Module 1: Introduction

• What Virtual Infrastructure Is
• VMware Infrastructure

Module 2: Virtual Infrastructure Overview

• Virtualization
• A Virtual Machine
• How Virtualization Works
• Virtualization Using a Bare-Metal Hypervisor
• ESX Server Architecture
• Using VMware Infrastructure in a Data Center
• Using VDI with VMware Infrastructure
• Using Lab Manager

Module 3: ESX Server

• ESX Server Installation
• ESX Server Physical Setup
• Hardware Prerequisites
• Partitioning an x86 Disk
• Partitions Created During Installation
• Launch ESX Server Installation
• Build Disk Partitions
• Recommended Partitions
• Configure Service Console Networking
• ESX Server Physical Console After Install
• VMware Infrastructure (VI) Client
• Single-Host Licensing
• Configure ESX Server as NTP Client
• Configure an ESX Server User Account
• ESX Server Troubleshooting Guidelines
• ESX Server Troubleshooting Philosophy
• What Happens If ESX Server Crashes?
• Collecting Diagnostics Data

Module 4: Networking

• Create Virtual Switches Using the VI Client
• Virtual Switches
• Network Connections
• Connection Type: Service Console Port
• Connection Type: VMkernel Port
• Connection Type: Virtual Machine Port Group
• Defining Connections
• Naming Virtual Switches and Connections
• Mapping vmnics to Physical NICs
• Create Virtual Switches Using the Command Line
• Physical & Virtual Switch Comparison
• Virtual Switches & Spanning Tree Protocol
• Virtual Switch VLANs
• Cisco Discovery Protocol
• Modify Physical NIC Attributes
• Enabling Cisco Discovery Protocol
• Create VMkernel Ports Using the Command Line
• Configure VMkernel Ports
• Handling VMkernel Traffic
• VMkernel Networking
• VMkernel Routing
• Service Console Networking
• Configure Service Console Port Group
• Advanced Service Console NIC Configurations
• Modify Virtual Switch Configurations
• Virtual Switch Properties: Ports
• Virtual Switch Properties: Network Adapters
• Network Policy: Traffic
• Load Balancing
• Managing Failover and Failure Detection
• Add an Uplink to a Port Group
• Define Failover
• Viewing Active/Standby NICs
• Display vSwitch Configuration
• Fault Tolerance Options
• Troubleshooting NIC Teaming
• Virtual Network Security
• Using Network Segmentation
• Security Considerations for VLANs
• Virtual Switch Protection and VLANs
• Securing Virtual Switch Ports
• Notifying Switches
• Service Console Firewall Management
• Service Console Firewall Management
• Client Utilities

Module 5: Storage

• Fibre Channel SAN Storage
• How Fibre Channel is used with ESX Server
• Addressing SAN LUNs in the VMkernel
• Making SAN Storage Available to ESX Server
• Fibre Channel HBA Configuration
• Controlling VM Disk Requests
• View HBA Driver Configuration
• Modifying Adapter Properties
• iSCSI SAN Storage
• How iSCSI is used with ESX Server
• Components of an iSCSI SAN
• How iSCSI Storage Authenticates the ESX Server
• iSCSI Software and Hardware Initiators
• iSCSI Software Initiator Network Configuration
• Enable iSCSI Traffic through the Service Console Firewall
• Discover iSCSI LUNs
• iSCSI Storage Command Line Utilities
• iSCSI Design Considerations
• Set Up Networking for iSCSI Software Initiator
• Configure the Firewall for Software iSCSI
• Configure iSCSI Targets
• iSCSI Software Initiator Troubleshooting
• VMFS Datastores
• What a VMFS Is
• VMFS Properties
• Multipathing with Fibre Channel
• Multipathing with iSCSI
• Manage Multiple Paths
• Managing VMFS Volumes
• LUN Identification
• Partitioning Disks
• VMFS Partition Alignment
• VMFS Volume Operations
• Display Volume Consumption
• NAS Storage and NFS Datastores
• How NAS/NFS is used with ESX Server
• Addressing and Access Control with NFS
• Configure an NFS Datastore
• Storage Considerations
• Storage Comparison-Fibre Channel, NAS, iSCSI
• ESX Server Feature Comparison by Storage Type

Module 6: VirtualCenter Installation

• VirtualCenter Software Installation
• VirtualCenter Components
• VirtualCenter Architecture
• VirtualCenter Database
• VMware License Server (Centralized Licensing)
• VirtualCenter Server Services
• VMware Infrastructure Client Overview
• ESX Server and VirtualCenter Communication
• Backup Strategy for VirtualCenter Server
• VirtualCenter Inventory Hierarchy
• VirtualCenter Inventory: Multiple Data Centers
• VirtualCenter Inventory: Folders and Subfolders
• VirtualCenter Inventory: Clusters
• Using VirtualCenter to Manage Hosts and VMs
• Scheduled Tasks
• Administration

Module 7: Virtual Machine Creation and Management

• Create a Virtual Machine (VM)
• What VM Is
• VM Virtual Hardware
• VM Console
• Install Guest OS into VM
• VMware Tools
• Create Multiple VMs
• Templates
• Deploy VM from Template
• Clone a VM
• Deploying Across Data Centers
• Virtual Appliances
• Export VM with OVF Format
• Import Virtual Appliance
• Manage VMs
• Move VM Between ESX Servers: Cold Migration
• Snapshot a VM
• Modify VM Settings
• Virtual Machine Properties Options
• Advanced - Boot Options
• VMware Converter Enterprise
• VMware Converter Enterprise Capabilities
• VMware Converter Components
• VMware Converter Concepts
• Hot Cloning
• Cold Cloning
• Importing a Server
• Guided Consolidation
• Guided Consolidaion
• Guided Consolidation Architecture
• Physical System Discovery
• Plan Consolidation

Module 8: Access Control

• VMware Infrastructure User Access
• Security Model Overview
• Defining Users and Groups
• Permissions
• VirtualCenter Security Model
• ESX Server Security Model
• Default Permissions for ESX Server
• Accessing VMs Using Web Access
• Web Access
• Web Access Tasks

Module 9: Resource Management

• Using Resource Pools
• VM CPU Resource Settings
• VM Memory Resource Settings
• How VMs Compete for Resources
• Configuring a Pool's Resources
• Viewing Resource Pool Information
• Expandable Reservation
• Admission Control for CPU and Memory Reservations
• Migrate VMs with VMotion
• Move VM Between ESX Servers: VMotion Migration
• How VMotion Works
• Requirements for VMotion
• CPU Constraints on VMotion
• Checking VMotion Errors
• Storage VMotion
• Introduction to Storage VMotion
• How Storage VMotion Works
• Storage VMotion - Best Practices
• Requirements and Limitations
• VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS)
• DRS Clusters
• DRS Cluster Settings
• Add Hosts to Cluster
• Best Practices for DRS
• Resource Pools in a DRS Cluster
• Delegated Administration
• Monitor Cluster Usage
• Adding Host to DRS Cluster
• Building and Monitoring DRS Clusters
• Guidelines for Initial VM CPU Resources
• Guidelines for Initial VM Memory Resources
• Guidelines for Resource Allocation
• Monitoring the DRS Cluster
• DRS Cluster Memory Resources
• Guidelines for DRS Clusters

Module 10: Resource Monitoring

• Tools for Resource Optimization
• Virtual CPUs
• Hyper-Threading
• VMkernel CPU Load Balancing
• Transparent Memory Page Sharing
• vmmemctl: The Balloon-Driver Mechanism
• VMkernel Swap
• Monitor VM Performance
• Performance Tuning Methodology
• Monitoring VM Resource Use with Performance Graphs
• Tools for Improving VM CPU and Memory Performance
• Monitoring Using Performance-Based Alarms
• Creating a VM-Based Alarm
• Creating a Host-Based Alarm
• Actions to Take When an Alarm is Triggered
• Using Alarms to Monitor CPU and Memory Usage
• Configure VirtualCenter Notifications

Module 11: Business Continuity and Data Protection

• Virtual Machine High Availability
• Clustering Options
• Shared Storage Summary
• HBA Configuration for MSCS Clusters
• Configuring VMware HA
• What is VMware HA
• VMware HA in Action
• Guidelines for Restart Priority Setting
• Guidelines for Isolation Response Setting
• Customize VMware HA Cluster Behavior
• Customize VM Behavior in an HA Cluster
• Impact of DRS Affinity Rules on HA Clusters
• VMware HA Best Practices
• Troubleshooting VMware HA
• Backup Strategies
• General Guideline for VM Backups
• Strategies for VM Backups
• Strategies for Service Console Backups
• How VCB works
• VMware Consolidated Backup (VCB)
• Virtual Machine Snapshots
• Files that Make Up the Snapshot
• VCB File-Level Backup
• VCB Full Virtual Machine Backup
• Full Virtual Machine Backup: How it Works
• Multipath Software on the VCB Proxy Server
• VCB Log Files
• Using VCB Command Line Utilities
• Using VCB Command-Line Utilities
• Identify a Virtual Machine(s) Backup or Snapshot
• Perform a Full Virtual Machine Backup
• Back Up Individual Virtual Disks
• Restore from VCB Backups
• Image Level Restoration
• File Level Restoration
• Restoration Using VMware Converter

Module 12: Operational Maintenance

• VMware Update Manager
• VMware Update Manager Overview
• Installing VMware Update Manager
• Installing Client Plug-In
• Configuring VMware Update Manager Settings
• Scheduling Downloads
• Installing the Guest Agent
• Baseline Creation
• Updates Needed
• Report on a Non-Compliant VM
• Remediate: Baseline and Updates
• Responding to Guest Remediation Failure
• Scanning ESX Hosts
• DRS-enabled Remediation
• Troubleshooting - Update Manager

Module 13: Modify Logging Behavior

• Configure Logging for vpxd and vpxa
• Windows Environment Variables
• VirtualCenter Installation Logs
• The VirtualCenter Server Configuration File
• VirtualCenter Server - vpxd Logs
• Adjusting Log Detail With VI Client
• Log Options for vpxd & vpxa
• VI Client Log File Locations - VI Client Logs
• Miscellaneous VirtualCenter Log File Locations
• Virtual Machine Logging
• Consolidating Service Console Log Files
• Configure Logging on the Service Console
• How to Configure /etc/syslog.conf
• ESX Specific syslog.conf Entries
• Using the logger Command
• Rotating Service Console Log Files
• Rotating Service Console Log Files
• Third-Party Logs

Module 14: Service Console Security

• Configure SSH
• Direct ESX Server Login Authentication Process
• Controlling Remote Service Console Access
• Enable an Illegal Access Warning
• Tracking User Access
• Configure sudo
• Using the Switch User Command
• Limiting Access to the su Command
• Configuring sudo
• Preventing Shell Escapes
• ESX Command Summary
• Service Console OS Command Summary
• ConfigureTCP Wrappers
• Controlling Host Access
• Advantages of TCP Wrappers
• TCP Wrapper Flow

Module 15: Rapid Provisioning of ESX Servers

• Scripted ESX Server Installations/Overview of Scripted
• Create an Installation Script
• Installation Script Content
• Common Deployment Scenarios