned, formatted● All existing partitions on the selected volume are

deleted (unless you are upgrading)● All local storage is used for ESXi● No partition customization options are available

The installer will now install ESXi onto your selected storage volume. To do this, the in-staller:

- Wipes all partitions on the selected target storage volume- Creates partitions as needed (normally 8 partitions are created)

Useful information about the installation disk:- ESXi consumes about 4GB of disk space in overhead. The rest is for VM use- partition 4 is the boot partition and is located at the front of the disk (behind the Master Boot Record and partition table)- partitions 2 and 4, 5, 6 & 8 are for ESXi use and occupy the front of the disk- partition 7 is a vmkcore partition (partition code 0xfc) and is a ESXi partition used to hold crash dumps- partition 3 consumes all remaining disk space and is partitioned and formatted as a VMware File System (VMFS)

Note: ESXi 5.x can install on > 2TB volumes. ESX(i) 4.1 and earlier cannot. Be aware that some vendor supplied RAID controllers (e.g.: older HP gear) cannot use a greater than 2TB volume as a boot volume.

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Installation Completed

➲ Once your installation has completed, hit Enter to reboot to ESXi

It only takes about 5-10 minutes to install ESXi 5.5 onto your PC server. The install proceeds non-interactively. A status indicator updates a percent completed horizon-tal bar.

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ESXi 5.5 DCUI➲ ESXi Direct Console

User Interface● Simple BIOS like

interface➲ ESXi configuration● Default – FQDN and

IP properties acquired via DHCP

● Use F2 at the boot screen to set up your ESXi 5.5 host

● Use F12 to shutdown or reboot your host

ESXi has a simple, BIOS-like interface called the Direct Console User Interface (DCUI). The DCUI makes it very easy to configure. To configure your ESX host...simply hit F2 at the greeter screen and update your host configuration.

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Log In for the First Time

➲ The administrator account for ESXi is root● The root password is set during install● Do not lose the root password – there is no

easy way to recover it!

The ESXi administrator account is root (the traditional Linux administrator account). When you install ESXi, the system defaults to:

- The root password is set during installation- IP properties set via DHCP- No command line access (either locally or remotely)

In the next few slides, we will discuss how to change these values.

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ESXi Configuration Menu

➲ Configure ESXi via a simple text interface● Current menu item settings displayed on the

right side of the screen● Hit Enter to activate a menu function

The ESXi configuration menu is a simple text interface where you complete your server's customizations.

Use the up/down arrows to move to a function. When a function is highlighted, its properties and the command keys used to modify that function are displayed on the right.

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Default Management IP Settings

➲ ESXi hosts uses DHCP on first install● Host name, domain name and the IP address

is assigned using an IP address out of the DHCP lease pool● Example above reclaims a desktop PC lease!

● ESXi needs static IP properties

You must set the IP properties of your ESXi host before you can manage it. Select Configure Management Network to set the:

- Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN)- IP address- Netmask- Default Gateway

and other properties.

You can set these values statically or dynamically using DHCP. If you use DHCP, you must configure your DHCP servers to send static properties to a host. To do this, con-figure your DHCP server with the MAC address of your ESXi host management NIC and then set the static properties to server whenever that NIC broadcasts for a DHCP lease.

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Configure Management Network

➲ Configure Management Network menu let's you set key network properties● NIC used to carry Management traffic● IP V4, IP V6 properties● DNS settings● DNS domain search list

It is a best practice to use static network settings for your ESXi host. To complete this task, you must:

1. Select the correct NIC for management networking2. Set a static IP address and Netmask and Default Gateway values3. Identify your local DNS server(s) and the default DNS search domains

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Select Management NIC(s)

➲ Physical NICs carry ESXi network traffic (VM, mgt., cluster, replication, FT, etc.)● Select Network Adapters to view/change NICs● Avoid disconnected NICs● Means they have no link to the network switch

You manage your ESXi host through your network. To communicate with your ESXi host (using either the vSphere Client directly or vCenter indirectly), you must have network connectivity to it.

Since modern PC servers may have many NICs and these NICs may be connected into different physical and/or virtual LAN segments, you may have to select the correct physical NIC (rather than the default NIC) before you can manage your machine.

NIC TeamsThe Network Adapters screen lets you review and select the NIC or NICs you wish to use to carry network traffic. If you select more than one physical NIC, you automati-cally create a NIC team. NIC teams afford better speed and redundancy.

TipIt can be difficult (or impossible) to tell which RJ45 jack is associated with which MAC address. A simple way of selecting the correct physical NIC(s) is to unplug all NICs from their switch except for the NICs you wish to use for management. Then use the Status column (Connected means the NIC has a link to the switch) to deter-mine which NICs you should for management.

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Network Adapter Details

➲ ESXi now exposes underlying network adapter card details● Highlight the desired adapter and hit D● Add-on NICs have a Chassis slot number

ESXi 5.5 makes it easier to identify onboard NICs from add-on NICs. In previous ver-sions of ESXi, all NICs were reported in the order they were discovered during a boot up PCI bus scan. Normally, onboard NICs were discovered first – but this was not guaranteed. This could lead to problems trying to identify how vmnic# (alias for physical nic #) mapped to physical NICs.

With ESXi 5.5, VMware now identifies NICs as follows:

- If the Hardware Label values starts with N/A, then the NIC is on the motherboard- If the Hardware label value starts Chassis slot... then the NIC is an add on NIC

For NICs on the motherboard, the NIC labeled NIC 1 will show up first, then NIC 2 and so on.

For add-on NICs, port 1 will show up first and then ports 2-4 (if the card is a dual/quad NIC)

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IPV4 Configuration

➲ Best Practice - use Static IP properties● No chance your server could lose its assigned

lease and therefore it's IP address● Static IPs required for vCenter Management

Complete this form to set your ESXi host management NIC IP properties.

vCenter cannot manage an ESXi host whose IP address changes. For this reason it is best to give all of your ESXi, ESXi hosts fixed IP properties.

You must select Set static IP addresses... and complete all three fields to complete your static IP address properties assignment.

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IPV6 Configuration

➲ ESXi 5.5 supports IPV6● Multiple IP address policies supported

ESXi 5.5 supports IP V6. You can assign IP V6 addresses:

- Via DHCP- Self generated via ICMP stateless configuration

You can assign up to 3 static IPV6 addresses to your ESXi host.

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DNS Configuration

➲ You must set DNS server and host name● Enter the IP of your DNS server(s)● Enter the host name of your ESXi host● The domain name is set in DNS Suffixes

ESXi and vCenter require DNS services to function properly. So it is critical that you have DNS name servers set up and accessible from your local LAN segment.

It is a best practice to have both primary and secondary DNS servers available... but ESXi will function with just primary DNS.

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Custom DNS Suffixes

➲ DNS suffixes help resolve host names● DNS look ups that contain only a host name

append domain suffixes from this list, before a DNS look up is attempted● Use spaces, commas to separate multiple domains

DNS Suffixes are used to enable DNS to look up the IP address of a host specified only by it's host name (and not qualified with a domain name). An example might be a look up request for a host called esxi5.

DNS needs a full domain name. Custom Suffixes will append domain names from the list set on this screen to simple host names and then perform a DNS query. This con-tinues until either:

- a matching FQDN is found and it's IP address is returned- no matching FQDN is found and all suffix Domain names have been tried

It is a good practice to add at lest one domain name (the primary domain name for your organization) to this list!

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Apply Network Changes

➲ Network changes are applied en mass● NIC, IP and DNS changes are activated by

restarting Management Network services

All network changes are applied at one time when you leave the Configure Manage-ment Network sub-menu. First the new settings are applied to the appropriate con-figuration files and then the ESXi hosts' management network is brought down and back up again. For this reason it is best to be at the physical server's console when updating management networking properties.

You should be brought back to the System Customization menu. Your network changes should be visible.

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Test Management Network

➲ Basic connectivity test with Ping, DNS● Pings gateway,

DNS server● Tries to resolve the

server's FQDN

➲ Each test reports OK or Fail● Do not proceed

until all tests pass!● Verify your DNS

server is ping-able

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Local/Remote Tech Support

➲ Tech Support mode enables command line access to your ESXi host● ESXi Shell – Command line access from the

physical server console● SSH – Secure Shell access to your server● Default is Disabled for both services● You may need to turn on to allow VMware or partner

access (e.g.during a support call)

Tech Support Mode enables functions used by support providers who are comfortable working on the ESXi command line. By default, all local and remote command line access to your ESXi host is disabled – so you can only access your ESXi host through:

- the vSphere client pointed directly at your ESXi host- vCenter if vCenter has management control over your ESXi host- The VMware Management Assistant service (VMA), if installed

Enabling Local Tech Support allows physical console command line access. Support personnel who have access to the physical console (directly or via remote console services such as Dell DRAC, HP ILO or IBM RMM) would be able to log in to your server.

Enabling Remote Tech Support enables the Secure Shell Daemon (sshd) and supports network based administrator access to your box without the need for remote console services.

WarningEnabling Remote tech support enables direct root access to your ESXi host through a TCP/IP connection. This is a potential security threat. Turn on this feature only if needed. If this feature is turned on, set a strong root password.

Never expose your machine to an untrusted network like the Internet - especially if Remote Tech Support is turned on!

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Restart Management Agents

➲ ESXi uses agents (services) to communicate with vCenter / vSphere Client● If agents fail, your server is unmanageable● Use this feature to reset management agents● Does not interfere with running VMs

It may happen that the management agents (services) on your ESXi host become un-stable or crash. If this occurs, your ESXi host will not respond to vCenter or the vSphere client. In vCenter your host will grey out and report as disconnected.

You could reboot the ESXi host but that would bring down all running VMs. A more acceptable option is to simply restart the management agents on your ESXi host.

This function can be done at any time. Any connected vSphere Client sessions will be closed. Once this function completes, your host should become active in vCenter and should accept direct vSphere Client login requests.

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ESXi Ready for Service➲ ESXi server is ready

for use● Additional hot keys

are active● Alt-F1 – command

line access to your machine (if enabled)

● Alt-F2 – this screen● Alt-F12 – VMkernel

log records● Use the vSphere

Client to manage ESXi

Once ESXi has rebooted, it is managed via VMware's vSphere Client. You can down-load the vSphere Client from www.vmware.com/download.

There are additional hot keys active on the ESXi console:

Alt-F1 – first command line log in screenAlt-F2 – the ESXi greeter screen (screen shot above)Alt-F3 to Alt-F10 – no functionAlt-F11 – Grey status screen/greeter screen with no F-key promptsAlt-F12 – VMkernel log dump

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Alt-F12 VMkernel Log Entries

➲ Hit Alt-F12 to view the VMkernel log file● Displays the most recent VMkernel log contents

● Look here to see detailed error messages● File - /scratch/log/vmkernel.log on the

command line

The VMkernel records detailed log entries into a file called /var/log/messages. You can view this file by logging into the Local/Remote tech support prompts (as root) and issuing the command:

# less /var/log/messages

You can see the most recent entries by hitting the Alt-F12 keys on your machine's console. This display shows one screen full of the most current additions to the VMk-ernel log file. You should check this file if you are troubleshooting problems and need more information than is available in the vSphere client.

Hit Alt-F2 to go back to the ESXi greeter screen when done.

NoteAll command line commands entered using Local or Remote tech support are logged to /var/log messages. In this way, it is possible to reproduce the activities of prior command line sessions.

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Browse Host Log/Config Files➲ You can use a web

browser to view ESXi host log files, configu-ration files

➲ Browse to:● http://..FQDN../host or

http://..Host-IP../host● Log in as root● Click file to view

current contents● Log out of web viewer

when finished

VMware makes log files and configuration files available for review in a number of different ways. The approach (above) is to use a web browser to log in to and view ESXi host configuration/web files.

VMware has a good knowledge base article on the files available using this approach here - http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2004201

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Login with vSphere Client➲ Launch vSphere Client● ESXi host IP or FQDN● User name (root), password

➲ vSphere Client● MS Windows only tool● Uses MS Visual C#, J#

● Needed for direct ESXi host management

● Supports all features of vSphere 5.0● Not being updated with

featues added to 5.1, 5.5● Cannot view/set advanced

features added to 5.1, 5.5

You manage your ESXi host directly with the vSphere Client. This is a separate down-load and install available from VMware (http://www.vmware.com/download). Alter-natively, you can just point your web browser over to your ESXi host and follow the vSphere Client download link found there.

All VMware client to server connections are encrypted using strong encryption. The encrypted link is set up before any data is exchanged between the client and the back end server.

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Security Warning

➲ All VMware software connections use 256-bit block, AES symmetric key ciphers● ESXi uses self-signed Digital Certificates● No Certificate Granting Authority to verify authenticity

➲ Since host is local, ignore warning● Check Install this certificate...

ESXi uses self-signed digital certificates to support end-to-end encryption. All com-munications between VMware client and VMware server software is encrypted using strong encryption.

Since self-signed digital certificates cannot be independently verified by a 3rd party Certificate Granting Authority (CA), a warning is issued. It is (usually) safe to perma-nently disregard this warning.

It is possible to acquire an SSL certificate from a Certificate Authority (CA) and then install that certificate onto your ESXi host. This would eliminate the warning mes-sages because a trusted certificate can be used to verify that the host is who it says it is.

Normally trusted certificates are used on Internet facing hosts to ensure the integrity of web requests (e.g.: for secure banking/payment systems, etc.). Since your ESXi hosts won't be directly on the Internet, there is no need (and no benefit) to purchas-ing a trusted certificate for your machine.

CA generated certificates are also a good idean (and may be mandatory) in organiza-tions where security is critical. Such organizations will run their own Certificate Au-thority and will have policies that all servers on their internal network must use digi-tal certificates created by and verifiable from the central CA.

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vSphere Client > ESXi Host➲ vSphere Client

presents a task launch page● Inventory – work

with your ESXi host

● Roles – define user categories

● System Logs – review, save ESXi log files

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vSphere Client > Inventory

➲ 4 Sections: Menus, Inventory, Tabs, Recent Tasks

Menu, Button Bars

Tabbed Interface

Recent Actions

Items being Managed

By default, the vSphere Client warns you whenever any command line service is en-abled. To avoid the distraction, we have manually turned off these warnings. Since granting command line access is normally not a good idea, presenting these warnings makes sense.

There are some situations where you want to enable command line access and don't want to be bothered about the fact that these service(s) are turned on. To disable command line warning sin the vSphere Client, please check out the following Knowl-edge Base article:

kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2003637

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Local ESXi Users & Groups

➲ Local Users & Groups Tab● Manage ESXi users, groups● Scope is the host on which the user/group is defined

● Right click on background > click Add...● Set user login, password, group (optional)

You can create local ESXi user accounts with passwords to allow for local authentica-tion (for both the vSphere client and Local/Remote Troubleshooting – if enabled). To do this click on the Local Users & Groups tab and then right-click the back ground and select Add.... You can make new groups by clicking the Groups button and then right-clicking the background.

Best PracticeYou would create local accounts only if you do not have an Active Directory service available. Otherwise, it is a best practice to join an AD domain and use domain ac-counts.

TipTo command line log into ESXi over the network (from Windows, ESXi Remote Trou-bleshooting Mode must be enabled) download the putty Secure Shell terminal emula-tor at http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html

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ESXi Host Roles

➲ Roles determine privileges by user, group● Default role: No access – no rights on ESXi host● Read-only: look but cannot modify● Administrator: full control of local ESXi host● root for ESXi, DCUI (local configuration) and vpxuser

(for vCenter) hold the Administrator role

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Joining ESXi to an AD Domain

➲ Joining an ESXi host to an Active Directory domain● Navigation: Software >

Authentication Services > Properties...

● Specify domain, domain user name, password with rights to add hosts to the domain

ESXi 5.x can join an Active Directory domain. AD authentication allows you to set up access rules for ESXi login without having to create local user accounts on ESXi. To join an ESXi host to an AD domain, you must have a domain account with Add Host to Domain privileges set.

FYIJoining an AD domain is the first step to allowing AD defined users to access ESXi di-rectly. The second step is to select inventory items (your ESXi host, folders, VMs, Re-source Pools) and assign these users rights on these items. Without specific permis-sion assignments, AD based users will not be able to interact with ESXi – as the de-fault permission for all AD users is No Access.

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Physical CPU Properties

➲ Click Configuration > Processors● Review CPU socket, core, Hyperthreading

status matches expectations

ESXi reports on the properties of the CPUs found in your server, including:

- The make/model of the machine- Make/model and speed of the CPUs- Number of populated sockets- Number of cores in the CPU- Number of Logical Processors (sockets * cores * HT logical processors)- Presence/Absence of Hyperthreading (Intel CPUs only)- Presence/Absence of power management capabilities (newer CPUs only)

If you have Intel CPUs and Hyperthreading is reporting N/A you should check to see if Hyperthreading is active. To do this, click:

Properties > Hyperthreading > Enabled

This will turn on Hyperthreading support even if the machine's BIOS is set to disable it. You will need to reboot ESXi for this change to take effect.

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Enable / Verify Hyperthreading

➲ Hyperthreading lets one core work on two tasks (VMs) in lock step● Check to ensure it is enabled in BIOS/UEFI

Hyperthreading is a feature baked into Intel CPUs that allows a single CPU Core to work on two tasks in lock step. The idea is to keep the CPU core busy by giving it a 2nd task when the Core would otherwise be idle waiting on a physical memory fetch (after a local Cache miss)

Hyperthreading provides a modest increase in performance under typical workloads (usually 5% to 20% increase over the same workloads on the same CPUs with Hyperthreading turned off).

Hyperthreading is especially useful when the VMkernel uses it to provide some CPU service to low priority VMs or VMs that would otherwise just run their Idle task (because they have nothing better to do).

If you use PC Servers powered with Intel CPUs, you should:

- Verify that Hyperthreading is available on your CPU- Verify that Hyperthreading is turned on in your physical machine's BIOS- Verify that ESXi recognizes that Hyperthreading is available and that ESXi will use Hyperthreading

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Physical Memory Properties

➲ Click Configuration > Memory to review host RAM configuration.● System (VMkernel) reserves about 5% of RAM● Only 38.9MB used for 8GB server● 323.7MB used for 64GB server

● All remaining memory is available for VM use

ESXi uses memory in 2 ways:

1. For the VMkernel hypervisor (approximately 40MB), and2. For virtual machines (all remaining RAM).

ESXi needs a minimum of 2GB of RAM or it will refuse to run. Adding more RAM means more room for VMs to run which should result in good performance as your VM population and RAM requirements grow.

ESXi is very frugal and hands out memory to VMs only when needed and only for as long as needed. We will explore ESXi memory scavenging techniques later in this class.

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Review/Set Time Configuration

➲ Configuration > Software > Time Configuration

➲ ESXi owns the hardware clock● Provides clock services to VMs● Use Network Time Protocol to

ensure a very accurate clock● Use Properties... to

enable/configure NTP

ESXi uses Network Time Protocol to ensure that it's clock remains accurate. This is important because the ESXi host provides clock services to all VMs it runs. So, any clock drift in the ESXi host will result in clock drift in VMs. If VM clocks drift by more than 5 minutes they may not be able to join or remain members of Active Directory domains.

Click the Properties... link to review and configure NTP.

Best PracticeAlways set your server's BIOS clock to UTC. That way, VMs will get a UTC clock and can then set their local time zone to any region they like.

If you set the hardware clock to your local time, then VMs must all operate in your local time zone only (because they cannot calculate time zone offsets from any time zone other than UTC).

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Licensed Features in ESXi 5.5➲ License options● Evaluation Mode● 60-day evaluation

● Cannot be extended● All features available

● Serial Number● 25 character code● Get from VMware● Enables entitled

licensed features● Click Edit... to add an

ESXi license● License entitlements

can also be obtained from vCenter

ESXi installs with an unrestricted use 60-day evaluation license. This eliminates the need to contact VMware for temporary evaluation licenses.

ESXi can be activated using a stand alone host license. A host license is issued on a host by host basis and unlocks access to feature entitlements purchased for that host. Alternatively, ESXi can draw a license entitlement for needed features from vCenter.

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System Health Status

➲ Click Configuration > Health Status to review host hardware health● Uses CIM to poll hardware● Reports back issues found ● Issues propagate up to the host

The vSphere Client can report on most aspects of your system's hardware health including:

- CPU sockets, cores and cache size- Power supply, motherboard, CPU and add-on card temperatures- Fan location, health and speed- Hardware firmware and driver health including chipset, NIC, storage controller, BIOS functionality- Power supply count and health (connected, disconnected, missing, etc.) and- System boards.

Use this view to get a quick assessment of your server's physical health.

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Network Adapters

➲ All NICs recognized by ESXi are displayed in the Network Adapters view● Speed, Assigned vSwitch, physical MAC

address and Observed IP ranges reported● Observed IP range - helps you determine

which sub-net a physical NIC can see – and consequently what traffic it should carry

Observed IP RangesThis value displays the IP address range observed by ESXi as frames flow through each physical NIC. Here's what it's used for.

In most corporate networks, different physical LAN segments are used to isolate dif-ferent types of traffic such as Production traffic, storage traffic, management traf-fic, back up traffic, etc. It is a common practice to use different sub-net address blocks for each physical segment.

For example, your company may subnet its network traffic as follows:

10.1.0.0/16 – Production traffic including servers10.2.0.0/16 – Desktop PCs and printers172.16.0.0/16 – Management LAN segment for direct PC server management192.168.50.0/24 – Back Up LAN192.168.100.0/24 – IP Storage LAN (for iSCSI servers)

In the above scheme, if a physical NIC reported Observed IPs in the 10.1/16 range, you would know it was physically connected to the management LAN. If another physical NIC reported Observed IPs in the 192.168.100/24 range, then it should be used to carry back up traffic.

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DNS and Routing Settings

➲ Configuration > DNS and Routing to review ESXi management settings:● Verify Host, Fully Qualified Domain Name, IP

address, DNS IP and Gateway● Click Properties... link to make corrections

It is important that your namagement network settings are correct. After installa-tion, it is a good idea to review these settings and fix any errors you find.

Click Properties... to edit network settings for the management network. You may need to reboot your ESXi host before these changes take effect.

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ESXi System Logs

➲ Review, save ESXi system logs● Home > Administration > System Logs● hostd.log: host management service log● Licensing, cluster mgt., vCenter mgt., etc.

● Use Export System Logs to save log files locally as text files

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Sizing ESXi CPU, Memory➲ Physical CPUs service Virtual CPUs● vCPU slightly slower than physical CPUs

● About 2-5% slower than physical CPU cores due to virtualization overhead

● Plan for between 2-4 vCPUs / physical CPU core● Maximize CPU cores, speed, cache size● Intel Hyperthreading will help... but modestly● Physical core restrictions removed vSphere 5

➲ Memory● Need 2GB RAM to install/boot ESXi

● The VMkernel uses approximately 5% of RAM● All remaining RAM free for VM use

● VMs given RAM as needed, not declared● 20%-40% memory overcommit is reasonable

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Sizing ESXi Storage, NICs➲ Storage Controllers● ESXi is inherently multipath aware:

● Improved reliability through path redundancy● Default is active/standby multipathing

● Active/active multipathing disabled for best SAN compatibility● SAN vendor supplied multipath drivers supported

● Should provides best storage I/O performance, reliability➲ NICs● Virtual Switches use physical NICs as uplinks● Physical NIC uplinks vSwitch to physical LAN segments

● Virtual NIC traffic consumes CPU cycles● Faster ESXi CPUs give faster virtual network speed● Benchmark network performance before deploying

network heavy production workloads

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Lab 2 – Install ESXi 5.5➲ In this lab we will install ESXi 5.5 ● Install onto a dedicated server

● Connect to our remote lab access machine● Install and configure ESXi● Configure ESXi networking with the DCUI● Perform post-install configuration using vSphere

Client

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Chapter 14 – Virtual Machine MigrationPhotocopying this book in whole or in part is not permitted

Copyright © 2013 by ESXLab.com. All rights reserved. No reproduction without prior written authorization. Migration-1

Chapter 14 – VM Migration

Virtual MachineCold, Hot and Storage

Migration

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Virtual Machine Migration

➲ The act of moving a VM● Cold migration - moving a powered off VM● Hot migration - moving a powered on VM● Storage migration – moving a VM's files to

a new datastore➲ Cold migration lets you move a VM to● A new ESXi host● A new datastore● A new ESXi host / datastore together

➲ Hot migration lets you move a VM to● A new ESXi host (VMotion)● A new datastore (Storage VMotion)● Both - only if using the vSphere Web Client

Migrating physical Windows and/or Linux machines to new hosts or storage is a com-plex, risky and time-consuming task. Fortunately, moving VMs to a new ESXi host or datastore (or both) is easy.

vCenter provides VM migration capabilities as an inherent part of the product. vCenter can move a VM to a new:

ESXi Host – This reassigns ownership of the VM to the new ESXi host. Depending on your configuration and licensing, this could be either hot or cold

Datastore - Moving a VM to a new datastore entails copying the VMs constituent files from one datastore to the next. Cold datastore migration can be done at any time and on any VM. Hot datastore migration requires a Storage VMotion license

Host & - vCenter can move a VM to both a new ESXi host and a new datastoreDatastore at the same time. To do this, launch the vSphere Web Client, and log in.

Your VM must be Hardware Version 9 (not vSphere Client can only configure VMs up to Hardware Version 8 – so you will have to power off your VM and upgrade the virtual hardware to V9. Then, launch the Migration Wizard on your powered on VM, select the new ESXi host and the new Datastore and watch the migration happen!

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Project Plan

➲ Migrate VMs to new ESXi hosts/datastores● Load balance VMs across ESXi servers● Evacuate an ESXi host prior to maintenance

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Problems & Opportunities

➲ Problems● VM performance

degrades if a host is over committed on CPU or RAM

● VMs on local storage cannot be restarted if the host fails

➲ Virtual Solutions● Hot migrate a VM

to a host with free resources

● Cold migrate a host from a local VMFS to a Shared VMFS

● Hot migrate VMs files to a new datastore

VM migration solves two problems; deployment and resource contention.

Deployment - In many shops it is considered good practice to completely isolate Production VMs from all other VMs (test, development, QA, training, etc.). In this case, when it is time to move a fully tested VM to Production, the VM would be migrated from the Test environment to the Production environment.

Resource - Most IT shops have strict service level agreements with their customers. Management This could include guaranteeing a minimum level of responsiveness and

also a minimum level of availability. Hot migration helps IT departments meet their service agreements because, if an ESXi host is suffering resource stress, VMs can be hot moved to ESXi hosts with free resources to even out resource load.

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Cold Migration

➲ What happens when you Cold migrate?● If the VM being migrated is on a shared

volume then migration simply re-assigns ownership of the VM to the target ESXi host

● If a VM resides on a local volume then:● The VM's files are securely file-transferred to a

datastore visible to the target machine● Uses VMkernel Management port connection

● Ownership of the VM is then re-assigned to the target machine

● VM unavailable for use until migration completes

Cold migration is the act of moving a powered off VM from one host to the next. What actions are taken when a cold migration is requested depends on VM, ESXi host and storage configuration.

If the VM lives on a shared storage volume that is visible to both the source and tar-get ESXi host, then cold migration is nothing more than the transfer of ownership of the VM from the source to the target ESXi host. In this case, the cold migration re-quests complete in seconds.

If the VM resides on a storage volume that is not visible to the target ESXi host then vCenter has more work to do. In this case, vCenter must:

- File transfer the VMs constituent files from the source ESXi host to the target ESXi host. This is done using an encrypted connection between the two hosts Service Consoles and will likely occur at no more than 10-40MB/s.- Once the files have been transferred, the target machine will take on ownership of the VM- Then, the source machine will remove the VM's constituent files from its own datastore(s) and remove the VM from its VM roster

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Cold Migration Use Cases

➲ Moving a VM from Test to Production● No LUNs in common

➲ Moving a VM from local to shared disk● E.g.: When you add a SAN or NFS share

➲ Hosts are not VMotion compatible● Lack CPU compatibility

➲ Target machine not in same Datacenter● Clone VM or Template to a new datacenter● Off-site back ups

There are many scenarios where it makes sense to cold migrate a VM. The most pop-ular reasons are identified in the slide (above).

Cold migration can be time consuming because virtual disk files can be very large and the VMs files are transferred through Ethernet, TCP/IP. The actual file transfer is conducted between the Service Consoles of the source and target ESXi hosts.

Note: All network connections between ESXi hosts and VMware clients are encrypted. This ensures data privacy but adds overhead which makes the transfer take longer

You should expect no more than 20-80 megabytes/second of file transfer speed even on a Gb NIC (your mileage may vary). Make sure you have an appropriately sized maintenance window before you attempt a cold migration.

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VMotion Migration

➲ Hot migration of a VM from one ESXi host to another without the risk of● Guest OS crashes● Application failure or loss of responsiveness● Available to any Guest OS

➲ VMware feature on ESXi since 2003● VMotion included in vSphere Standard● Citrix/XenServer - Live Migration since 2007● Microsoft/Hyper-V - Live Migration since 2010

VMotion is the act of migrating a hot or running VM from one ESXi host to another. To be effective, hot migration must be capable of completing this task without in-troducing undesirable side effects such as OS instability, application instability or guest OS/application unresponsiveness.

VMware has offered VMotion since 2003 and is widely regarded as having the most robust, SAN friendly, production ready implementation of hot VM migration avail-able.

VMware protects its products with patents. As VMware conceived, implemented and refined VMotion technology, it is likely that it's patent claim on this technology is solid. This may prevent or restrict the hot migration capabilities of competing prod-ucts because VMware can always claim patent infringement.

For all of the above reasons, VMware's host migration technology is the preferred hot migration technology that is being actively deployed in production at this time.

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VMotion Benefits

➲ Resolve resource contention problems● Hot move VMs from a busy to less busy host

➲ Facilitate server maintenance● Evacuate a host in preparation for server

maintenance, replacement● Hardware upgrade, repair● ESXi patching, updating● Simplifies ESXi server hardware refresh

● If resources permit, ESXi host maintenance can be performed in the middle of a production day!

VMotion provides two key benefits: dynamic VM load balancing and the ability to do ESXi host maintenance without the need to take VMs down.

Resource balancing with VMotion is critical to controlling PC server costs. Before VMotion, servers would need to be over provisioned to meet any possible future re-source demands. With VMotion, an IT department can deploy the right amount of PC servers to meet their needs (right sizing) and then monitor resource load growth over time. As resource demands begin to exceed available resources, IT departments can provision and deploy new ESXi hosts and then use VMotion to balance VM load across all ESXi hosts. In this way, IT departments can, for the first time, conduct proper PC server capacity planning and deployment.

The second advantage of VMotion is that it, for the first time, enables PC server hardware and software maintenance during production hours. This results in cost savings for IT departments because hardware maintenance, patching, configuration updates, etc. can be conducted during normal business hours rather than during off hours (when consultants cost more and when employees may be accumulating time off for working over time).

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VMotion Requirements

➲ vCenter initiates, manages, monitors● VMotion is coordinated by vCenter● VMotion license needed on all ESXi hosts

➲ A shared SAN LUN / NFS share● Visible to both source, target ESXi host

➲ A common VM LAN segment● Because VM IP, MAC addresses are preserved,

VMotion cannot cross a router● Consistently named vSwitch Port Groups

➲ Compatible CPUs● Same vendor, CPU features

➲ Dedicated VMotion LAN segment● For moving the VMs memory pages, context

VMotion is a separately licensed feature that is included in many ESXi Editions. Cur-rently VMotion is included in these ESXi 4 Editions:

- Standard- Enterprise- Enterprise Plus- Small Business Essentials+

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VMotion Scenario

➲ Configuration:● 2+ ESXi hosts● Shared SAN LUN● VMotion LAN segment● Production LAN segment

➲ VM is booted● Applications running

➲ Users actively using VM● No need to● Quiesce the application● Have the user pause their

work

To enable VMotion, you must provision and deploy your virtual infrastructure with VMotion in mind. This means that at minimum you must have:

- vCenter. VMotion cannot be initiated directly from ESXi- Two or more VMotion compatible ESXi hosts (compatible CPUs)- Common LAN segments for VM use (e.g.: the Production LAN above)- An isolated VMotion segment- A SAN/NAS storage volume that is visible to the source and target ESXi hosts

As will be explained later in this chapter there are additional requirements that must be met before you can perform VMotion migrations.

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Memory Pre-Copy

➲ Target ESXi builds VM's virtual hardware

➲ VM's memory pages are copied to target ESXi host ● Memory bitmap keeps

track of page transfers ➲ If VM updates the page

after transfer● The bitmap bit is reset● Invalidates the page copy

VMotion is completed in a number of discrete steps. An unmentioned step here is that your VMotion request must pass a number of validation steps before vCenter will even attempt to conduct the VMotion. You will see these validation steps in the upcoming Labs.

The first step is that the target host creates virtual hardware for the new VM. This hardware is an exact duplicate of the VMs hardware on the source ESXi host.

VMotion works by copying the VMs memory image through the VMotion LAN segment to the target ESXi host. Since a VM could have many MB or GB of RAM (VMs can have up to 1TB of RAM) is is not practical to pause the VM and copy all of its RAM through the VMotion network. Instead, the source and target ESXi hosts cooperate by pre-copying the running VMs memory image through the VMotion LAN segment while the VM is running.

Pre-copy is tracked through a memory bit map that the source ESXi creates at the beginning of a VMotion request. The bit map allocates one bit for each page of VM memory. When the page is successfully copied to the target ESXi host, the bit is set. If the page is changed (because the VM is still running) after being copied the bit corresponding to the page is reset to indicate that the page on the target system is no longer valid.

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Progress is Monitored

➲ Memory precopy will copy most of the VM's RAM● If running VM changes

pages, bitmap bit is reset to invalidate the copy

➲ Progress is tracked● When marginal progress

drops to near zero, it's time to move on

VMotion copies memory as fast as it can. However, because the VM is still running, memory updates in the VM will invalidate some previously copied pages. vCenter and both ESXi hosts monitor page copy progress. At some point, the running VM will change (and therefore invalidate) memory as fast as it is being copied. When this happens, it is time to move to the next phase of VMotion.

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VM is Descheduled

➲ VM stops running● No different than if VM

loses its turn at CPU➲ Memory bitmap is

transferred to target● Now, target machine

knows which memory pages are valid

● Transfer very fast● Bitmap size: 1-bit per

memory page

Once it is determined that no more benefit can be had by attempting to copy pages, the source ESXi box de-schedules (stops running) the VM. This is no different than if the VM were to lose it's turn at the CPU and be forced to wait while other VMs get a chance to run.

Next, the memory bit map (which identifies successfully copied memory pages) is transferred through the VMotion network to the target ESXi host. This lets the target ESXi host know which pages in the VM are valid and which pages still need to be copied.

Since the bit map is very small (one bit for every 4kB of VM memory), it can be transferred to the target host very quickly (in milliseconds).

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VM Context is Transferred

➲ VM context (CPU registers, status bits, etc.) sent to target● Needed to restore the running state of the VM

➲ Pending I/Os sent to the target machine● Ensures no loss of keystrokes, screen

updates, disk I/O activity, etc.

When the VM is de-scheduled (loses its turn at the CPU), the VMkernel performs a context save. A context save is a save of the VM's CPU register contents, status bits and other CPU state information needed to restore the VMs CPU to the exact state it was in when the VM stopped. Since the VM will be resumed on the target ESXi host, this context needs to be transferred.

VMotion cannot wait until the VM is completely quiet before contemplating perform-ing the VMotion. Busy VMs may have to deal with an ongoing number of network, screen, keyboard, mouse, CD/DVD, Floppy and/or disk I/O events. The VMkernel tries to judge the most opportune time to perform the actual migration but there may be pending I/Os on the source machine that need to be completed. If this is the case, these incomplete I/Os are transferred over to the target ESXi host where they can be completed once the VM is given a chance to run.

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Switch Over

➲ Target ESXi host has● CPU registers, status bits● All incomplete IO events● Most VM virtual memory

➲ Source ESXi releases exclusive VM file lock● Target machine assumes

ownership, locks files● Physical switch notified of

VM vNIC MAC relocation ● Via Reverse Address

Resolution Protocol (RARP)● Ensures correct packet

delivery during migration

Once the VMs memory (or a substantial portion thereof), context, pending I/Os and bit map have been transferred to the target ESXi host we are now ready to perform the actual transfer of ownership.

There are two final steps before that transfer can be completed:

The source ESXi host must remove its exclusive lock on the VM. When ESXi hosts power on a VM, they place an exclusive file lock on the VM. The host machine must release this lock so that the target ESXi host can assert its own lock on the VM.

The target ESXi host must inform the physical switch that handles the VMs network traffic that the VM's MAC address has moved to a new port on the physical switch. The target ESXi host does this by sending a Reverse Address Resolution Protocol (RARP) packet to the switch. RARP packets inform the switch which MAC addresses are behind which ports (as many VM MACs are behind a limited number of physical NICs used to uplink vSwitches to the physical network). RARP updates allow the phys-ical switch to update its own MAC-to-port tables. This is needed so that the physical switch can forward any network packets destined for the VM to the VMotion target ESXi host.

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VM Scheduled to Run

➲ VM added to run queue● Runs like any other VM

➲ Target VM memory image must be brought up to date● Pages not copied to the VM in

Pre-Copy phase● Pages needed due to a

memory reference get priority● VM memory image brought

quickly, completely up to date

The VM is now set to run on the target machine. Its virtual hardware exists exactly as it did on the source machine. The VM has it's complete CPU context. Its pending I/Os are waiting to be processed, and the physical switch knows where to deliver any inbound network packets... The only problem is that there are still needed memory pages on the source ESXi host.

The VMkernel makes very clever use of VM demand paged virtual memory manage-ment to solve this problem. While the VM is running on the target ESXi host:

- Memory references to valid pages complete as normal- Memory references to not-yet-copied pages force a page fetch to the source host

The two ESXi hosts cooperate to bring the remaining pages from the source to the target ESXi host. The two machines:

- Use low priority, background page copies through the VMotion network to push needed (but not currently referenced) pages to the target ESXi host- Use high priority page copies to immediately transfer any memory pages currently being referenced by the running VM

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Housekeeping

➲ When memory is up to date, VMotion is finished

➲ Source machine deletes all traces of VM● Reclaims VM's RAM● Destroys virtual hardware● Removes VM from VM

roster➲ Target ESXi cleans up● Removes memory bitmap

Once the final pages of of the VMs memory have been copied to the target ESXi host, the VMotion transaction has effectively been completed. All that remains is some fi-nal housekeeping tasks to remove all traces of the VM from the source ESXi host and all VMotion artifacts from the target ESXi host.

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VMotion Experience

➲ VM unresponsive for 1.5s or less➲ Fail safe strategy – abandon VMotion● Re-schedule VM to run on source machine● Target machine removes all traces of VM

➲ What about lost network packets?● Packets received for VM by source ESXi

after VMotion are discarded● TCP detects loss, retransmits● RARP used to update physical switch MAC table● Switch then knows to deliver packet to target

ESXi host

VMware's own objectives for VMotion are very aggressive. For example, a VMotion has only 1.5 seconds of transition window (the time from when the VM stops running on the source ESXi host to when the VM must run on the target ESXi host). This is to ensure that any latency experienced by applications, network connections and users on the VM is sufficiently small as to not cause any stress or failures to the guest OS or running applications.

Fail safe for VMotion is very simple... If the VM takes too long to transfer or, if any-thing goes wrong between the cooperating ESXi hosts, the VMotion request is aban-doned. In this case, the source ESXi host simply reschedules the VM to run while the target ESXi host tears down all traces of the VM.

TCP/IP provides an elegant solution to lost network packets. Packet loss can occur if the VM transmits a packet to a physical peer and is immediately moved to the target ESXi host. If the physical peer replies quickly, it is possible that the physical switch may not (yet) have received the RARP update (informing the switch that the VM has moved) and will try to forward the packet to the source ESXi host. Since the source ESXi host no longer owns the VM, it can do nothing with the packet (cannot reject it, cannot deliver it, etc.). The originating machine would detect the packet timeout and retransmit. By the time this happens, the physical switch knows the new loca-tion of the VM and would forward the packet to the new ESXi host – who would then forward it to the freshly VMotioned VM.

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Failed Validation

➲ VMotion requests are validated first● VM using any host exclusive resource will

cause VMotion validation to fail● Examples:● Virtual NICs connected to an Internal vSwitch● Virtual CD/DVD or virtual floppy devices connected to

physical device or local media file● Other factors that will cause VMotion to fail● vCPU processor affinity set● Virtual/Physical bus sharing is enabled in the VM● E.g.: VMs are peers in a MS Fail Over Cluster

● Different Security properties in the source and target ESXi vSwitch port groups

VMotion requests go through an extensive validation process before any action is taken. In essence, the validation process attempts to determine if there is any rea-son that VMotion will fail or will leave the VM in an unsafe state.

Running VMs can access removable media (floppies/CDs), connect their virtual NICs to vSwitch Port Groups, etc. The OS or applications running on the VM can use these resources. For VMotion to succeed, the currently active configuration must be com-pletely reproducible on the target ESXi host. If VMotion were attempted while a VM was using a local resource (local vSwitch port group, local floppy media or local CD/DVD media) the loss of this resource after VMotion would leave the VM or appli-cation in an indeterminate state; risking data loss, application instability or even a VM crash. For this reason VMotion validation will fail if the VM is actively using any resource that is available on the source ESXi host but not on the target ESXi host.

VMs in a MS Fail Over Cluster configuration cannot be VMotioned due to the nature of Cluster shared disks. VMs with CPU affinity cannot be VMotioned because there is no guarantee that the affinity setting can be honored on the target ESXi host. Any dif-ferences in vSwitch security settings will also prevent VMotion.

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Validation Warnings

➲ Some conditions will generate a warning● VMotion allowed to proceed

➲ References to local resources● Disconnected VM vNIC configured to use a

Port Group on an Internal vSwitch● Disconnected reference to physical CD/DVD

device or local ISO image● Disconnected reference to physical floppy

device or local floppy image

VMotion validation will generate warnings on references to (but not use of) host spe-cific resources. For example, if a VM is configured to use a CD ISO image that is available to the source ESXi host but is not available to the target ESXi host, and the ISO file is disconnected (defined but not in use), then a warning is generated and VMotion will be allowed to proceed. In this case vCenter is advising you that once VMotion completes the VM won't have access to the media.

VMotion validation also warns you if the VM has snapshots. The presence of snap-shots will not directly cause VMotion to fail. However, VMs with snapshots do incur extra disk I/O overhead and this overhead may result in more time needed to com-plete VMotion. Any delay in completing VMotion increases the risk of a VMotion fail-ure, which is the reason for the warning.

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Host Compatibility

➲ ESXi VMotion peers must have ● Access to shared storage resources (Fibre,

iSCSI or NAS) used by the VM➲ VMkernel ports with VMotion enabled● Must be on a common GB LAN segment

➲ Compatible vSwitch configurations● Same Port Group name(s)● Case sensitive

➲ VMotion compatible CPUs

It is important to configure ESXi hosts, that will act as VMotion peers, consistently so that the same resources are available on both systems. The cooperating ESXi hosts should see:

- The same datastores including common VMFS volumes and NFS datastores- The same vSwitch Port Groups (case sensitive). While these port groups do not need to be on the same vSwitches or have the same NIC Team configuration, they do need to connect to the same virtual or physical LAN segments (no router between the source/target ESXi hosts), and- VMotion must be configured correctly on both systems. This includes:

- Physical connectivity to an isolated VMotion network- The network should be GB, not 10/100mb- A vSwitch uplinked to this VMotion network- A VMkernel port defined on the vSwitch with VMotion enabled

Surprisingly, the make or model of the machines involved is not important. That is, you can VMotion to/from HP/Dell/IBM/Sun/White Box servers with no issues if all other VMotion requirements are met.

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CPU Compatibility

➲ VMotion compatible CPUs must● Come from the same manufacturer● Intel or AMD

● Support the same instruction set● Match AES encode/decode instructions● Must support the same level of SSE instructions

● All CPUs must have the same virtualization assist feature set● H/W features to improve virtualization speed and

efficiency➲ Features that don't matter● CPU frequency, cache size, number of cores

VMware provides a CPU compatibility tool in the form of an ISO image. Simply down-load this image and burn it to a CD. Then boot your physical server off the CD to have the tool report specific CPU features such as:

- CPU Maker- CPU Family- CPU Model, Stepping- Number of Cores- SSE Instruction Set level (SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSE4a, SSE4b, etc.)- Availability of hardware AES Encrypt/Decrypt instructions (currently Intel CPUs)- Execute Disable / No Execute support (yes, no)- Support for 64-bit supervisor-mode instructions- Support for 64-bit user-mode instructions- Support for compatible CPU Virtualization Assist technologies

Latest Virtualization Assist technologyIntel VT-x / AMD-V – Trap supervisor instructions making them available to VMkernelIntel EPT / AMD RVI – 2-tier Memory Management for VMkernel and guest OSIntel VT-d / AMDVi – I/O memory management for VM I/O DMA transfers, interrupts

For more information, please download the vSphere 5.5 Best Practices guide here:

http://www.vmware.com/pdf/Perf_Best_Practices_vSphere5.5.pdf

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AMD CPU Identification Utility

➲ CPU identification tool for AMD CPUs● Displays VMotion properties including EVC● All VMotion dependent properties supported

The bootable CPU reporting tool identifies key features of your host CPUs. Download the image, burn it to CD (it's only 3MB in size) and boot the physical host from the CD. Properties that must match across CPUs include:

- Same Vendor. You cannot mix Intel/AMD cpus- Same SSE support. Cannot mix CPUs with different SSE levels- 64-bit Long mode. Must all support 64-bit user mode instructions- 64-bit VMware. Must all support 64-bit supervisor (OS) instructions

The NX/XD flag is a hardware feature that prevents viruses from over writing the re-turn address of a subroutine (and thereby taking control of the CPU). In Microsoft Windows, this feature is called Data Execution Protection or DEP

Note at the bottom of the screen grab that EVC modes are reported. When building a DRS cluster of nearly-compatible CPUs, you would need to set the cluster to the highest common value for CPU EVC compatibility across all machines in the cluster. In this case, that would be 3rd Generation Opteron CPU.

Note: It doesn't matter who manufactured your server as long as all VMotion CPU properties match! Download from:

http://www.vmware.com/download/shared_utilities.html

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Intel CPU Identification Utility

➲ CPU identification tool for Intel CPUs● Displays VMotion properties including EVC● Flex Migration not supported on this CPU

This is a screen shot from an Intel Xeon 2620 6 core CPU (with 2 CPUs installed on the host). Note:

- All CPUs are identical (this is critical for virtualization success)- EVC is not supported by this CPU- Flex Migration is not supported by this CPU

Note that this screen shot was made with the same tool that made the screen shot on the previous slide

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Storage VMotion

➲ Hot move a VMs VMDK, other files to a new datastore● Need vCenter, ESXi

VMotion licenses➲ As files move● VMkernel performs

move● I/Os directed to the

appropriate location● Files removed from

source volume upon completion

Storage VMotion lets you move a VMs constituent files from one datastore to another while the VM is live. Storage VMotion works as follows:

- Storage VMotion is integrated into the Migration Wizard- Select the Move Storage option when the wizard launches- Select the target datastore and complete the wizard

The ESXi host VMkernel then creates the appropriate directory on the target datas-tore and begins to copy the VMs files. Special action is needed when copying the VMs virtual disk (VMDK) files...

- The VMkernel begins a VMDK copy- If the VM performs an I/O to a part of the VMDK that has not (yet) been copied, the VMkernel completes the I/O on the source volume- If the VM performs an I/O to a part of the VMDK that has been copied, the VMkernel completes the I/O on the target volume

In this way, I/Os are completed in the appropriate location and all VM data remains consistent.

Once the Storage VMotion request completes, the source files/directory are re-moved.

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Storage VMotion Use Cases

➲ Hot migrate VMs and disks from● Local storage to shared SAN storage● No down time while moving to SAN

● Old SAN LUN to new SAN LUN● No down time during SAN refresh

● Shared LUN to a new dedicated LUN● No down time on LUN-LUN move on same SAN● Frees up space on originating LUN

● Reduce need to over-allocate SAN LUNs● Avoids hours of down time due to cold VM

migrations

Storage VMotion has many practical uses as outlined in the slide above. The key ad-vantage to Storage VMotion is that it eliminates the downtime normally associated with cold migration.

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Lab 14➲ Lab 14, Part 1● Cold migrate a W2k3 VM to the Production

SAN LUN and then power it back on again➲ Lab 14 Part 2● Add a second ESXi host to vCenter● Hot migrate it to the second ESXi host● VMotion Stress Test● Continuous ping of the VM● Use Notepad and move the VM● Run qpi.exe and move the VM● Be prepared to report your experiences

➲ Lab 14 – Part 3● Use Storage VMotion to hot migrate a

powered on VM to the iSCSI SAN

VMotion stress tests are suggested so that you can verify for yourself that VMotion is not fragile. If you have extra time in this lab, please take some time and run any of the above stress-test suggestions. Feel free to think of additional stress tests and give them a try.

Be prepared to share your observations with the class.

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