Book Image

Learning VMware vSphere

By : Rebecca Fitzhugh, Abhilash G B
Book Image

Learning VMware vSphere

By: Rebecca Fitzhugh, Abhilash G B

Overview of this book

Computer virtualization is a method to enable the running of multiple application workloads on a machine to achieve efficient utilization and reduce the number of physical machines in a data center. This has now become the foundation of many modern day data centers. What began as a technology to virtualize x86 architecture has now grown beyond the limits of a server’s hardware and into the realm of storage and network virtualization. VMware is currently the market leader in developing data center virtualization solutions. This book goes into the details of designing and implementing VMware solutions that form the foundation of a VMware infrastructure. The book begins by introducing you to the concepts of server virtualization followed by the architecture of VMware’s hypervisor – ESXi and then by its installation and configuration. You then learn what is required to manage a vSphere environment and configure advanced management capabilities of vCenter. Next you are taken through topics on vSphere Networking, Storage, ESXi Clustering, Resource Management and Virtual Machine Management. You will then be introduced to SSL Certificate Management and its use in a vSphere environment. Finally, you will learn about the lifecycle management of a vSphere environment by effectively monitoring, patching and upgrading vSphere components using Update Manager. By the end of the book, you will know how to use VMware’s vSphere suite of components to lay the foundation of a modern day virtual infrastructure.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
Learning VMware vSphere
Credits
About the Authors
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface

Using the vSphere Client


The vSphere Client is a program used to connect to a supported version of an ESXi host or a vCenter Server. The client can only be installed on a Microsoft Windows machine. The client uses TCP port 443 to establish a connection either with the ESXi host or the vCenter Server.

The client can be downloaded from the ESXi Getting Started web page, which can be accessed using the hostname or the IP address of the host:

On the Getting Started page, click on the hyperlink Download vSphere Client for Windows to download the installer. Once downloaded, the installation is pretty straightforward and requires no special details. Make sure, though, that it is installed on a machine which can reach the ESXi host or vCenter over the network.

Once the client is installed it can simply be executed by double-clicking the shortcut corresponding to that to bring up the VMware vSphere Client window.

In the VMware vSphere Client window, supply the IP address or the hostname of the ESXi...