Course Content
VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage Content
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Course Introduction
Introduction to vSphere and the Software Defined Data Center
As a vSphere administrator, you must be familiar with the components on which vSphere is based. You must also understand the following concepts: Virtualization, the role of the ESXi hypervisor in virtualization and virtual machines Fundamental vSphere components and the use of vSphere in the software-defined data center Use of vSphere clients to administer and manage vSphere environments
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Overview of vSphere and Virtual Machines
vSphere Virtualization of Resources
vSphere User Interfaces
Overview of ESXi
Virtual Machines
You can create a virtual machine in several ways. Choosing the correct method can save you time and make the deployment process manageable and scalable.
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Creating Virtual Machines
Virtual Machine Hardware Deep Dive
Introduction to Containers
vCenter Server
vCenter Server helps you centrally manage multiple ESXi hosts and their virtual machines. If you do not properly deploy, configure, and manage vCenter Server Appliance, your environment might experience reduced administrative efficiency or ESXi host and virtual machine downtime.
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Centralized Management with vCenter Server
Deploying vCenter Server Appliance
vSphere Licensing
Managing the vCenter Server Inventory
vCenter Server Roles and Permissions
Monitoring vCenter Server Appliance
Backing Up and Restoring vCenter Server Appliance
vCenter Server High Availability
Configuring and Managing Virtual Networks
When you configure ESXi networking properly, virtual machines can communicate with other virtual, and physical, machines. In this way, remote host management and IP-based storage operate effectively.
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Introduction to vSphere Standard Switches
Configuring Standard Switch Policies
Configuring and Managing Virtual Storage
Understanding the available storage options helps you set up your storage according to your cost, performance, and manageability requirements. You can use shared storage for disaster recovery, high availability, and moving virtual machines between hosts.
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vSphere Storage Concepts
Fibre Channel Storage
iSCSI Storage
VMFS Datastores
NFS Datastores
vSAN Datastores
Virtual Machine Management
Virtual machines are the foundation of your virtual infrastructure. Managing VMs effectively requires skills in creating templates and clones, modifying VMs, migrating VMs, taking snapshots, and protecting the VMs through replication and backups.
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Creating Templates and Clones
Working with Content Libraries
Modifying Virtual Machines
Migrating VMs with vSphere vMotion
Enhanced vMotion Compatibility
Migrating VMs with vSphere Storage vMotion
Creating Virtual Machine Snapshots
vSphere Replication and Backup
Resource Management and Monitoring
Although the VMkernel works proactively to avoid resource contention, maximizing performance requires both analysis and ongoing monitoring. Developing skills in resource management, you can dynamically reallocate resources so that you can use available capacity more efficiently.
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Virtual CPU and Memory Concepts
vSphere Resource Controls
vSphere Resource Monitoring Tools
Monitoring Resource Use in vSphere
Using Alarms in vSphere
vSphere Clusters
Most organizations rely on computer-based services like email, databases, and web-based applications. The failure of any of these services can mean lost productivity and revenue. By understanding and using vSphere HA, you can configure highly available, computer-based services, which are important for an organization to remain competitive in contemporary business environments. And by developing skills in using vSphere DRS, you can improve service levels by guaranteeing appropriate resources to virtual machines.
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vSphere Clusters Overview
vSphere DRS
Introduction to vSphere HA
vSphere HA Architecture
Configuring vSphere HA
Introduction to vSphere Fault Tolerance
vSphere Lifecycle Management
Managing the life cycle of vSphere involves keeping vCenter Server and ESXi hosts up to date and integrated with other VMware and third-party solutions. To achieve these goals, you must understand how to use the new features provided by vSphere Lifecycle Manager, namely, clusterlevel management of ESXi hosts and the vCenter Server Update Planner.
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vCenter Server Update Planner
Overview of vSphere Lifecycle Manager
Working with Baselines
Working with Images
Managing the Life Cycle of VMware Tools and VM Hardware
VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage
About Lesson

Configuring Standard Switch Policies

Learner Objectives

After completing this lesson, you should be able to meet the following objectives:

  • Explain how to set the security policies for a standard switch port group
  • Explain how to set the traffic shaping policies for a standard switch port group
  • Explain how to set the NIC teaming and failover policies for a standard switch port group

Network Switch and Port Policies

Policies that are set at the standard switch level apply to all port groups on the standard switch by default.

Available network policies:

  • Security
  • Traffic shaping
  • NIC teaming and failover

Policy levels:

  • Standard switch level: Default policies for all the ports on the standard switch.
  • Port group level: Effective policies defined at this level override the default policies that are set at the standard switch level.

Configuring Security Policies

As an administrator, you can define security policies at both the standard switch level and the port group level:

  • Promiscuous mode: You can allow a virtual switch or port group to forward all traffic regardless of the destination.
  • MAC address changes: You can accept or reject inbound traffic when the MAC address is altered by the guest.
  • Forged transmits: You can accept or reject outbound traffic when the MAC address is altered by the guest.

Traffic-Shaping Policies

  • Network traffic shaping is a mechanism for limiting a virtual machine’s consumption of available network bandwidth.
  • Average rate, peak rate, and burst size are configurable.

Configuring Traffic Shaping

A traffic-shaping policy is defined by average bandwidth, peak bandwidth, and burst size. You can establish a traffic-shaping policy for each port group and each distributed port or distributed port group:

  • Traffic shaping is disabled by default.
  • Parameters apply to each virtual NIC in the standard switch.
  • On a standard switch, traffic shaping controls only outbound traffic, that is, traffic traveling from the VMs to the virtual switch and out onto the physical network.

NIC Teaming and Failover Policies

With NIC teaming, you can increase the network capacity of a virtual switch by including two or more physical NICs in a team.

Load-Balancing Method: Originating Virtual Port ID

With the load-balancing method that is based on the originating virtual port ID, a virtual machine’s outbound traffic is mapped to a specific physical NIC.

Load-Balancing Method: Source MAC Hash

For the load-balancing method based on source MAC hash, each virtual machine’s outbound traffic is mapped to a specific physical NIC that is based on the virtual NIC’s MAC address.

Load-Balancing Method: Source and Destination IP Hash

With the IP-based load-balancing method, a NIC for each outbound packet is selected based on its source and destination IP addresses.

Detecting and Handling Network Failure

The VMkernel can use link status or beaconing, or both, to detect a network failure.

Network failure is detected by the VMkernel, which monitors the link state and performs beacon probing.

The VMkernel notifies physical switches of changes in the physical location of a MAC address.

Failover is implemented by the VMkernel based on configurable parameters:

  • Failback: How the physical adapter is returned to active duty after recovering from failure.
  • Load-balancing option: Use explicit failover order. Always use the vmnic uplink at the top of the active adapter list.

Physical Network Considerations

Your virtual networking environment relies on the physical network infrastructure. As a vSphere administrator, you should discuss your vSphere networking needs with your network administration team. The following issues are topics for discussion:

  • Number of physical switches
  • Network bandwidth required
  • Physical switch configuration support for 802.3ad, for NIC teaming
  • Physical switch configuration support for 802.1Q, for VLAN tagging
  • Physical switch configuration support for Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP)
  • Network port security
  • Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) and Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) and their operation modes, such as listen, broadcast, listen and broadcast, and disabled

Review of Learner Objectives

After completing this Configuring Standard Switch Policies lesson, you should be able to meet the following objectives:

  • Explain how to set the security policies for a standard switch port group
  • Explain how to set the traffic shaping policies for a standard switch port group
  • Explain how to set the NIC teaming and failover policies for a standard switch port group

Key Points

  • Virtual switches can have the following connection types: VM port group, VMkernel port, and physical uplinks.
  • A standard switch is a virtual switch configuration for a single host.
  • Network policies set at the standard switch level can be overridden at the port group level.
  • A distributed switch provides centralized management and monitoring for the networking configuration of all ESXi hosts that are associated with the switch.
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