Managing and optimizing VMware vSphere deployments

Managing and Optimizing VMware vSphere#65533; Deployments

 

The Complete Guide to Planning, Deploying, and Operating  High-Performance VMware vSphere 5 Virtual Infrastructure

 

To make the most of VMware's vSphere 5, IT professionals need knowledge, tips, and insights they'll  never find in the manuals-or in any book, until now! In Managing and Optimizing VMware vSphere Deployments, two world-class VMware experts offer start-to-finish lessons for vSphere planning, implementation, operation, management, and troubleshooting: expert insights drawn from their unsurpassed  "in-the-trenches" consulting experience.

 

Writing for experienced VMware professionals, the authors focus on high-value techniques optimized for the new vSphere 5, helping you establish frameworks that support your virtual infrastructure's evolution for years to come. They present scenarios and examples drawn from real-world data, helping you address crucial issues ranging from sizing and performance to redundancy. The book concludes with a full  case study that walks you through a design from inception through implementation and explores the reasons for each key decision.

 

Coverage includes

     *    Building a strong foundation for virtual infrastructure: design considerations and  best practices

     *    Smoothly integrating vSphere 5 into current environments and considerations

     *    Establishing a more stable infrastructure

     *    Choosing hardware and making optimal configuration decisions

     *    Transforming your VMware design from  blueprint to completion

     *    Operating vSphere solutions more efficiently  on a day-to-day basis    

     *    Automating tasks and maximizing availability

     *    Streamlining the installation of updates, patches, and upgrades

     *    Forecasting and planning capacity on an ongoing basis to support growth

     *    Overcoming roadblocks on the journey to  100% virtualization

     *    Monitoring vSphere 5 with tools provided by VMware and its community

     *    Discovering the most valuable and current online VMware resources

     *    Examples using Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) are provided throughout the book

 

• Preface p. xi
• 1 Laying the Groundwork p. 1
• Planning p. 1
• Capacity p. 1
• Performance p. 13
• Management p. 19
• Designing p. 20
• Laying the Groundwork Summary p. 39
• 2 Implementing the Solution p. 41
• Following the Design Blueprint p. 41
• Reviewing the Design Documentation p. 42
• Stakeholder Review p. 42
• Functional Requirements p. 43
• Constraints p. 44
• Technical Review p. 46
• Assumptions p. 47
• Design Deviations p. 48
• Automating Implementation Tasks p. 53
• PowerCLI p. 53
• Host Profiles p. 53
• Auto Deploy Server p. 55
• vCenter Orchestrator p. 57
• Verifying Implementation p. 58
• Testing Functionality p. 58
• Quality Assurance Assessment p. 76
• Implementing the Solution Summary p. 84
• 3 Operating the Environment p. 85
• Backups p. 85
• Data Recovery p. 88
• Disaster Recovery p. 95
• Manual Disaster Recovery p. 96
• Site Recovery Manager p. 96
• Physical to Virtual Conversions p. 97
• Issues and Troubleshooting p. 98
• Domain Controllers p. 99
• Windows Server with OEM Installations p. 100
• SQL, Exchange, and Other Applications Servers p. 100
• Linux p. 101
• V2V and Other Methods p. 101
• Maintenance p. 102
• Update Manager p. 103
• Monitoring p. 113
• Alerting p. 113
• Defining Actions for Alarms p. 114
• Considerations for Tweaking Default Alarms p. 118
• Verifying Configurations p. 119
• Host Profiles p. 120
• Health Check p. 121
• VMware's Health Check Delivery p. 121
• Operating the Environment Summary p. 122
• 4 Managing the Environment p. 123
• Capacity Management p. 123
• Storage Capacity Management p. 123
• Host Capacity Management p. 124
• Networking Capacity Management p. 130
• Performance Management p. 149
• Storage Performance Management p. 149
• Host Performance Management p. 152
• Networking Performance Management p. 155
• vCenter Operations Management Suite p. 160
• Managing the Environment Summary p. 165
• 5 Roadblocks to 100% Virtualization p. 167
• Political Roadblocks p. 168
• Financial Roadblocks p. 168
• Capex Versus Opex p. 168
• ROI p. 171
• Policies and Culture p. 175
• Technical Roadblocks p. 177
• VM Sprawl p. 178
• Application Roadblocks p. 181
• Desktop Virtualization p. 187
• Roadblocks to 100% Virtualization Summary p. 191
• 6 Full Case Study p. 193
• Customer Scenario p. 193
• Planning and Designing p. 195
• Implementation p. 212
• Operating p. 213
• Managing p. 215
• Full Case Study Summary p. 216
• A Additional Resources p. 217
• Chapter 2 Implementing the Solution p. 217
• Chapter 3 Operating the Environment p. 219
• Chapter 4 Managing the Environment p. 220
• Chapter 5 Roadblocks to 100% Virtualization p. 221
• Index p. 223