VMware Virtualization VCP vSphere 5

Trainer: Greg D. Shields | Videos: 20 | Time: 8 hrs | Download MP3s

Are you ready for virtualization? You should be. Some analysts suggest that by t
he end of 2011, over half of every IT workload will be running inside a virtual
machine.
VMware's vSphere 5 is an enterprise-ready virtualization solution. Superstar vSp
here trainer Greg Shields will introduce you to VMware and vSphere, preparing yo
u for the VMware Certified Professional 5, or VCP5, exam. You won't just have wh
at it takes to take the exam, you'll learn career-critical virtualization skills
in this Nugget series.
Series 1: VMware Virtualization VCP vSphere 5
1
Introduction to VMware, vSphere, and the VCP5
With this first nugget, Greg will familiarize you with his teaching style and th
e products to be discussed. Get to know VMware, its vSphere platform, and the to
pics of greatest importance in this kick-off nugget.
00:35:48
2
Identify vSphere Architecture and Solutions
Any virtual environment is comprised of a lot of moving parts. vSphere 5 is no d
ifferent. With ESXi hypervisors, vCenter Server and Client management tools, and
everything in-between, this nugget prepares you for understanding how the entir
e solution fits together.
00:19:29
3
Install and Configure vCenter Server
With all the preparatory work out of the way, our first job is getting vSpheres m
anagement studio installed and ready for ESXi hosts. That studio, the vCenter Se
rver, is the central location for configuring and controlling almost every facet
of your vSphere environment. Youll get it installed and configured in this nugge
t.
00:26:26
4
Install and Configure VMware ESXi
With vCenter ready for action, next up is preparing the hypervisors themselves f
or running virtual machines. We wont be ready for creating our first virtual mach
ines for a few more nuggets, but at this point we'll run through the installatio
n and initial configuration of ESXi. Youll see how this almost appliance-like hyp
ervisor gets installed, how its networking is prepared, and how it gets connecte
d into vCenter.
00:25:38
5
Configure vNetwork Standard Switches & vSS Policies
If youre new to virtualization, an ESXi server will be unlike almost any other se
rver youve worked with before. Able to support trunked network connections just a
s easily as those at your networks access layer, youll need to know how to correct
ly work with ESXis vNetwork Standard Switches. That knowledge, along with a full
explanation of all its configuration options, are in this nugget.
00:26:00
6
Configure Shared Storage for vSphere
Storage is the next configuration before we can create virtual machines. And in
the vSphere virtual world, that storage is shared storage. Unlike the direct att
ached disks that are connected to a servers hardware chassis, shared storage mean
s SAN storage. Youll be configuring exactly that shared storage for later use by
your virtual machines in this nugget.
00:22:59
7
Create and Configure VMFS Datastores
Configuring the connection to storage is but the first step in the process. Maki
ng that storage production-worthy requires redundancy and multiple paths. With t
he connection ready, you also require extra work in creating VMFS datastores. Th
ose datastores are the file system in which your virtual machines will operate.
Youll also get an introduction to some of vSpheres newest technologies like User-d
efined Storage Capabilities and Storage I/O Control.
00:21:11
8
Create and Deploy Virtual Machines & vApps
Only after ESXis operating system, its vSwitches, and its shared storage are conf
igured can you begin creating and working with virtual machines. In this nugget
youll get that opportunity. Youll also learn about how virtual machines can be agg
regated together into vApps for easier management, as well as how to P2V convert
a physical (or other hypervisors virtual) machine into a VM thats ready for vSphe
re.
00:30:12
9
Administer and Migrate Virtual Machines and vApps
You created and deployed virtual machines in the last nugget; in this one youll b
e administering their more advanced settings. Those include VM options, resource
controls, virtual disk provisioning formats, and your very first experiences wi
th VMwares much-lauded vMotion capabilities.
00:34:27
10
Configure VMware Clusters and Resource Pools
vMotion is an exciting new tool for keeping virtual machines highly available. B
ut vMotion by itself is only one part of the solution. Wrapping around vMotion a
re a series of monitors and an availability model that keeps VMs best distribute
d across available hosts. It also returns them back to service quickly after a f
ailure. VMware HA and DRS all source from VMware Clusters. Constraining VM resou
rces is accomplished with Resource Pools. Youll learn about both in this deep-div
e nugget.
00:44:09
11
Manage Virtual Machine Clones and Templates
A virtual machine thats powered off is nothing more than a file on disk. Even one
thats powered on, with the right tools, can be copied and pasted just like a file.
That ease of replicating VMs feeds directly into this nugget on managing VM clo
nes and templates. Youll learn the best practices and the step-by-step to cloning
your virtual machines and starting their lives via golden image templates.
00:18:42
12
Backup and Restore Virtual Machines
Every IT workload requires backups, even if you hope to never have to resort to
restores. Yet virtualization has a tendency to complicate backups even as it mak
es them better for restorations. Youll learn the science behind virtualizations mu
ltiple backup perspectives, and then dig into VMwares Data Recovery Appliance to
see how VMs can be backed up and restored in vSphere.
00:22:08
13
Update and Profile ESXi Hosts
Everything that makes up an ESXi host is contained within its files. That file-b
ased nature to ESXis operating system makes it easy to do configuration control i
f you have an automated solution to gather all the settings that make sense. The
tool to do so is vCenter Servers Host Profiles. Watch this nugget and youll quick
ly be profiling host configurations, comparing those profiles to other hosts, an
d ensuring that your entire environment is perfectly baselined to your exacting
specifications.
00:26:20
14
Configure vNetwork Distributed Switches & vDS Policies
vNetwork Standard Switches might work great when youve got just a few hosts, but
they suffer from the fact that each host requires individual configuration. For
larger environments, or those that want assured vSwitch configuration similarity
, the answer is vNetwork Distributed Switches. These special switches operate at
the datacenter layer, and provide a policy-based approach for ensuring every ES
Xi hosts networking is correct.
00:22:39
15
Secure vCenter Server and ESXi
The only thing with vSphere thats more important than backups is security. Youve g
ot to make sure your servers are patched and backed up for sure, but youve also g
ot to ensure that they have the right security settings. Also important is deliv
ering precise permissions to your fellow IT professionals (and even those specia
l individuals outside IT who need access). Youll learn all this in this nuggets se
curity-focused conversation.
00:16:56
16
Plan and Implement VMware Fault Tolerance
What do you do when a vSphere Clusters HA just isnt enough? What do you do when ev
en a second of downtime is too long? Thats when VMware Fault Tolerance becomes yo
ur best friend. By creating two virtual machines that operate in lock step with
each other, FT ensures that any host failure wont impact a protected VM. FT-prote
cted VMs immediately come online with incredible speed.
00:17:12
17
Configure the vSphere Storage Appliance
Dont have a SAN and dont want to buy one? Still want all the high availability fea
tures of vSphere? The vSphere Storage Appliance provides one option that might b
e of use. While it arrives with an array of limitations, this first-generation a
ppliance can indeed create a highly-available vSphere environment without needin
g shared storage.
00:21:03
18
Perform Basic vSphere Troubleshooting
Even the best run vSphere environment occasionally experiences problems, and whe
n those problems occur, its your job to track them down. Thats why this entire nug
get is dedicated to troubleshooting ESXi. While the actual mapping between behav
iors and resolutions is perhaps best left for the vSphere documentation, this nu
gget will show you the tools you have at your disposal for tracking down big pro
blems.
00:17:22
19
Monitor vCenter and Administer Alarms
Yellow and red lights are never a good thing when theyre seen in a solutions manag
ement console. But sometimes those lights arent well tuned. Other times you might
just prefer to turn them off. Youll learn how to tune vCenters alarm structure in
this nugget. With the information you learn here, youll know that every warning
light has meaning.
00:28:13
20
Plan and Perform vCenter Server and ESXi Upgrades
The upgrade process in vSphere 5 gets easier than ever with new and improved tec
hnologies like vCenter Update Manager and Auto Deploy. But even with these tools
at your disposal, you still need the right set of steps to get your upgrade com
pleted successfully. Youll get exposed to the tools and learn the proper steps in
this final nugget.
00:14:49