VMware Infrastructure Introduction
Transcript of VMware Infrastructure Introduction
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IntroductionESX Server 3.0.1 and VirtualCenter 2.0.1
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VMware, Inc.3145 Porter DrivePalo Alto, CA 94304www.vmware.com
2 VMware, Inc.
Introduction
You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on our Web site at
http://www.vmware.com/support/
The VMware Web site also provides the latest product updates.
If you have comments about this documentation, submit your feedback to:
2006-2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. Protected by one or more of U.S. Patent Nos. 6,397,242,6,496,847, 6,704,925, 6,711,672, 6,725,289, 6,735,601, 6,785,886, 6,789,156, 6,795,966, 6,880,022,6,961,941, 6,961,806 and 6,944,699; patents pending.
VMware, the VMware boxes logo and design, Virtual SMP and VMotion are registered trademarks ortrademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions.
All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.
Introduction
Revision: 20060925Item: VI-ENG-Q206-213
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Contents
Preface 5
1 VMwareInfrastructureIntroduction 9PhysicalTopologyofVIDatacenter 12
ComputingServers 12
StorageNetworksandArrays 13
IPNetworks 13
ManagementServer 13
DesktopClients 13
VirtualDatacenterArchitecture 14
Hosts,Clusters,andResourcePools 15
VMwareVMotion,VMwareDRS,andVMwareHA 17
NetworkArchitecture 19
StorageArchitecture 22
VMwareConsolidatedBackup 25
VirtualCenterManagementServer 26
CommunicationBetweenVirtualCenterandESXServer 28
AccessingtheVirtualDatacenter 29
Conclusion 30
Glossary 31
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ThisprefacedescribesthecontentsofthisIntroductionandprovidespointersto
VMwaretechnicalandeducationalresources.
Thispreface
contains
the
following
topics:
AboutThisBookonpage 6
TechnicalSupportandEducationResourcesonpage 8
Preface
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Introduction
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About This Book
Thismanual,theIntroduction,describestheVMwareInfrastructurecomponents.
Revision History
Thismanualisrevisedwitheachreleaseoftheproductorwhennecessary.Arevised
versioncancontainminorormajorchanges.Table P1providesyouwiththerevision
historyofthismanual.
Intended AudienceTheinformationpresentedinthismanualiswrittenforexperiencedWindowsorLinux
systemadministratorsandwhoarefamiliarwithvirtualmachinetechnology
datacenteroperations.
Document Feedback
Ifyouhavecommentsaboutthisdocumentation,submityourfeedbackto:
VMware Infrastructure Documentation
TheVMwareInfrastructuredocumentationconsistsofthecombinedVirtualCenterand
ESXServerdocumentationset.
Youcan
access
the
most
current
versions
of
this
manual
and
other
books
by
going
to:
http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs
Table P-1. Revision History
Revision Description
20060615 ESXServer3.0andVirtualCenter2.0versionoftheVMwareInfrastructure3Introduction.Thisisthefirsteditionofthismanual.
20060925 ESXServer3.0.1andVirtualCenter2.0.1versionoftheVMwareInfrastructure3Introduction.Thiseditioncontainsminorchanges.
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Preface
Conventions
Table P2illustratesthetypographicconventionsusedinthismanual.
Abbreviations Used in Graphics
Thegraphics
in
this
manual
use
the
abbreviations
listed
in
Table P
3.
Table P-2. Conventions Used in This Manual
Style Elements
Blue(onlineonly) Crossreferencesandemailaddresses
Blueboldface(onlineonly) Links
Blackboldface Userinterfaceelementssuchasbuttonnamesandmenuitems
Monospace Commands,filenames,directories,andpaths
Monospace bold Userinput
Italic Documenttitles,glossaryterms,andoccasionalemphasis
Variableandparameternames
Table P-3. Abbreviations
Abbreviation Description
VC VirtualCenter
VI VirtualInfrastructureClient
server VirtualCenterServer
database VirtualCenterdatabase
hostn VirtualCentermanagedhosts
VM# Virtualmachinesonamanagedhost
user# Userwithaccesspermissions
dsk# Storagediskforthemanagedhost
datastore
Storage
for
the
managed
hostSAN Storageareanetworktypedatastoresharedbetweenmanagedhosts
tmplt Template
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Introduction
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Technical Support and Education Resources
Thefollowingsectionsdescribethetechnicalsupportresourcesavailabletoyou.
Self-Service Support
UsetheVMwareTechnologyNetwork(VMTN)forselfhelptoolsandtechnical
information:
Productinformationhttp://www.vmware.com/products/
Technologyinformationhttp://www.vmware.com/vcommunity/technology
Documentationhttp://www.vmware.com/support/pubs
VMTNKnowledgeBasehttp://www.vmware.com/support/kb
Discussionforumshttp://www.vmware.com/community
Usergroupshttp://www.vmware.com/vcommunity/usergroups.html
FormoreinformationabouttheVMwareTechnologyNetwork,goto
http://www.vmtn.net.
Online and Telephone Support
Useonlinesupporttosubmittechnicalsupportrequests,viewyourproductand
contractinformation,andregisteryourproducts.Goto
http://www.vmware.com/support.
Customerswithappropriatesupportcontractsshouldusetelephonesupportforthefastestresponseonpriority1issues.Goto
http://www.vmware.com/support/phone_support.html .
Support Offerings
FindouthowVMwaresupportofferingscanhelpmeetyourbusinessneeds.Goto
http://www.vmware.com/support/services.
VMware Education Services
VMwarecoursesofferextensivehandsonlabs,casestudyexamples,andcourse
materialsdesignedtobeusedasonthejobreferencetools.Formoreinformationabout
VMwareEducationServices,gotohttp://mylearn1.vmware.com/mgrreg/index.cfm.
http://www.vmware.com/products/http://www.vmware.com/vcommunity/technologyhttp://www.vmware.com/support/pubshttp://www.vmware.com/support/kbhttp://www.vmware.com/communityhttp://www.vmware.com/vcommunity/usergroups.htmlhttp://www.vmware.com/vcommunityhttp://www.vmware.com/supporthttp://www.vmware.com/support/phone_support.htmlhttp://www.vmware.com/support/serviceshttp://mylearn1.vmware.com/mgrreg/index.cfmhttp://mylearn1.vmware.com/mgrreg/index.cfmhttp://mylearn1.vmware.com/mgrreg/index.cfmhttp://www.vmware.com/support/serviceshttp://www.vmware.com/support/phone_support.htmlhttp://www.vmware.com/supporthttp://www.vmware.com/vcommunityhttp://www.vmware.com/vcommunity/usergroups.htmlhttp://www.vmware.com/communityhttp://www.vmware.com/support/kbhttp://www.vmware.com/support/pubshttp://www.vmware.com/vcommunity/technologyhttp://www.vmware.com/products/ -
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1
VMwareInfrastructureisafullinfrastructurevirtualizationsuitethatprovides
comprehensivevirtualization,management,resourceoptimization,application
availability,andoperationalautomationcapabilitiesinanintegratedoffering.VMware
Infrastructurevirtualizesandaggregatestheunderlyingphysicalhardwareresourcesacrossmultiplesystemsandprovidespoolsofvirtualresourcestodatacenterinthe
virtualenvironment.
Inaddition,VMwareInfrastructurebringsaboutasetofdistributedservicesthat
enablesfinegrain,policydrivenresourceallocation,highavailability,and
consolidatedbackupoftheentirevirtualdatacenter.Thesedistributedservicesenable
anITorganizationtoestablishandmeettheirproductionServiceLevelAgreements
withtheircustomersinacosteffectivemanner.
VMware Infrastructure
Introduction
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TherelationshipsamongthevariouscomponentsoftheVMwareInfrastructureare
showninFigure 11.
Figure 1-1. VMware Infrastructure
VMwareInfrastructureincludesthefollowingcomponentsshowninFigure 11:
VMwareESXServerArobust,productionprovenvirtualizationlayerrunon
physicalservers
that
abstracts
processor,
memory,
storage,
and
networking
resources
intomultiplevirtualmachines.
VirtualCenterManagementServer(VirtualCenterServer)Thecentralpointfor
configuring,provisioning,andmanagingvirtualizedITenvironments.
VirtualInfrastructureClient(VIClient)Aninterfacethatallowsuserstoconnect
remotelytotheVirtualCenterServerorindividualESXServersfromanyWindowsPC.
VirtualInfrastructure
Web
Access
(VI
Web
Access)
AWebinterfacethatallows
virtualmachinemanagementandaccesstoremoteconsoles.
enterpriseservers
enterprisenetwork
enterprisestorage
apps
OS
apps
OS
apps
OS
apps
OS
apps
OS
apps
VMFSVirtual SMP
ConsolidatedBackup
virtual machines
ESX Servers
VirtualCenter Management Server
HADRS
VI SDKVI Web AccessVI Client
VMware Infrastructure
OS
apps
OS
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Chapter 1 VMware Infrastructure Introduction
VMwareVirtualMachineFileSystem(VMFS)Ahighperformanceclusterfile
systemforESXServervirtualmachines.
VMware
Virtual
Symmetric
Multi
Processing
(SMP)
Feature
that
enables
asingle
virtualmachinetousemultiplephysicalprocessorssimultaneously.
VMwareVMotionFeaturethatenablesthelivemigrationofrunningvirtual
machinesfromonephysicalservertoanotherwithzerodowntime,continuousservice
availability,andcompletetransactionintegrity.
VMwareHAFeaturethatprovideseasytouse,costeffectivehighavailabilityfor
applicationsrunninginvirtualmachines.Intheeventofserverfailure,affectedvirtual
machinesareautomaticallyrestartedonotherproductionserversthathavespare
capacity.
VMwareDistributedResourceScheduler(DRS)Featurethatallocatesandbalances
computingcapacitydynamicallyacrosscollectionsofhardwareresourcesforvirtual
machines.
VMwareConsolidatedBackup(ConsolidatedBackup)Featurethatprovidesan
easytouse,centralizedfacilityforagentfreebackupofvirtualmachines.ItsimplifiesbackupadministrationandreducestheloadonESXServers.
VMwareInfrastructureSDKFeaturethatprovidesastandardinterfaceforVMware
andthirdpartysolutionstoaccesstheVMwareInfrastructure.
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Physical Topology of VI Datacenter
AsFigure 12shows,atypicalVMwareInfrastructuredatacenterconsistsofbasic
physicalbuilding
blocks
such
as
x86
computing
servers,
storage
networks
and
arrays,
IPnetworks,amanagementserver,anddesktopclients.
Figure 1-2. VMware Infrastructure Datacenter Physical Topology
Computing Servers
Thecomputingserversareindustrystandardx86serversthatrunVMwareESXServer
onthebaremetal.ESXServerprovidesresourcesforandrunsthevirtualmachines.
Eachcomputingserverisreferredtoasastandalonehostinthevirtualenvironment.A
numberofsimilarlyconfiguredx86serverscanbegroupedtogetherwithconnections
tothesamenetworkandstoragesubsystemstoprovideanaggregatesetofresources
inthevirtualenvironment,calledacluster.
servergroup 1
virtual machines
servergroup 2
servergroup 3
fibre channelstorage array
iSCSIstorage array
NASstorage array
VirtualCenterManagement Server terminalWeb browserVI Client
fibre channel switch fabric / IP network
ESX Server
VM VM VM
VM VM VM
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Chapter 1 VMware Infrastructure Introduction
Storage Networks and Arrays
FiberChannelSANarrays,iSCSISANarrays,andNASarraysarewidelyusedstorage
technologiessupported
by
VMware
Infrastructure
to
meet
different
datacenter
storage
needs.Sharingthestoragearraysbetween(byconnectingthemto)groupsofserversvia
storageareanetworksallowsaggregationofthestorageresourcesandprovidesmore
flexibilityinprovisioningthemtovirtualmachines.
IP Networks
EachcomputingservercanhavemultiplegigabitEthernetnetworkinterfacecards
(NICs)toprovidehighbandwidthandreliablenetworkingtotheentiredatacenter.
Management Server
TheVirtualCenterManagementServerprovidesaconvenientsinglepointofcontrolto
thedatacenter.ItrunsontopWindows2003Servertoprovidemanyessential
datacenterservicessuchasaccesscontrol,performancemonitoring,andconfiguration.
Itunifiestheresourcesfromtheindividualcomputingserverstobesharedamong
virtualmachinesintheentiredatacenter.Itaccomplishesthisbymanagingthe
assignmentofvirtualmachinestothecomputingserversandtheassignmentof
resourcestothevirtualmachineswithinagivencomputingserverbasedonthepolicies
setbythesystemadministrator.
Computingserverswillcontinuetofunctionevenintheunlikelyeventthat
VirtualCenterManagementServerbecomesunreachable(forexample,thenetworkis
severed).Theycanbemanageseparatelyandwillcontinuetorunthevirtualmachines
assignedtothembasedontheresourceassignmentthatwaslastset.Afterthe
VirtualCenterManagementServerbecomesreachable,itcanmanagethedatacenteras
awholeagain.
ThearchitectureofVirtualCenterManagementServerwillbedescribedindetailin
latersections.
Desktop ClientsVMwareInfrastructureprovidesaselectionofinterfacesfordatacentermanagement
andvirtualmachineaccess.Userscanchoosetheinterfacethatbestmeetstheirneeds:
VirtualInfrastructureClient(VIClient),WebAccessthroughaWebbrowser,or
terminalservices(suchasWindowsTerminalServicesorXterm).
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Virtual Datacenter Architecture
VMwareInfrastructurevirtualizestheentireITinfrastructureincludingservers,
storage,and
networks.
It
aggregates
these
heterogeneous
resources
and
presents
a
simpleanduniformsetofelementsinthevirtualenvironment.WithVMware
Infrastructure,ITresourcescanbemanagedlikeasharedutilityanddynamically
provisionedtodifferentbusinessunitsandprojectswithoutworryingaboutthe
underlyinghardwaredifferencesandlimitations.
Figure 13showsthekeyelementsinvirtualdatacenter.Youcanview,configure,and
managethesekeyelementsusingVirtualCenterServer.Theseelementsinclude:
Computingandmemoryresourcescalledhosts,clusters,andresourcepools
Storageresourcescalleddatastores
Networkingresourcescallednetworks
Virtualmachines
Figure 1-3. Virtual Datacenter Architecture
Ahostisthevirtualrepresentationofthecomputingandmemoryresourcesofa
physicalmachinerunningESXServer.Whenoneormorephysicalmachinesare
groupedtogethertoworkandbemanagedasawhole,theaggregatecomputingand
memoryresourcesformacluster.Machinescanbedynamicallyaddedorremoved
fromacluster.Computingandmemoryresourcesfromhostsandclusterscanbefinely
partitionedintoahierarchyofresourcepools.
cluster1
host1
VM
VM
VM
VM
VM
VM
VM
RP1 RP3
RP2
datastores
network A
network B
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Chapter 1 VMware Infrastructure Introduction
Datastoresarevirtualrepresentationsofcombinationsofunderlyingphysicalstorage
resourcesinthedatacenter.Thesephysicalstorageresourcescancomefromthelocal
SCSIdisksoftheserver,theFiberChannelSANdiskarrays,theiSCSISANdiskarrays,
orNetworkAttachedStorage(NAS)arrays.
Networksinthevirtualenvironmentconnectvirtualmachinestoeachotherortothe
physicalnetworkoutsideofthevirtualdatacenter.
Virtualmachinesaredesignatedtoaparticularhost,clusterorresourcepool,anda
datastorewhentheyarecreated.Avirtualmachineconsumesresourceslikean
applianceconsumingelectricity.Whileinpoweredoff,suspended,oridlestate,they
consumeno
resources.
After
being
powered
on
they
consume
resources
dynamically
astheworkloadincreasesorgivebackresourcesdynamicallyastheworkload
decreases.
Provisioningofvirtualmachinesismuchfasterandeasierthanphysicalmachines.
Newvirtualmachinescanbecreatedinseconds,nopurchaseorderisrequired,no
waiting,andnophysicalconstraintstoworryabout.Whenavirtualmachineis
provisioned,theappropriateoperatingsystemandapplicationscanbeinstalled
unalteredon
the
virtual
machine
to
handle
aparticular
workload
just
as
though
they
werebeinginstalledonaphysicalmachine.Tomakethingseasier,avirtualmachine
canevenbeprovisionedwiththeoperatingsystemandapplicationsalreadyinstalled
andconfigured.
Resourcesareprovisionedtovirtualmachinesbasedonthepoliciessetbythesystem
administratorwhoownstheresources.Thepoliciescanreserveasetofresourcesfora
particularvirtualmachinetoguaranteeitsperformance.Thepoliciescanalsoprioritize
andsetavariableportionofthetotalresourcestoeachvirtualmachine.Avirtualmachinewillbepreventedfrombeingpoweredon(toconsumeresources)ifdoingso
wouldviolatetheresourceallocationpolicies.Formoreinformationonresource
management,seetheResourceManagementGuide.Thefollowingsectionsexamineindetailthevirtualelementsofthedatacenter.
Hosts, Clusters, and Resource Pools (SEE UPDATE)
Hosts,clusters,andresourcespoolsprovideflexibleanddynamicwaystoorganizethe
aggregatedcomputingandmemoryresourcesinthevirtualenvironmentandlink
thembacktotheunderlyingphysicalresources.
Ahostrepresentstheaggregatecomputingandmemoryresourcesofaphysicalx86
server.Forexample,ifthephysicalx86serverhasfourdualcoreCPUsrunningat
4 gigahertzeachand32gigabytesofsystemmemory,thehostwillhave32gigahertzof
computingpowerand32gigabytesofmemoryavailableforrunningvirtualmachinesthatareassignedtoit.
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Aclusteractsandcanbemanagedmuchlikeahost.Itrepresentstheaggregate
computingandmemoryresourcesofagroupofphysicalx86serverssharingthesame
networkandstoragearrays.Forexample,ifthegroupcontainseightservers,each
serverhasfourdualcoreCPUsrunningat4gigahertzeachand32gigabytesofmemory.Theclusterwillthenhave256gigahertzofcomputingpowerand256
gigabytesofmemoryavailablefortherunningvirtualmachinesassignedtoit.
Resourcepoolsarepartitionsofcomputingandmemoryresourcesfromasinglehost
oracluster.Anyresourcepoolcanbepartitionedintosmallerresourcepoolstofurther
divideandassignresourcestodifferentgroupsorfordifferentpurposes.Inother
words,resourcepoolscanbehierarchicalandnested.
Figure 1-4. Hosts, Clusters, and Resource Pools
Figure 14illustratestheuseofresourcepools.Threex86serverswith4gigahertz
computingpowerand16gigabyteofmemoryeachareaggregatedtoformaclusterof
12gigahertzcomputingpowerand48gigahertzofmemory.Aresourcepool(Finance
Department)ofreserves8gigahertzcomputingpowerand32gigabytesoffromthe
cluster,leaving4gigahertzcomputingpowerand16gigabytesofmemoryreservedfor
thevirtualmachineOthers.FromtheFinanceDepartmentresourcepool,asmaller
resourcepool(Accounting)reserves4gigahertzcomputingpowerand16gigabytes
forthevirtualmachinesfromtheaccountingdepartment.Thatleaves4gigahertzand16gigabytesofmemoryforthevirtualmachinecalledPayroll.
x86 server4 GHz
16 GB RAM
Cluster12 GHz
48 GB RAM
x86 server4 GHz
16 GB RAM
x86 server4 GHz
16 GB RAM
VM VMVM VM VM
8 GHz32 GB RAM
4 GHz16 GB RAM
Finance Department
Accounting
Other Payroll
virtual
physical
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Resourcesreservedcanbedynamicallychanged.Imaginethatatyearend,
Accountingsworkloadincreases,wewanttobumpuptheresourcepoolAccounting
fromreserving4gigahertzofcomputingpowerto6gigahertz.Wecanmakethechange
totheresourcepooldynamicallywithoutshuttingdowntheassociatedvirtualmachines.Resourcesreservedforaresourcepoolorvirtualmachinearenottakenaway
immediately.Theyaretakenondemanddynamically.
Forexample,ifthe4gigahertzofcomputingresourcesreservedfortheAccounting
departmentarenotbeingused,virtualmachinePayrollcanmakeuseofthose
gigahertzduringitspeaktime.WhenAccountingdemandsthoseresources,Payroll
willdynamicallygivethemback.Asaresult,eventhoughresourcesarereservedfor
differentresourcepools,theyarenotbeingwastedifnotusedbytheirowner.
Asdemonstratedbytheexample,resourcepoolscanbenested,organized
hierarchically,anddynamicallyreconfiguredsothattheITenvironmentmatchesthe
companyorganization:individualbusinessunitscanreceivededicatedinfrastructure
whilestillprofitingfromtheefficiencyofresourcepooling.
VMware VMotion, VMware DRS, and VMware HA
VMwareVMotion,DRS,andHAaredistributedservicesthatenableefficientand
automatedresourcemanagementandhighvirtualmachineavailability.
VirtualmachinesrunonandconsumeresourcesfromESXServer.VMotionenablesthe
migrationofrunningvirtualmachinesfromonephysicalservertoanotherwithout
serviceinterruption,asshowninFigure 15.Thisallowsvirtualmachinestomovefrom
aheavilyloadedservertoalightlyloadedone.Theeffectisamoreefficientassignment
ofresources.
With
VMotion,
resources
can
be
dynamically
reallocated
to
virtual
machinesacrossphysicalservers.
Figure 1-5. Migration with VMotion
VMwareDRSaidsinresourcecontrolandmanagementcapabilityinthevirtual
datacenter.Aclustercanbeviewedasanaggregationofthecomputingandmemory
resourcesof
the
underlying
physical
hosts
put
together
in
asingle
pool.
Virtual
ESX Server
VMotion technology
ESX Server
applications
virtual machine
guest operatingsystem
applications
virtual machine
guest operatingsystem
apapap licalicalica ionsionsions
virtuvirtual mal m chinechine
gueguegue t opt opt op ratingratingratingysteysteystemmm
applications
virtual machine
guest operatingsystem
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machinescanbeassignedtothatpool.DRSmonitorstheworkloadoftherunning
virtualmachinesandtheresourceutilizationofthehoststoassignresources.
Using
VMotion
and
an
intelligent
resource
scheduler,
VMware
DRS
automates
the
task
ofassigningvirtualmachinestoserverswithintheclustertousethecomputingand
memoryresourcesofthatserverasshowninFigure 16.DRSdoesthecalculationand
automatesthepairing.
Ifanewphysicalserverismadeavailable,DRSautomaticallyredistributesthevirtual
machinesusingVMotiontobalancetheworkloads.Ifaphysicalservermustbetaken
downforanyreason,DRSautomaticallyreassignsitsvirtualmachinestootherservers.
Figure 1-6. VMware DRS
VMwareHAoffersasimpleandlowcosthighavailabilityalternativetoapplication
clustering.Itenablesquickrestartofvirtualmachinesonadifferentphysicalserver
withinaclusterautomaticallyifthehostingserverfails.Allapplicationswithinthe
virtualmachinesenjoythehighavailabilitybenefit,notjustone(throughapplication
clustering).
HAmonitorsallphysicalhostsinaclusteranddetectshostfailures.Anagentplaced
oneachphysicalhostmaintainsaheartbeatwiththeotherhostsintheresourcepool,
andlossofaheartbeatinitiatestheprocessofrestartingallaffectedvirtualmachineson
otherhosts.SeeFigure 17.HAensuresthatsufficientresourcesareavailableinthe
physical server
cluster
ESX Server
virtual machines
VM VM VMVMVM
physical server
ESX Server
virtual machines
VM VM
physical server
ESX Server
virtual machines
VM VM VM
VM
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Chapter 1 VMware Infrastructure Introduction
clusteratalltimestorestartvirtualmachinesondifferentphysicalhostsintheeventof
hostfailure.
Figure 1-7. VMware HA
Network Architecture
VMwareInfrastructureistheonlysolutionthatbringsaboutarichsetofvirtual
networkingelementsthatmakesnetworkingthevirtualmachinesinthedatacenteras
easyandsimpleasinthephysicalenvironment.Furthermore,itenablesanewsetof
capabilitiesnotpossibleinthephysicalenvironmentbecausemanyofthelimitationsin
thephysicalworlddontapply.
physical server
cluster
ESX Server
virtual machines
VM VM VM
physical server
ESX Server
virtual machines
VM
VM VM
physical server
ESX Server
virtual machines
VM
VM VM
I t d ti
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Figure 1-8. Networking
Figure 18showstherelationshipbetweenthenetworksinsideandoutsidethevirtual
environment.Thevirtualenvironmentprovidessimilarnetworkingelementsasthephysicalworld.Theyarevirtualnetworkinterfacecards(vNIC),virtualswitches
(vSwitch),andportgroups.
Likeaphysicalmachine,eachvirtualmachinehasitsownvNIC.Theoperatingsystem
andapplicationstalktothevNICthroughastandarddevicedriveroraVMware
optimizeddevicedriverjustasthoughthevNICisaphysicalNIC.Totheoutside
world,thevNIChasitsownMACaddressandoneormoreIPaddresses,andresponds
tothestandardEthernetprotocolexactlyasaphysicalNICwould.Infact,anoutside
agentdoesnotknowthatitiscommunicatingwithavirtualmachine.
Avirtualswitchworkslikealayer2physicalswitch.Eachserverhasitsownvirtual
switches.Ononesideofthevirtualswitchareportgroupsthatconnecttovirtual
machines.OntheothersideareuplinkconnectionstophysicalEthernetadaptersonthe
serverwherethevirtualswitchresides.Virtualmachinesconnecttotheoutsideworld
throughthephysicalEthernetadaptersthatareconnectedtothevirtualswitchuplinks.
AvirtualswitchcanconnectitsuplinkstomorethanonephysicalEthernetadapterto
enableNICteaming.WithNICteaming,twoormorephysicaladapterscanbeusedto
sharethetrafficloadorprovidepassivefailoverintheeventofaphysicaladapter
hardwarefailureoranetworkoutage.ForinformationonNICteaming,seetheServerConfigurationGuide.Portgroupisauniqueconceptinthevirtualenvironment.Aportgroupisamechanism
forsettingpoliciesthatgovernthenetworkconnectedtoit.AvSwitchcanhavemultipleportgroups.InsteadofconnectingtoaparticularportonthevSwitch,avirtual
physical network adapters
Host1
Host1
Host2
Host2
portgroups
NetworkC
VM VM VM VMVM
vSwitch
A B C D E
vSwitch
A B C D E
virtual
physical
physical network
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machineconnectsitsvNICtoaportgroup.Allvirtualmachinesthatconnecttothe
sameportgroupbelongtothesamenetworkinsidethevirtualenvironmentevenif
theyareondifferentphysicalservers.
Portgroupscanbeconfiguredtoenforceanumberofpoliciesthatprovideenhanced
networkingsecurity,networksegmentation,betterperformance,higheravailability,
andtrafficmanagement:
Layer2securityoptionsEnforceswhatvNICsinavirtualmachinecandoby
controllingpromiscuousmode,MACaddresschange,orforgedtransmits.
VLANsupportAllowsvirtualnetworkstojoinaphysicalVLANsorsupport
QOSpolicies.
TrafficshapingDefinesaveragebandwidth,peakbandwidth,andburstsize.
Thesearepoliciesthatcanbesettoimprovetrafficmanagement.
NICteamingSetstheNICteamingpoliciesforanindividualportgroupor
networktosharetrafficloadorprovidefailoverincaseofhardwarefailure.
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Storage Architecture (SEE UPDATE)
TheVMwareInfrastructurestoragearchitecture,showninFigure 19,consistsoflayers
ofabstraction
that
hide
and
manage
the
complexity
and
differences
among
physical
storagesubsystems.
Figure 1-9. Storage Architecture
Totheapplicationsandguestoperatingsystemsinsideeachvirtualmachine,the
storagesubsystemisasimplevirtualBusLogicorLSISCSIhostbusadapterconnected
tooneormorevirtualSCSIdisksasshowninFigure 19.
ThevirtualSCSIdisksareprovisionedfromdatastoreelementsinthedatacenter.A
datastoreislikeastorageappliancethatservesupstoragespaceformanyvirtual
machinesacrossmultiplephysicalhosts.
VMFS volume
DAS SCSI FC SAN iSCSI NAS
NFS
VM1 VM2 VM3 VM4
file1.vmdk
vm1.vmx
file2.vmdk
vm2.vmx
file3.vmdk
vm3.vmx
file4.vmdk
vm4.vmx
datastore1 datastore2
virtual
physical
host1 host2
IP network
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p
Thedatastoreprovidesasimplemodeltoallocatestoragespacetotheindividual
virtualmachineswithoutexposingthemtothecomplexityofthevarietyofphysical
storagetechnologiesavailable,suchasFibreChannelSAN,iSCSISAN,directattached
storage,andNAS.
Avirtualmachineisstoredasasetoffilesinadirectoryinthedatastore.Avirtualdisk
insideeachvirtualmachineisoneormorefilesinthedirectory.Asaresult,youcan
operateonavirtualdisk(copy,move,backup,andsoon)justlikeafile.Newvirtual
diskscanbehotaddedtoavirtualmachinewithoutpoweringitdown.Inthatcase,
avirtualdiskfile(.vmdk)iscreatedinVMFStoprovidenewstorageforthehotadded
virtualdiskoranexistingvirtualdiskfileisassociatedwithavirtualmachine.
EachdatastoreisphysicallyaVMFSvolumeonaNASdevice.Datastorescanspan
multiplephysicalstoragesubsystems.AsshowninFigure 19,asingleVMFSvolume
cancontainoneormoreLUNsfromalocalSCSIdiskarrayonaphysicalhost,aFibre
ChannelSANdiskfarm,oriSCSISANdiskfarm.NewLUNsaddedtoanyofthe
physicalstoragesubsystemsareautomaticallydiscoveredandmadeavailabletoall
existingornewdatastores.StoragecapacityonapreviouslycreatedVMFSvolume
(datastore)canbehotextendedwithoutpoweringdownphysicalhostsorstorage
subsystemsbyaddinganewphysicalLUNfromanyofthestoragesubsystemsthatarevisibletoit.Conversely,ifanyoftheLUNswithinaVMFSvolume(datastore)failsor
becomesunavailable,onlythosevirtualmachinesthattouchthatLUNareaffected.All
othervirtualmachineswithvirtualdisksresidinginotherLUNscontinuetofunction
asnormal.
VMFSisaclusteredfilesystemthatleveragessharedstoragetoallowmultiplephysical
hoststoreadandwritetothesamestoragesimultaneously.VMFSprovidesondisk
lockingtoensurethatthesamevirtualmachineisnotpoweredonbymultipleservers
atthesametime.Ifaphysicalhostfails,theondisklockforeachvirtualmachineis
releasedsothatvirtualmachinescanberestartedonotherphysicalhosts.
VMFSalsofeaturesenterpriseclasscrashconsistencyandrecoverymechanisms,such
asdistributedjournaling,acrashconsistentvirtualmachineI/Opath,andmachine
statesnapshots.Thesemechanismscanaidquickrootcauseandrecoveryfromvirtual
machine,physicalhost,andstoragesubsystemfailures.
VMFSalsosupportsrawdevicemapping(RDM).RDMprovidesamechanismforavirtualmachinetohavedirectaccesstoaLUNonthephysicalstoragesubsystem(Fibre
ChanneloriSCSIonly).RDMisusefulforsupportingtwotypicaltypesofapplications:
SANsnapshotorotherlayeredapplicationsthatruninthevirtualmachines.RDM
betterenablesscalablebackupoffloadingsystemsusingfeaturesinherenttothe
SAN.
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24 VMware, Inc.
AnyuseofMicrosoftClusteringServices(MSCS)thatspansphysicalhosts:
virtualtovirtualclustersaswellasphysicaltovirtualclusters.Clusterdataand
quorumdisksshouldbeconfiguredasRDMsratherthanasfilesonashared
VMFS.
Figure 1-10. Raw Device Mapping
AnRDMcanbethoughtofasasymboliclinkfromaVMFSvolumetoarawLUN(see
Figure 110).ThemappingmakesLUNsappearasfilesinaVMFSvolume.The
mappingfile,nottherawLUN,isreferencedinthevirtualmachineconfiguration.
WhenaLUNisopenedforaccess,themappingfileisreadtoobtainthereferencetothe
rawLUN.Thereafter,readsandwritesgodirectlytotherawLUNratherthangoing
throughthemappingfile.
VMFS volume
FC SANor iSCSI SAN
LUN
datastore
openread/write
virtual
physical
host
mapping file
VM
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VMware Consolidated Backup
VMwareInfrastructuresstoragearchitectureenablesasimplevirtualmachinebackup
solution:VMwareConsolidatedBackup.ConsolidatedBackupprovidesacentralizedfacilityforLANfreebackupofvirtualmachines.
AsshowninFigure 111,ConsolidatedBackupworksinconjunctionwithathirdparty
backupagentresidingonaseparatebackupproxyserver(notontheserverrunning
ESXServer)butdoesnotrequireanagentinsidethevirtualmachines.
Thethirdpartybackupagentmanagesthebackupschedule.ItstartsConsolidated
Backupwhenitistimetodoabackup.Whenstarted,ConsolidatedBackuprunsaset
ofpre
backup
scripts
to
quiesce
the
virtual
disks
to
take
their
snapshots.
It
then
runs
a
setofpostthawscriptstorestorethevirtualmachinebacktonormaloperation.Atthe
sametime,itmountsthedisksnapshottothebackupproxyserver.Finally,the
thirdpartybackupagentbacksupthefilesonthemountedsnapshottoitsbackup
targets.Bytakingsnapshotsofthevirtualdisksandbackingthemupthrougha
separatebackupproxyserver,ConsolidatedBackupprovidesasimple,lessintrusive,
andlowoverheadbackupsolutionforthevirtualenvironment.
Figure 1-11. VMware Consolidated Backup
physical server
MOUNT
snapshot
snapshot
snapshot
SAN storage
ESX Server
virtual machines
backupproxy
server
backup
disk
apps
OS
apps
OS
apps
OS
centralizeddata mover
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26 VMware, Inc.
VirtualCenter Management Server
VirtualCenterManagementServerprovidesaconvenientcentralizemanagement
cockpit
for
the
datacenters.
It
aggregates
physical
resources
from
multiple
ESX
Servers
andpresentsacentralcollectionofsimpleandflexibleresourcesforthesystem
administratortoprovisiontovirtualmachinesinthevirtualenvironment.
TheVirtualCenterManagementServercomponentsareuseraccesscontrol,core
services,distributedservices,andvariousinterfaces.
Figure 1-12. VirtualCenter Management Server Components
VMotion
DRS
host and VMconfiguration
VI API
HAVirtualCenter
Management Server
ESX Server management
core services
distributedservices
useraccesscontrol
activedirectoryinterface
database
interface
VirtualCenterdatabase
VM provisioning
resources &virtual machine
inventorymanagement
taskscheduler
statisticslogging
alarms & eventsmanagement
activedirectory
server
third-partyapplication
Host
VirtualCenter
Agent
VMVM
HA
Host Agent
VI API
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Figure 112showsthefollowingkeycomponentsoftheVirtualCenterServer.
TheUserAccessControlallowsthesystemadministratortocreateandmanage
differentlevelsofaccesstotheVirtualCenterfordifferentusers.
Forexample,theremightbeauserclassthatmanagesconfiguringthephysicalservers
inthedatacenterandtheremightbeadifferentuserclassthatmanagesonlyvirtual
resourceswithinaparticularresourcepool.
CoreServicesarebasicmanagementservicesforavirtualdatacenter.Theyinclude
servicessuchas:
VMProvisioningGuidesandautomatestheprovisioningofvirtualmachines
HostandVMConfigurationAllowstheconfigurationofhostsandvirtual
machines
ResourcesandVirtualMachineInventoryManagementOrganizesvirtual
machinesandresourcesinthevirtualenvironmentandfacilitiestheir
management
Statistics
and
Logging
Logs
and
reports
on
the
performance
and
resource
utilizationstatisticsofdatacenterelements,suchasvirtualmachines,hosts,and
clusters
AlarmsandEventManagementTracksandwarnsusersonpotentialresource
overutilizationoreventconditions.
TaskSchedulerSchedulesactionssuchasVMotiontohappenatagiventime
DistributedServices
are
solutions
that
extend
VMware
Infrastructure
scapabilities
to
thenextlevelsuchasVMwareDRS,VMwareHA,andVMwareVMotion.Distributed
Servicesallowtheconfigurationandmanagementofthesesolutionscentrallyfrom
VirtualCenterManagementServer.
VirtualCenterServerhasfourkeyinterfaces:
ESXServermanagementInterfaceswiththeVirtualCenteragenttomanageeach
physicalserverinthedatacenter.
VMwareInfrastructureAPIInterfaceswithVMwaremanagementclientsand
thirdpartysolutions.
DatabaseinterfaceConnectstoOracleorMicrosoftSQLServertostore
information,suchasvirtualmachineconfigurations,hostconfigurations,
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28 VMware, Inc.
resourcesandvirtualmachineinventory,performancestatistics,events,alarms,
userpermissions,androles.
ActiveDirectoryinterfaceConnectstoActiveDirectorytoobtainuseraccess
controlinformation.
Communication Between VirtualCenter and ESX Server
TheVirtualCentercommunicateswithESXServershostagentthroughtheVMwareInfrastructureAPI(VIAPI).WhenahostisfirstaddedtoVirtualCenter,VirtualCenter
sendsaVirtualCenteragenttorunonthehost.Thatagentcommunicateswiththehostagent.
See
Figure 1
13.
Figure 1-13. Host Agent
TheVirtualCenteragentactsasaminiVirtualCenterServertoperformthefollowing
functions:
RelaysandenforcesresourceallocationdecisionsmadeinVirtualCenter,including
thosesentbytheDRSengine
Passesvirtualmachineprovisioningandconfigurationchangecommandstothe
hostagent
Passeshostconfigurationchangecommandstothehostagent
Collectsperformancestatistics,alarms,anderrorconditionsfromthehostagentandsendsthemtotheVirtualCenterManagementServer
Host
VirtualCenterAgent
VirtualCenterManagement Server
TerminalServices
VI ClientVI Web Access
third-party software
VMVM
HA
Host Agent
VI API
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Accessing the Virtual Datacenter
UserscanmanagetheVMwareInfrastructuredatacenteroraccessthevirtualmachine
consolethroughthreedifferentmeans:theVIClient,WebAccessthroughaWeb
browser,orterminalservices(suchasWindowsTerminalServicesorXterm),asshown
inFigure 114.Accessinghostsshouldbedoneonlybyphysicalhostadministratorsin
specialcircumstances.Allrelevantfunctionalitythatcanbedoneonthehostcanalso
bedoneinVirtualCenterServer.
Figure 1-14. VMware Infrastructure Access and Control
TheVIClientaccessesVirtualCenterthroughtheVMwareAPI.Aftertheuseris
authenticated,asessionstartsinVirtualCenter,andtheuserseestheresourcesand
virtualmachinesthatareassignedtotheuser.Forvirtualmachineconsoleaccess,the
VIClientfirstgetsthevirtualmachinelocationfromVirtualCenterthroughthe
Host
VI Web Access
VirtualCenterAgent
VMVM
HA
VI
API
WindowsTerminal Services/
Xterm
Webbrowser
VIClient
VirtualCenter
mgmt
access
host &vm
config. &
control
access
vm console
access
VirtualCenter
mgmt
access
host &vm
config. &
control
access
vm console
access
VirtualCenterManagement Server
ESX Server management
distributed services
core services
useraccesscontrol
activedirectoryinterface
databaseinterface
Host Agent
VI API
vm consoleaccess
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30 VMware, Inc.
VMwareAPI.Itthenconnectstotheappropriatehostandprovidesaccesstothevirtual
machineconsole.
UserscanalsoaccessVirtualCenterManagementServerthroughtheWebbrowserby
firstpointingthebrowsertoanApacheTomcatServersetupbyVirtualCenter
ManagementServer.TheApacheTomcatServermediatesthecommunicationbetween
thebrowserandVirtualCenterthroughtheVMwareAPI.
ToaccessthevirtualmachineconsolesthroughtheWebbrowser,userscanmakeuseof
thebookmarkthatiscreatedbyVirtualCenterServer.Thebookmarkfirstpointstothe
VIWebAccess.
VIWebAccessresolvesthephysicallocationofthevirtualmachineandredirectstheWebbrowsertotheESXServerwherethevirtualmachineresides.
IfthevirtualmachineisrunningandtheuserknowstheIPaddressofthevirtual
machine,theusercanalsoaccessthevirtualmachineconsoleusingstandardtools,such
asWindowsTerminalServicesorXterm.
ConclusionVMwareInfrastructureprovidesasimplearchitectureinthevirtualenvironmenttoallowcompaniestomanagecomputing,storage,andnetworkingresourceswithout
worryingabouttheunderlyingphysicalhardware.VIarchitectureallowsenterprises
tocreateandconfiguretheirdatacentersandreallocateresourcestodifferentpriorities
withoutthetimedelayandcostofreconfiguringtheirphysicalhardware
infrastructure.
Withasuiteofcomplementaryvirtualizationandmanagementservices,suchasVMwareVMotion,VMwareDRS,VMwareHA,andVMwareConsolidatedBackup,
VMwareInfrastructureistheonlyproductthatprovidesacompletesolutionrather
thanapiecemealapproachtobuildingdatacentersinthevirtualenvironment.
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A administrativelockout
AglobalsettingprovidingpasswordprotectionforWindowshosts.
Administrativelockoutrestrictsusersfromcreatingnewvirtualmachines,editing
virtualmachineconfigurations,andchangingnetworksettings.
alarm
Anentitythatmonitorsoneormorepropertiesofavirtualmachine,suchasCPU
load.Alarmsusegreen,red,andyellowcolorcodingtoissuenotificationsas
directedbytheconfigurablealarmdefinition.
allocateddisk
Atypeofvirtualdiskinwhichalldiskspaceforthevirtualmachineisallocatedat
thetimethediskiscreated.Thisisthedefaulttypeofvirtualdiskcreatedby
VirtualCenter.
appendmode
Whensoftware
running
in
the
virtual
machine
writes
to
adisk
used
in
append
mode,thechangesappeartobewrittentothedisk.Infact,however,theyare
storedinatemporaryfile(.REDO).Ifasystemadministratordeletesthisredolog
file,thevirtualmachinereturnstothestateitwasinthelasttimeitwasusedin
persistentmode.Seealsodiskmode.
authorizationrole
Aset
of
privileges
grouped
for
convenient
identification
under
names
such
as
Administrator.
Glossary
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32 VMware, Inc.
C child
Amanagedentitygroupedbyafolderobjectorothermanagedentity.Seealso
folder.
clone
(n.)Aduplicateofavirtualmachine.
(v.)Tomakeacopyofavirtualmachine.Thisprocessincludestheoptionto
customizetheguestoperatingsystemofthenewvirtualmachine.Whenacloneis
created,VirtualCenterprovidesanoptiontocustomizetheguestoperatingsystem
ofthatvirtualmachine.Clonescanbestoredonanyhostwithinthesamefarmastheoriginalvirtualmachine.
CloneVirtualMachineWizard
Apointandclickinterfaceforconvenient,easyduplicationofavirtualmachine.
cluster
Servergroupinthevirtualenvironment.
clustercomputeresource
Anextendedcomputeresourcethatrepresentsaclusterofhostsavailablefor
backingvirtualmachines.
computeresource
Amanagedobjectthatrepresentseitherasinglehostoraclusterofhostsavailable
forbackingvirtualmachines.
customization
Theprocessofcustomizingaguestoperatingsysteminavirtualmachineasitis
beingdeployedfromatemplateorclonedfromanotherexistingvirtualmachine.
Customizationoptions
include
changing
the
new
virtual
machine
identification
andnetworkinformation.
customnetworking
Anytypeofnetworkconnectionbetweenvirtualmachinesandthehostthatdoes
notusethedefaultbridged,hostonly,ornetworkaddresstranslation(NAT)
configurations.Forinstance,differentvirtualmachinescanbeconnectedtothe
hostbyseparatenetworksorconnectedtoeachotherandnottothehost.Anynetworktopologyispossible.Seealsohostonlynetworking.
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D dataobject
AcompositeobjectthatispassedbyvaluebetweentheclientandtheWebservice.
Adataobjecthaspropertiesassociatedwithitbutdoesnothaveanyoperationsof
itsown.Seealsomanagedobject.
datasourcename
AnODBCobjectthatyoumustconfiguretoenableVirtualCenterServertoaccess
adatabase.
datastore
Virtualrepresentationsofcombinationsofunderlyingphysicalstorageresources
inthedatacenter.Thedatastoreisthestoragelocationforthevirtualmachinefiles.
Thiscanbeaphysicaldisk,aRAID,aSAN,orapartitiononanyofthese.
diskmode
Apropertyofavirtualdiskthatdefinesitsexternalbehaviorbutiscompletely
invisibleto
the
guest
operating
system.
There
are
four
modes:
persistent
(changes
tothediskarealwayspreservedacrosssessions),nonpersistent(changesarenever
preserved),undoable(changesarepreservedattheusersdiscretion),andappend
(similartoundoable,butthechangesarepreserveduntilasystemadministrator
deletestheredologfile).
draganddrop
Afeature
of
VMware
VirtualCenter
that
allows
you
to
move
virtual
machines
easilybetweengroups.
E event
AnactionthatisofinteresttoVirtualCenter.Eacheventtriggersaneventmessage.
EventmessagesarearchivedintheVirtualCenterdatabaseandappearintwo
locations:theEventsoptioninthenavigationbarandtheEventstabforanobject
undertheInventorybutton.
F fault
Adataobjectcontaininginformationaboutanexceptionalconditionencountered
byanoperation.
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34 VMware, Inc.
folder
Amanagedentityusedtogroupothermanagedentities.Thecontentsofagroup
arechildentitieswithrespecttotheFolderobject.Foldersaretypedbythekinds
ofchildentitiestheycancontain.Seealsochild.
G Gotosnapshot
Torestoreasnapshotoftheactivevirtualmachine.SeealsoReverttosnapshot.
guestoperatingsystem
Anoperating
system
that
runs
inside
avirtual
machine.
H headless
Describesaprogramorapplicationthatrunsinthebackgroundwithoutany
interfaceconnectedtoit.Arunningvirtualmachinethathasnoconsolesconnected
toitisrunningheadless.
host
ThephysicalcomputeronwhichthevirtualmachinesmanagedbyVirtualCenter
areinstalled.
hostagent
Softwarethat,wheninstalledonavirtualmachinehost,performsactionsonbehalf
ofaremoteclient.
hostcomputer
ThephysicalcomputeronwhichtheVirtualCentersoftwareisinstalled.Ithosts
theVirtualCentervirtualmachines.
hostonlynetworking
Atypeofnetworkconnectionbetweenavirtualmachineandthehost.Underhostonlynetworking,avirtualmachineisconnectedtothehostonaprivate
network,whichnormallyisnotvisibleoutsidethehost.Multiplevirtualmachines
configuredwithhostonlynetworkingonthesamehostareonthesamenetwork.
Seealsocustomnetworking.
I inventory
AhierarchicalstructureusedbytheVirtualCenterServerorthehostagenttoorganizemanagedentities.Thishierarchyispresentedasalistintheleftpanelof
Glossary
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theVirtualCenterclientwindowthatprovidesaviewofallthemonitoredobjects
inVirtualCenter.
L licenseserver
Aserverthatstoresandallocateslicenses.
M managedentity
Amanagedobjectthatispresentintheinventory.Seealsoinventory.
managedobject
Acompositeobjectthatresidesonaserverandispassedbetweentheclientand
theWebserviceonlybyreference.Amanagedobjecthasoperationsassociated
withitbutmightnothaveproperties.Seealsodataobject.
migration
Movingavirtualmachinebetweenhosts.UnlessVMotionisused,thevirtual
machinemustbepoweredoffwhenyoumigrateit.SeealsomigrationwithVMotion.
migrationwithVMotion
Movingavirtualmachinethatispoweredonandhasmetselectedrequirements,
includingtheactivationofVMotiononboththesourceandtargethosts.Whenyou
migrateavirtualmachineusingVMotion,theoperationsofthevirtualmachine
cancontinuewithoutinterruption.
N NewVirtualMachineWizard
Apointandclickinterfaceforconvenientcreationofavirtualmachine
configuration.Itcreatesfilesthatdefinethevirtualmachine,includingavirtual
machineconfigurationfileandoptionallyavirtualdiskorphysicaldiskfile.
nonpersistentmode
Ifyouconfigureavirtualdiskasanindependentdiskinnonpersistentmode,all
diskwritesissuedbysoftwarerunninginsideavirtualmachinewithadiskin
nonpersistentmodeappeartobewrittentodiskbutareinfactdiscardedafterthe
virtualmachineispoweredoff.Asaresult,avirtualdiskorphysicaldiskin
independentnonpersistentmodeisnotmodifiedbyactivityinthevirtual
machine.Seealsopersistentmode.
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36 VMware, Inc.
O operation
AfunctionperformedforaclientbytheWebservice.
P parent
Thesourcevirtualmachinefromwhichyoutakeasnapshotormakeaclone.A
clonehasnocontinuedlinktoitsparent,butasnapshotmusthaveaccesstothe
parentsvirtualdiskfiles.Ifyoudeletetheparentvirtualmachine,anysnapshot
becomespermanentlydisabled.Topreventdeletion,youcanmaketheparenta
templatevirtualmachine.Seealsosnapshot,template.
permission
Adataobjectconsistingofanauthorizationrole,auserorgroupname,anda
managedentityreference.Allowsaspecifiedusertoaccesstheentitywithanyof
theprivilegespertainingtotherole.
persistentmode
Ifyouconfigureavirtualdiskasanindependentdiskinpersistentmode,alldiskwritesissuedbysoftwarerunninginsideavirtualmachineareimmediatelyand
permanentlywrittentothevirtualdiskinpersistentmode.Asaresult,avirtual
diskorphysicaldiskinindependentpersistentmodebehaveslikeaconventional
diskdriveonaphysicalcomputer.Seealsononpersistentmode.
physicaldisk
Aharddiskinavirtualmachinethatismappedtoaphysicaldiskdriveorpartitiononthehostmachine.Avirtualmachinesdiskcanbestoredasafileonthehostfile
systemoronalocalharddisk.Whenavirtualmachineisconfiguredtousea
physicaldisk,VirtualCenterdirectlyaccessesthelocaldiskorpartitionasaraw
device(notasafileonafilesystem).Seealsovirtualdisk.
physicalnetwork
Anetworkofphysicalmachinesthatareconnectedsothattheycansenddatatoandreceivedatafromeachother.Seealsovirtualnetwork.
portgroup
Amechanismforsettingpoliciesthatgovernthenetworkconnectedtoit.
Glossary
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privilege
Authorizationtoperformaspecificactionorsetofactionsonamanagedobjector
groupofmanagedobjects.
property
Anattributeofamanagedobjectordataobject.Apropertycanbeanesteddata
objectoramanagedobjectreference.
propertycollector
Amanaged
object
used
to
control
the
reporting
of
managed
object
properties.
The
primarymeansofmonitoringstatusonhostmachines.
R rawdevicemapping(RDM)
AmechanismthatenablesavirtualmachinetohavedirectaccesstoaLUNonthe
physicalstoragesubsystem(FibreChanneloriSCSIonly).
readonly
user
Aroleinwhichtheuserisallowedtoviewtheinventorybutnotallowedto
performanytasks.
redolog
Thefilethatstoresthechangesmadetoadiskinundoableornonpersistentmode.
Youcanpermanentlyapplythechangessavedintheredologtoadiskinundoable
modesotheybecomepartofthemaindiskfiles.Foradiskinnonpersistentmode,
however,theredologfileisdeletedwhenyoupowerofforresetthevirtual
machinewithoutwritinganychangestothedisk.Seealsodiskmode.
resourcepool
Adivisionofcomputingresourcesusedtomanageallocationsbetweenvirtual
machines.
resume
Toreturnavirtualmachinetooperationfromitssuspendedstate.Whenyou
resumeasuspendedvirtualmachine,allapplicationsareinthesamestatethey
werewhenthevirtualmachinewassuspended.Seealsosuspend.
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Glossary
suspend
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suspend
Tosavethecurrentstateofarunningvirtualmachine.Toreturnasuspended
virtualmachinetooperation,usetheresumefeature.Seealsoresume.
T template
Amasterimageofavirtualmachine.Thistypicallyincludesaspecifiedoperating
systemandaconfigurationthatprovidesvirtualcounterpartstohardware
components.Optionally,atemplatecanincludeaninstalledguestoperating
systemandasetofapplications.TemplatesareusedbyVirtualCentertocreate
newvirtualmachines.
V VirtualCenteradministrator
Aroleinwhichtheuserisallowedtosettheuser+rolepermissionsandcontrolthe
VirtualCenterlicensing.
VirtualCenteragent
Installedoneachvirtualmachinehost,thissoftwarecoordinatestheactionsreceivedfromtheVirtualCenterServer.
VirtualCenterdatabase
Apersistentstorageareaformaintainingthestatusofeachvirtualmachineand
usermanagedintheVirtualCenterenvironment.Locatedonthesamemachineas
theVirtualCenterServer.
VirtualCenterServer
AservicethatactsasacentraladministratorforVMwareserversconnectedona
network.Thisservicedirectsactionsonthevirtualmachinesandthevirtual
machinehosts.VirtualCenterServeristheworkingcoreofVirtualCenter.
virtualdisk
Afileorsetoffilesthatappearsasaphysicaldiskdrivetoaguestoperating
system.Thesefilescanbeonthehostmachineoronaremotefilesystem.Seealso
physicaldisk.
VirtualInfrastructure
Asystemofhosts,agents,andclientsthatcommunicatetodeployandoperate
virtualmachines.ThetotalVMwaresolutiontomanagingadatacenter.Seealso
host,hostagent,VirtualCenterServer.
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40 VMware, Inc.
VirtualInfrastructureClient(VIClient)
AuserinterfacethatrunslocallyinaWindowsmachineandprovidesaccesstothe
virtualmachinesdisplay.TheVirtualInfrastructureClientrunsonanetworked
machine.ThiscanbeonthesamemachineastheVirtualCenterServeroranothernetworkedmachine.TheVirtualInfrastructureClientrequiresamonitorforaccess
tothevirtualmachinesdisplay.
VirtualInfrastructureWebAccessClient
AuserinterfacethatrunsinaWebbrowserandprovidesaccesstothevirtual
machinesdisplay.
virtualmachine
Avirtualizedx86PCenvironmentinwhichaguestoperatingsystemand
associatedapplicationsoftwarecanrun.Multiplevirtualmachinescanoperateon
thesamehostsystemconcurrently.
virtualmachineconfiguration
Thespecificationofwhichvirtualdevices,suchasdisksandmemory,arepresent
inavirtualmachineandhowtheyaremappedtohostfilesanddevices.
virtualmachineconfigurationfile
Afilecontainingavirtualmachineconfiguration.Itiscreatedwhenyoucreatethe
virtualmachine.ItisusedbyVirtualCentertoidentifyandrunaspecificvirtual
machine.
virtualmachinemonitor(VMM)
SoftwarethatisresponsibleforvirtualizingtheCPUs.
VirtualMachineProperties
Apointandclickcontrolpanelusedtoviewandmodifytheresourcesettingsof
allthevirtualmachinesonahost.
VirtualMachineSettingsEditor
Apointandclickcontrolpanelusedtoviewandmodifyavirtualmachines
settings.SeealsoNewVirtualMachineWizard.
Glossary
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Anetworkconnectingvirtualmachinesthatdoesnotdependonphysical
hardwareconnections.Forexample,youcancreateavirtualnetworkbetweena
virtualmachineandahostthathasnoexternalnetworkconnections.YoucanalsocreateaLANsegmentforcommunicationbetweenvirtualmachinesonateam.
VMkernel
Ahighperformanceoperatingsystemthatoccupiesthevirtualizationlayerand
managesmostofthephysicalresourcesonthehardware,includingmemory,
physicalprocessors,storage,andnetworkingcontrollers.
VMODL
TheinterfacedefinitionlanguageusedintheVirtualInfrastructureSDK.
VMotion
AfeaturethatenablesyoutomoverunningvirtualmachinesfromoneESXServer
systemto
another
without
interrupting
service.
It
requires
licensing
on
both
the
sourceandtargethosts.VMotionisactivatedbytheVirtualCenteragent.The
VirtualCenterServercentrallycoordinatesallVMotionactivities.Seealso
migrationwithVMotion.
VMwareFileSystem(VMFS)
Afilesystemthatisoptimizedforstoringvirtualmachines.OneVMFSpartitionis
supportedper
SCSI
storage
device
or
SAN.
Each
version
of
ESX
Server
uses
a
correspondingversionofVMFS.Forexample,VMFS3wasintroducedwithESX
Server3.
VMwareHA(HA)
Anoptionalfeaturethatsupportsdistributedavailabilityservicesinan
environmentthatincludesESXServerandVirtualCenter.Ifyouhaveconfigured
DRSand
one
of
the
hosts
managed
by
VirtualCenter
Server
goes
down,
all
virtual
machinesonthathostareimmediatelyrestartedonanotherhost.
VMwareTools
Asuiteofutilitiesanddriversthatenhancestheperformanceandfunctionalityof
yourguestoperatingsystem.KeyfeaturesofVMwareToolsincludesomeorallof
thefollowing,dependingonyourguestoperatingsystem:anSVGAdriver,a
mousedriver,
the
VMware
Tools
control
panel,
and
support
for
such
features
as
sharedfolders,draganddropinWindowsguests,shrinkingvirtualdisks,time
Introduction
synchronizationwiththehost,VMwareToolsscripts,andconnectingand
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42 VMware, Inc.
y p g
disconnectingdeviceswhilethevirtualmachineisrunning.
VMwarevirtualmachineconsole
Aninterfacetoavirtualmachinethatprovidesaccesstooneormorevirtual
machinesonthelocalhostoraremotehostrunningVirtualCenter.Youcanview
thevirtualmachinesdisplaytorunprogramswithinitormodifyguestoperating
systemsettings.Inaddition,youcanchangethevirtualmachinesconfiguration,
installtheguestoperatingsystem,orrunthevirtualmachineinfullscreenmode.
W Web
serviceAprogramminginterfacebasedonSOAPandWSDL.
Y YouAreHereicon
AniconintheSnapshotmanagerthatindicatesthecurrentstatusoftheactive
virtualmachine.Checkingthepositionofthisiconcanhelpyoudecidewhetherto
reverttoasnapshotorgotoasnapshot.SeealsoGotosnapshot,Revertto
snapshot,Snapshotmanager.
VMware Update
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VMware, Inc. 43
Updates for the IntroductionESX Server 3.0.1 and VirtualCenter 2.0.1
LastUpdated:February22,2008
ThisdocumentprovidesyouwithupdatestoESXServer3.0.1andVirtualCenter2.0.1
versionof
the
Introduction.
Updated
descriptions,
procedures,
and
graphics
are
organizedbypagenumbersoyoucaneasilylocatetheareasoftheguidethathave
changes.Ifthechangespansmultiplesequentialpages,thisdocumentprovidesthe
startingpagenumberonly.
ThefollowingisalistoftheIntroductionpageupdatesinthisdocument:UpdatesfortheStorageArchitectureDiscussiononPage 22
Updatesfor
the
Hosts,
Clusters,
and
Resource
Pools
Discussion
on
Page 15
Updates for the Storage Architecture Section on Page 22
IntheStorageArchitecture(SEEUPDATE)section,thefirstsentenceofthefifthparagraphafterfigure19inaccuratelyimpliesthatdatastoresareVMFSvolumeson
NASdevices.
Thesentenceshouldreadasfollows:
EachdatastoreisphysicallyaVMFSvolume(or,forNASdatastores,aNFSvolume
withVMFScharacteristics)onastoragedevice.
Updates for the Introduction
Updates for the Hosts, Clusters, and Resource Pools
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44 VMware, Inc.
p , ,Section on Page 15
Inthe
Hosts,
Clusters,
and
Resource
Pools
(SEE
UPDATE)
section,
the
second
paragraphcontainsseveralerrorsandinaccuraciesincludinguseofgigahertzof
memoryinsteadofgigabytesofmemory.
Theparagraphshouldreadasfollows:
Figure 14illustratestheuseofresourcepools.Threex86serverswith4gigahertzof
computingpowerand16gigabytesofmemoryeachareaggregatedtoformaclusterof
12gigahertzcomputingpowerand48gigabytesofmemory.Aresourcepool(Finance
Department)reserves8gigahertzofcomputingpowerand32gigabytesofmemory
fromthecluster,leaving4gigahertzofcomputingpowerand16gigabytesofmemory
reservedforthevirtualmachineOthers.