Your Complete Guide to VMware

Traditionally, IT organizations are challenged by the limitations of today’s x86 servers, which are designed to run just one operating system and application at a time. This means that even small data centers have to deploy many servers, which is an incredibly inefficient practice.Gartner reports that over half of all server workloads are now virtualized, and that number will most likely rise. Virtualization is especially popular because it can eliminate costs, increase productivity and enable disaster recovery.VMware is an especially popular virtualization tool, so whether you’re looking for a job as a virtualization engineer or are a business leader considering virtual software for your organization, a deep understanding of VMware is very important.

What is virtualization?

In computing, virtualization refers to the creation of a virtual version of a device or resource, such as a server, storage device, network or even an operating system where the framework divides the resource into one or more execution environments.According to VMware, “Virtualization can increase IT agility, flexibility, and scalability while creating significant cost savings. Workloads get deployed faster, performance and availability increases and operations become automated, resulting in IT that's simpler to manage and less costly to own and operate.”VMware is the first virtualization and cloud computing software provider to successfully virtualize the x86 architecture commercially. With VMware server virtualization, a hypervisor is installed on the physical server to allow for multiple virtual machines to run on the same physical server.

Why is vSphere from VMware the best?

vSphere from VMware is highly configurable, which can make it an attractive choice for companies that are going completely virtual or those opting for a hybrid approach. Depending on organizational needs, there are different versions available with varying fault tolerance including: vSphere Standard, Enterprise Plus, and Operations Management Enterprise Plus.Some of the reasons why people like VMware include the fact that it is intuitive to use, features broad OS support, and provides access to governance capabilities, among other things.Gartner, Forrester and IDC consistently recognize VMware as a market leader.

What is vSphere used for?

VMware vSphere is the brand name for VMware's suite of virtualization products, which includes:

• VMware ESXi: abstracts processor, memory, storage, and other resources into multiple virtual machines (VMs).
• VMware vCenter Server: a central control point for data center services such as access control, performance monitoring and alarm management.
• VMware vSphere Client: allows users to remotely connect to ESXi or vCenter Server from any Windows PC.
• VMware vSphere Web Client: allows users to remotely connect to vCenter Server from a variety of Web browsers and operating systems (OSes).
• VMware vSphere SDKs: provides interfaces for accessing vSphere components.
• vSphere Virtual Machine File System (VMFS): provides a high-performance cluster file system for ESXi VMs.
• vSphere Virtual SMP: allows a single virtual machine to use multiple physical processors at the same time.
• vSphere vMotion: allows live migration for powered-on virtual machines in the same data center.
• vSphere Storage vMotion: allows virtual disks or configuration files to be moved to a new data store while a VM is running.
• vSphere High Availability (HA): allows virtual machines to be restarted on other available servers.
• vSphere Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS): divides and balances computing capacity for VMs dynamically across collections of hardware resources.
• vSphere Storage DRS: divides and balances storage capacity and I/O across collections of data stores dynamically.
• vSphere Fault Tolerance: provides continuous availability.
• vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS): allows VMs to maintain network configurations as the VMs migrate across multiple hosts.

So, as you can see, vSphere has a variety of capabilities, data center and cloud infrastructure, networking and security, storage and availability, digital workspace, enterprise mobility management and personal desktop.

Why should I learn vSphere?

Virtualization is changing the IT industry and those who do not learn it may fall behind, not to mention the fact that vSphere is a proven and reliable platform used by hundreds of thousands already.VMware skills are in high-demand because it helps streamline operations with its’ capability to facilitate rapid testing and rollbacks, among other things. Help your organization save time, money, and space by learning and investing in virtualization.

How can I learn VMware skills?

Sure, there are plenty of online tutorials, but if you really want to become a ‘VMware Guru,’ and truly learn the different capabilities of this tool, we recommend learning step-by-step with the VMware 2V0-621 Data Center Virtualization Hands-On lab. While other tutorials may show and tell you about the tool, this VMware lab walks you through the steps to perform the tasks yourself so you can learn by doing.

What is a virtual lab?

Virtual labs are pre-configured hardware layouts with accompanying lab guides for fast, convenient access that make studying for an exam or learning new technologies an engaging experience. Develop your comprehensive IT skills in a safe, working environment without the need to invest in your own hardware and software.

• Practical Training on the Latest Industry Technology
• Real Equipment, No Simulations
• 6 Month Unified Access Available on Any Device
• No Hardware or Licensing Costs

What will I learn in this lab?

If you are looking to leverage your existing experience with networks and servers, and progress to implementing and managing virtualized environments, this is the ideal skill enhancement tool for you.With this lab, professionals will gain a comprehensive understanding of VSphere 6 and practical skills needed to be a capable virtualization engineer. Learn to successfully install, deploy, scale and manage VMware vSphere 6 environments.Lab exercises include:

• Manage Role-based Access
• Control, Manage vSphere Security
• Manage a Cluster
• Manage Single Sign-On Users
• Configure and Administer Advanced vSphere 6 Networking
• Configure Distributed Switch Policies
• Configure dvPortGroups
• Upgrade a vSphere Deployment to 6.x
• Administer and Manage vSphere 6.x Resources
• Troubleshoot HA and DRS Configurations and Fault Tolerance
• Troubleshoot a vSphere Network, Storage, and Upgrade and Performance Issues
• Deploy ESXi Hosts Using Autodeploy
• Manage Host Profiles
• Consolidate Physical Workloads using VMware Converter
• Configure and Administer vSphere Availability Solutions
• Administer and Manage vSphere Virtual Machines
• Perform Storage Upgrades and Configurations

To Summarize

Virtualization is revolutionizing the IT landscape thanks to the virtualization platform vSphere from VMware. vSphere offers many features valuable for those working at an organization and is now easier than ever to learn with the VMware 2V0-621 Data Center Virtualization Hands-On lab, found in the Cybrary catalog.

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