CAPÍTULO I. EVOLUCIÓN DEL TÉRMINO
1.4 DESARROLLO DE LA ESCUELA AUSTRIACA (SIGLO XX)
Module 1: vCenter Overview - Features and Topology This is module 1 Overview Features and Topology.
These are the topics that will be covered in this module.
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Module Objectives
After you complete this module, you should be able to:
Describe vCenter‟s components and infrastructure requirements.
Present the management clients, the VI Client and the Web Client.
Provide an overview of their interfaces with specific emphasis on features that are only available via the Web Client.
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What is VMware vCenter?
The first section discusses the capabilities and components of vCenter and the various ways of accessing it.
You will start by looking at what vCenter is and what it enables the vSphere administrator to do in the virtualized infrastructure.
vCenter Server is the primary management tool for vSphere administrators. It provides a single point of control for all the components in the virtual data center.
vCenter Server provides the core management functionalities and services, which are required by the vSphere administrator to perform basic infrastructure operations.
These operations include configuring new ESXi hosts, configuring storage, network, and the virtual hardware characteristics of various infrastructure components.
Using vCenter Server, you can manage the storage and resource requirements for each host machine.
Infrastructure operations also include creating or importing new virtual machines and monitoring, reporting, and alerting on performance characteristics of guest operating systems, virtual machines and the underlying hosts.
Additionally, infrastructure operations include managing rights, permissions, and roles at
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vCenter Server is able to unify resources from individual ESXi hosts, enabling them to be shared among virtual machines in the entire data center.
This is achieved by assigning resources to the virtual machines within a managed cluster of hosts, based on the policies set by the system administrator.
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vCenter Installable and vCenter Appliance
vCenter Server is available in two options: vCenter Server Appliance and vCenter Server Installable.
vCenter Server Appliance is a pre-configured SUSE Enterprise Linux based virtual appliance, which contains VMware's vCenter Management Server.
It is deployed as an OVF Template.
vCenter Server Installable is a Windows installable option, supported on Windows platforms Windows 2008 64-bit R2 and Windows Server 2012.
Service pack information should be verified before installation. It can be installed in either a physical or virtual machine.
There are many more differences between the two, which you need to know to ensure you make the appropriate choice for your environment.
Previous versions of the vCenter Server appliance were limited, when using the embedded database, to environments of up to 5 ESXi hosts and 50 virtual machines.
New in vSphere 5.5, the vCenter Server Appliance can support environments up to 100 ESXi Hosts and 3000 virtual machines.
However, both vCenter options can make use of an embedded database.
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The vCenter Server Appliance uses a vPostgres database, while the vCenter Server Installable uses a Microsoft SQL Express database, which is limited to small scale deployments of up to 5 ESXi hosts and 50 virtual machines.
For larger environments, external databases are the correct solution.
The vCenter Server Appliance can only use an external Oracle database, whereas the vCenter Server Installable version can be used with either a Microsoft SQL or Oracle database.
Also new in vSphere 5.5 is support for clustering of the vCenter Server Database.
Auto Deploy, Syslog Collector and ESXi Dump Collector are separate installations on the vCenter Server Installable. These are pre-installed in the vCenter Server Appliance.
Syslog Collector and ESXi Dump Collector must be registered as a plug-in in vCenter Server.
The vSphere Web Client and Single Sign-On are installed as part of the vCenter Server simple installation or on a separate host for multiple local site instances. They are pre-installed in the vCenter Server Appliance.
For scripting and automation of the data center, vSphere CLI and PowerCLI are
separate installations for the vCenter Server Installable. They cannot be installed in the vCenter Server Appliance.
vCenter Server Installable supports IPv4 and IPv6. The vCenter Server Appliance only supports IPv4. Linked Mode is not compatible with the vCenter Server Appliance and vCenter Heartbeat is not compatible with the vCenter Server Appliance.
vCenter Update Manager can be installed on the same server as vCenter Server Installable, but cannot be installed in the vCenter Server Appliance.
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vCenter's Components and Connectivity
Now let‟s review a whiteboard session looking at vCenter‟s components and connectivity.
We will discuss what connects to, or is managed by, vCenter, including: Hosts,
Directory Service (customers may know this as Inventory Service) and Single Sign On (SSO) Server, Clients and Network Ports.
1. vCenter Server is comprised of a number of interlinked components and interfaces to other services and infrastructure. We will now describe each of the key parts and the role that they play in vCenter.
2. vCenter Server is heavily dependent on the database that is used to store configuration and statistical data.
While there are options for environments that make use of integrated databases, these are only for small installations.
In most environments the database will be provided by a separate database server or servers. It is critically important that databases are sized and prepared before installing vCenter Server.
It is important to note that only certain databases are supported and this selection may influence the vCenter choice to be implemented.
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We will see the specific database types that are supported for the vCenter Server Appliance and installable versions later in this module.
3. There are four parts to vCenter server installations. These are:
vCenter Single Sign-On, Web Client, vCenter Inventory Service and vCenter Server (Core).
4. VMware vCenter Single Sign-On offers administrators a deeper level of authentication services that enable VMware solutions to trust each other.
Single Sign-On allows VMware solutions to utilize multiple directory services and is no longer limited to Microsoft Active Directory.
It simplifies the management of multi-site and multi-installation environments by allowing users to move seamlessly between multiple environments without re-authentication.
A Single Sign-On Server can be installed separately and can support multiple vCenter installations.
5. VMware vCenter Inventory Service optimizes client server communications by reducing the number of client requests on vCenter Server.
It is now a separate independent component that can be off-loaded to a separate server.
This can be used to reduce traffic and improve client response times. It also enables users to create and add inventory object-level tags.
These are then used to organize and provide quicker retrieval when performing inventory searches.
6. Core Services are the basic management services for a virtual Data Center.
These include virtual machine provisioning; statistics and logging; host and virtual machine configuration; alarms and event management; and task scheduling.
Distributed services are solutions that extend VMware vSphere capabilities beyond a single physical server.
These solutions include VMware DRS, VMware HA, and VMware vMotion. Distributed services are configured and managed centrally from vCenter Server.
7. The vCenter API provides access to the vSphere management components.
These are the objects that you can use to manage, monitor, and control life-cycle operations of virtual machines and other parts of the virtual infrastructure (such as Data
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8. The vSphere Web Client provides a rich application experience delivered through a cross-platform supporting Web browser.
This surpasses the functionality of the trusted VMware vSphere Client (the VI or Desktop Client) running on Windows.
The vSphere Web Client can be installed on the vCenter server along with other vCenter Server components, or it can be installed as a standalone server.
9. The Single Sign-On Server must be able to communicate with your identity sources such as Active Directory, Open LDAP and a Local Operating System.
10. The Inventory service must be able to communicate with the Single Sign-On Server, the vCenter Server and the client.
11. The vCenter Server must be able to communicate with the ESXi hosts in order to manage them.
12. vCenter Server must also be accessible to any systems that will require access to the API.
13. The Web Client is accessed via a Web browser that connects to the Web Client Server. All of these services rely heavily on DNS.
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vCenter License Versions
VMware vCenter Server provides unified management for VMware vSphere environments and is a required component of a complete VMware vSphere deployment. One instance of vCenter Server is required to centrally manage virtual machines and their hosts and to enable all VMware vSphere features.
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vCenter License Versions
All products and feature licenses are encapsulated in 25-character license keys that you can manage and monitor from vCenter Server. Each vCenter Server instance requires one license key.
VMware vCenter Server is available in the following packages:
VMware vCenter Server for Essentials kits is integrated into the vSphere Essentials and Essentials Plus kits for small office deployment. This edition is aimed at IT environments that run 20 or fewer server workloads.
VMware vCenter Server Foundation provides centralized management for vSphere environments with up to three VMware vSphere ESXi hosts.
VMware vCenter Server Standard is the highly scalable management server that
provides rapid provisioning, monitoring, orchestration and control of all virtual machines in a VMware vSphere environment of any size.
All editions of vCenter Server include the following capabilities:
• The management service acts as a universal hub for provisioning, monitoring and configuring virtualized environments.
• The database server stores persistent configuration data and performance information.
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• VMware vSphere Clients provide administrators with a feature-rich console for accessing one or more VMware vCenter Servers simultaneously.
• The VMware vCenter APIs and .NET Extensions allows integration between vCenter Server and other tools, with support for customized plug-ins to the VMware vSphere Client.
• vCenter Single Sign-On simplifies administration by allowing users to log in once and then access all instances or layers of vCenter without the need for further
authentication.
• vCenter Orchestrator streamlines and automates key IT processes.
• vCenter Server Linked Mode enables a common inventory view across multiple instances of vCenter Server.
Advanced features such as Distributed vSwitches also require that the individual host licenses for the hypervisors in the cluster are at the appropriate level. For example a vSphere Enterprise Plus license will be required for all hosts if distributed vSwitches need to be supported.
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vSphere Client User Interface Options
You have several ways to access vSphere components through vSphere‟s range of interface options.
The vSphere Web Client was introduced with the release of vSphere 5.0 as a new administration tool for managing your VMware vSphere 5.x environments.
With vSphere 5.5, VMware progresses its transition to the Web Client as the primary administration interface.
It features a new enhanced usability experience with added support for OS X. In
vSphere 5.5, all of the new vSphere features are only available when using the vSphere Web Client interface.
The vSphere Web Client is a server application that provides a browser-based alternative to the traditional vSphere Desktop Client.
You must use a supported Web browser to connect to the vSphere Web Client to manage ESXi hosts through vCenter Server.
The vSphere Web Client supports almost all of the functionality included in the
Windows-based vSphere Desktop Client, such as inventory display and virtual machine deployment and configuration.
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The vSphere Desktop Client is still available for installation with vSphere 5.5. The Desktop Client must be installed on a Windows machine with direct access to the ESXi host or the vCenter Server systems it will be used to manage.
The interface displays slightly different options depending on the type of server to which you are connected.
A single vCenter Server system or ESXi host can support multiple simultaneously connected vSphere Desktop Clients.
You can use vSphere Desktop Client to monitor, manage, and control vCenter Server.
The vSphere Desktop Client does not support vCenter Single Sign-On and communicates directly with vCenter Server and Microsoft Active Directory.
The vSphere Client is still used for vSphere Update Manager (or VUM) along with a few solutions such as Site Recovery Manager.
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vCenter Infrastructure Management Features Overview
Now that you have seen an overview of vCenter and the licensing requirements we will look at an overview of the Infrastructure Management features and capabilities of vCenter.
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Resource Maps
vSphere administrators can use resource maps to monitor proper connectivity which is vital for migration operations, such as VMware vSphere vMotion or vSphere Storage vMotion.
Resource maps are also useful to verify VMware vSphere High Availability, VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) cluster memberships are that host and virtual machine connectivity is valid.
A resource map is a graphical representation of the data center‟s topology. It visually represents the relationships between the virtual and physical resources available in a data center.
Preconfigured map views that are available are: Virtual Machine Resources, which displays virtual machine-centric relationships; Host Resources, which displays host-centric physical relationships; and vMotion Resources, which displays potential hosts for vMotion migration.
Maps help vSphere administrators find information such as which clusters or hosts are most densely populated, which networks are most critical, and which storage devices are being utilized.
Resource Maps are only available using the vSphere Desktop Client..
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Orchestrator
Orchestrator or vCO is an automation and orchestration platform that provides a library of extensible workflows.
It enables vSphere administrators to create and execute automated, configurable processes to manage their VMware virtual environment.
Orchestrator provides drag-and-drop automation and orchestration for the VMware virtual environment. Orchestrator is included with vCenter.
As an example, when you create a virtual machine in your environment, you make decisions about how that virtual machine is configured, how many network cards, processors memory etc. that you want it to be configured with. However, once the machine is created and like many organizations, you have additional IT processes that need to be applied.
Do you need to add the VM to active directory? Do you need to update the change management Database, customize the guest OS or notify the VM owner or other teams that the virtual machine is ready?
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You can also use plugins and workflows published on VMware Solution Exchange, a community of extensible solutions plug-ins, to connect to multiple VMware and 3rd party applications.
Through an open and flexible plug-in architecture, VMware vCenter Orchestrator allows you to automate server provisioning and operational tasks across both VMware and third-party applications, such as service desks, change management and asset management systems.
These plug-ins provide hundreds of out-of-the-box workflows to help you both accelerate and dramatically reduce the cost of delivering IT services across your organization.
In addition to plug-ins included with the vCenter Orchestrator, the latest plug-ins can be found on the VMware Solution Exchange.
You need to understand the clients current IT workflow automation capabilities and if they are using any other products for this already, you will have to be prepared to research how Orchestrator integrates with them.
To understand how Orchestrator works, it is important to understand the difference between automation and orchestration.
Automation provides a way to perform frequently repeated processes without manual intervention. For example, a shell, Perl, or PowerShell script that adds ESXi hosts to vCenter Server.
On the other hand, orchestration provides a way to manage multiple automated processes across heterogeneous systems.
An example of this would be to add ESXi hosts from a list to vCenter Server, update a CMDB with the newly added ESXi hosts, and then send email notification.
Orchestrator exposes every operation in the vCenter Server API, enabling the vSphere administrator to integrate all these operations into the automated processes.
Orchestrator also enables the administrator to integrate with other management and administration solutions through its open plug-in architecture. This enables the vSphere administrator to capture manual and repetitive tasks for the vSphere environment and automate them through workflows.
Orchestrator provides several benefits.
It helps vSphere administrators ensure consistency and standardization and achieve overall compliance with existing IT policies. It also shortens the time for deployment of a complex environment (for example, SAP) to hours instead of days. Orchestrator also enables vSphere administrators to react faster to unplanned issues in VMware Data Center.
For example, when a virtual machine is powered off unexpectedly, the vSphere administrator can configure options to trigger the “Power-On” workflow to bring the virtual machine back online.
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Alarms
The vSphere alarm infrastructure supports automating actions and sending different types of notifications in response to certain server conditions. Many alarms exist by default on vCenter Server systems and you can also create your own alarms. For example, an alarm can send an alert email message when CPU usage on a specific virtual machine exceeds 99% for more than 30 minutes.
The alarm infrastructure integrates with other server components, such as events and performance counters.
You can set alarms for objects such as virtual machines, hosts, clusters, data centers, datastores, networks, vNetwork Distributed Switches, distributed virtual port groups, and vCenter Server.
Alarms have two types of triggers.
They can be triggered by either the condition or state of an object or by events occurring to an object.
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an appropriate action. Too many alarms place extra load on vCenter Server which affects system performance. Therefore identify the alarms that you need to leverage.
You can use the SMTP agent included with vCenter Server to send email notifications to the appropriate personnel that you wish to be notified when alarms are triggered. You can also trap event information by configuring a centralized SNMP server and/or
alternatively even run a script when the alarm triggers.
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Inventory Object Tagging
Tags were a new feature of vSphere 5.1 Their purpose is to allow you to add metadata to objects. Tags allow you to bring information about your virtual infrastructure from outside vSphere and attach it to objects inside so that actions and decisions can be taken on the basis of that information. In order to avoid conflicts between the many possible uses of tags, tags are organized into categories.
When you create a category, you specify whether multiple tags in that category can be assigned to a given object at one time, or whether only one tag can be assigned to an object at a time. For example, a category called Priority might contain the tags High, Medium, and Low, and be configured to allow only one tag in the category to be applied
When you create a category, you specify whether multiple tags in that category can be assigned to a given object at one time, or whether only one tag can be assigned to an object at a time. For example, a category called Priority might contain the tags High, Medium, and Low, and be configured to allow only one tag in the category to be applied