Книга: Mastering VMware® Infrastructure3

Chapter 13: Configuring and Managing ESXi

Chapter 13: Configuring and Managing ESXi

Understand the architecture of ESXi. ESXi presents a radical change not just to the virtualization world but to the system manufacturers that want to be part of virtualization evolution. By removing the local management component, the Service Console, ESXi presents a thin yet highly functional hypervisor on which virtual machines can run. But don't mistake thin for meaning not as feature-rich. ESXi supports all the same enterprise features of VMotion, DRS, and HA that have made VMware ESX the number one choice for the foundation of virtualization platforms around the world.

Master It You manage a datacenter that experiences rapid growth. You need to identify a way to introduce new hardware resources into the virtual infrastructure with minimal administrative effort and maximum security.

Solution Build a VI3 solution on top of ESXi. Take advantage of the “plug-and-play” nature of the solution, its minimal footprint design, and its enhanced security through Service Console elimination.

Deploy ESXi Installable. ESXi Installable provides existing VI3 licensees with the ability to shift their infrastructure to the new thin hypervisor architecture. The installation files can be downloaded as part of the existing license agreement without any penalty or additional cost. ESXi Installable installs onto local disk drives.

Master It You manage a datacenter with five existing ESX Server 3.5 hosts. You wish to restructure the datacenter to use the thin hypervisor architecture of ESXi.

Solution Download the ESXi Installable installation files from http://www.vmware.com/downloads. Burn the ISO image to a CD and perform the installation on local disks.

Deploy ESXi Embedded. ESXi Embedded, like ESXi Installable, is a thin hypervisor architecture with no reliance on a console operating system; however, the hypervisor runs from an embedded storage module on the host. System manufacturers like Dell offer next-generation products that include internal storage functionality for running ESXi Embedded.

Master It You want to construct a virtual infrastructure on physical servers without local storage devices. You want the CPU and memory of each server to be allocated to a VMware cluster for supporting HA and DRS.

Solution Purchase new server hardware that includes support for an internal, on-board storage module with ESXi Embedded preinstalled on the server.

Manage ESXi. Managing ESXi can be done using the console of the system, the VI Client connected directly to the server, the VI Client connected to VirtualCenter, or from a command line using the remote CLI tools. The remote CLI tools can be deployed on a Windows host, Linux host, or from within a downloadable virtual appliance. All are available from the VMware website.

Master It You have deployed four servers running ESXi. You need to configure them into a cluster that supports DRS and HA.

Solution Use the VI Client to connect to a VirtualCenter 2.5 server and add each of the hosts into a cluster. Enable the cluster for DRS and HA.

Master It You have 30 ESXi hosts to which you need to add a new virtual switch. Your administrative desktop runs Windows XP Professional.

Solution Download the remote CLI tools for Windows. Install the tools and create a script that adds the virtual switch using the vicfg-vswitch command.

Оглавление книги