what is VMware VMotion and Storage VMotion

VMotion, also known as live migration, is a feature of
ESX/ESXi and vCenter Server that allows a running virtual machine to be moved from one physical
host to another physical host without having to power off the virtual machine.This migration
between two physical hosts occurs with no downtime and with no loss of network connectivity to
the virtual machine.

Storage VMotion moves the storage for a
running virtual machine between datastores. Much like VMotion, Storage VMotion works without
downtime to the virtual machine

what is VMware vSphere Client

VMware vSphere Client is aWindows-based application that allows you tomanage ESX/ESXi
hosts, either directly or through a vCenter Server

You can install the vSphere Client by browsing
to the URL of an ESX/ESXi host or vCenter Server and selecting the appropriate installation link

The vSphere Client manages an individual ESX/ESXi host by authenticating with an
account local to that host; however, it manages an entire enterprise by authenticating to a
vCenter Server using a Windows account.

what is VMware vCenter Update Manager

vCenter Update Manager is a plug-in for vCenter Server that helps users keep their ESX/ESXi
hosts and select virtual machines patched with the latest updates

1. Scans to identify systems that are not compliant with the latest updates
2. User-defined rules for identifying out-of-date systems
3. Automated installation of patches for ESX/ESXi hosts
4. Full integration with other vSphere features
5. Support for patching Windows and Linux operating systems
6. Support for patching select Windows applications inside virtual machines

what is VMware vCenter Server ?

centralized management utility for all ESX/ESXi hosts and their respective virtual machines

its like windows active directory no exactly the same

vCenter Server is a Windows-based (vCenter Server for Linux is also there),
database-driven application that allows IT administrators to deploy, manage, monitor, automate,
and secure a virtual infrastructure in an almost effortless fashion

The back-end database
(Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle) that vCenter Server uses stores all the data about the hosts and
virtual machines.



Editions of VMware vCenter Server
-------------------------------------------
vCenter Server Essentials (small office)
vCenter Server Standard (all features)
vCenter Server Foundation (same as standard but limited to managingn three ESX/ESXi hosts.)

What is Virtual Symmetric Multi-Processing (vSMP)

virtual machines with multiple virtual processors

VMware Virtual SMP allows virtual machines to be created with two or four processors.

Enable root user login ESX using SSH or Via SCP

By default root user is not allowed to login ESX using SSH or SCP

Steps to allow root user login ( IT IS NOT RECOMMENDED TO LOGIN AS ROOT )

1. Goto ESX server console

2. login as normal User

3. SU as root ( su root )

4. cd /etc/ssh

5. then ls -l

6.  sshd_config file is present there ( that is the file we should modify )

7. then vi sshd_config

8. PermitRootLogin no ( by default , so change that to yes )

9. PermitRootLogin yes ( save and exit)

10. Restart service sshd daemon

11. /sbin/service sshd restart

12. reconnect and try to login as root ( hmm !!! it works !! )

What is Storage Virtualization ?

Generally Physical hard disks are used as storage devices.

these physical devices are directly mapped and data is stored on those physical addresses directly.

but when it comes to storage virtualization

SAN etc are used and the storage destination is Logical (or virtual)

storage mapping is done with logical objects

benefits of storage virtualization

Less cost

easy administration (include backup etc)

easy migration of data