Module 2 – Lesson 1: Overview of vSphere and Virtual Machines Video Transcript

Module 2 – Lesson 1: Overview of vSphere and Virtual Machines

Video Transcript

Slide 1
Welcome back! We will now begin Lesson 1: Overview of vSphere and Virtual Machines.

Slide 2
We will begin with the learner objectives for this lesson.
After completing this lesson, you should be able to meet the following objectives:
• Explain basic virtualization concepts,
• Describe how vSphere fits into the software-defined data center and the cloud
infrastructure,
• And describe how to proactively manage your vSphere environment.

Slide 3
Here we have the terminology covered in this lesson.
Virtualization is associated with several key concepts, products, and features, and it is
important to know and understand them.
To begin, an Operating System is software designed to allocate physical resources to
applications, and by extension an Application is software that runs on an operating system,
consuming said physical resources.
A Virtual Machine is a Specialized application that abstracts hardware resources into software.
A Guest, or Guest operating system, is the operating system that runs in a VM.
The Hypervisor is a specialized operating system designed to run VMs, examples are ESXi,
Workstation, and Fusion.
And the Host. It is the physical computer that provides resources to the ESXi hypervisor.

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Module 2 – Lesson 1: Overview of vSphere and Virtual Machines Video Transcript

Slide 4
Next, we have vSphere, which is a server virtualization product of VMware that combines the
ESXi hypervisor and the vCenter Server management platform.
A Cluster is a group of ESXi hosts whose resources are shared by VMs.
vSphere vMotion is a feature that supports the migration of powered-on VMs from host to host
without service interruption.
vSphere HA is a Cluster feature that protects against host hardware failures by restarting VMs
on hosts that are running normally.
And finally, vSphere DRS is also a Cluster feature that uses vSphere vMotion to place VMs on
hosts and ensure that each VM receives the resources that it needs.

Slide 5
Alright, now let’s look at Virtual Machines.
A virtual machine or VM is a software representation of a physical computer and its
components. The virtualization software converts the physical machine and its components into
files. A VM includes a set of specification and configuration files and is supported by the
physical resources of a host. Every VM has virtual devices that provide the same functionality
as physical hardware but are more portable, more secure, and easier to manage. VMs typically
include an operating system, applications, VMware Tools, and both virtual resources and
hardware resources that you manage in much the same way as you manage a physical
computer.
VMware Tools is a bundle of drivers. Using these drivers, the guest operating system can
interact efficiently with the guest hardware. VMware Tools adds extra functionality so that
ESXi can better manage the VM's use of physical hardware.

Slide 6
Here we can see some of the Benefits of Using Virtual Machines.
In physical machines, the operating system (for example, Windows or Linux) is installed
directly on the hardware.
The operating system requires specific device drivers to support specific hardware. If the
computer is upgraded with new hardware, new device drivers are required. If applications
interface directly with hardware drivers, an upgrade to the hardware, drivers, or both can have
significant repercussions if incompatibilities exist.
Because of these potential repercussions, hands-on technical support personnel must test
hardware upgrades against a wide variety of application suites and operating systems.
Such testing costs time and money.
Virtualizing these systems saves on such costs because VMs are 100 percent software. Multiple
VMs are isolated from one another. You can have a database server and an email server
running on the same physical computer.
The isolation between the VMs means that software-dependency conflicts are not a problem.
Even users with system administrator privileges on a VM’s guest operating system cannot
breach this layer of isolation to access another VM. These users must explicitly be granted
access by the ESXi system administrator. As a result of VM isolation, if a guest operating
system running in a VM fails, other VMs on the same host are unaffected and continue to run.
A guest operating system failure does not affect access and performance since:

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Module 2 – Lesson 1: Overview of vSphere and Virtual Machines Video Transcript

• Users can still access the other VMs.

• The operational VMs can access the resources that they need.
• And the other VMs can still perform.
With VMs, you can consolidate your physical servers and make more efficient use of your
hardware. Because a VM is a set of files, features that are not available or not as efficient on
physical architectures are available to you, for example:
• You can rapidly and consistently provision VMs.
• With VMs, you can use live migration, fault tolerance, high availability, and disaster
recovery scenarios to increase uptime and reduce recovery time from failures.
• And you can use multitenancy to mix VMs into specialized configurations, such as a
DMZ.
With VMs, you can support legacy applications and operating systems on newer hardware
when maintenance contracts on the existing hardware expire.

Slide 7
Now we will look at the different types of Virtualization.
Virtualization is the process of creating a software-based representation of something physical,
such as a server, desktop, network, or storage device.
Virtualization is the single most effective way to reduce IT expenses while boosting efficiency
and agility for all business sizes.
Here we see Server virtualization which addresses inefficiencies by allowing multiple operating
systems to run on a single physical server as VMs, each with access to the underlying server’s
computing resources.
Network virtualization is the complete reproduction of a physical network in software.
Applications run on the virtual network exactly as if on a physical network.
Storage virtualization is the process of creating a software-based representation of network
storage devices into what appears to be a single unit. And by deploying desktops as a managed
service, you can respond more quickly to changing needs and opportunities.

Slide 8
Next, we will talk about the Software-Defined Data Center. A software-defined virtual data
center or SDDC is deployed with isolated computing, storage, networking, and security
resources that are faster than the traditional, hardware-based data center.
All the resources (CPU, memory, disk, and network) of a software-defined data center are
abstracted into files. This abstraction brings the benefits of virtualization at all levels of the
infrastructure, independent of the physical infrastructure. An SDDC can include the following
components:
• First is Service management and automation: We will use service management and
automation to track and analyze the operation of multiple data sources in the
multiregion SDDC. And deploy vRealize Operations Manager and vRealize Log Insight
across multiple nodes for continued availability and increased log ingestion rates.

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Module 2 – Lesson 1: Overview of vSphere and Virtual Machines Video Transcript

• Next is the Cloud management layer: This layer includes the service catalog, which
houses the facilities to be deployed. The cloud management layer also includes
orchestration, which provides the workflows to deploy catalog items, and the self-
service portal for end users to access and use the SDDC.
• Then we have the Virtual infrastructure layer: This layer establishes a robust virtualized
environment that all other solutions integrate with. The virtual infrastructure layer
includes the virtualization platform for the hypervisor, pools of resources, and
virtualization control. Additional processes and technologies build on the infrastructure
to support Infrastructure as a Service or IaaS and Platform as a Service or PaaS.
• Then we have the Physical layer: This is the lowest layer of the solution but includes
compute, storage, and network components.
• And lastly, we have Security: Customers use this layer of the platform to meet
demanding compliance requirements for virtualized workloads and to manage business
risk.

Slide 9
Here we will have a look at vSphere and Cloud Computing.
As defined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology or NIST, cloud computing is
a model for the ubiquitous, convenient, and on-demand network access to a shared pool of
configurable computing resources.
For example, networks, servers, storage, applications, and services can be rapidly provisioned
and released with minimal management effort or little service provider interaction.
vSphere is the foundation for the technology that supports shared and configurable resource
pools. vSphere abstracts the physical resources of the data center to separate the workload from
the physical hardware.
A software user interface can provide the framework for managing and maintaining this
abstraction and allocation.
VMware Cloud Foundation is the unified SDDC platform that bundles vSphere (ESXi and
vCenter Server), vSAN, and NSX into a natively integrated stack to deliver enterprise-ready
cloud infrastructure. VMware Cloud Foundation discovers the hardware, installs the VMware
stack (ESXi, vCenter Server, vSAN, and NSX), manages updates, and performs lifecycle
management.
VMware Cloud Foundation can be self-deployed on compatible hardware or preloaded by
partners and can be used in both private and public clouds such as VMware Cloud on AWS or
VMware cloud providers.
Some use cases are:
• The Cloud infrastructure: We can use this to exploit the high performance, availability,
and scalability of the SDDC to run mission-critical applications such as databases, web
applications, and virtual desktop infrastructure (or VDI).
• Next, we have IT automation: This automates infrastructure and application delivery
with self-service capabilities.

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Module 2 – Lesson 1: Overview of vSphere and Virtual Machines Video Transcript

• Then we have VDI: This provides a complete solution for VDI deployment at scale. It
simplifies the planning and design with standardized and tested solutions fully
optimized for VDI workloads.
• And lastly, we have the Hybrid cloud: You can build a hybrid cloud with a common
infrastructure and a consistent operational model, connecting your on-premises and off-
premises data center that is compatible, stretched, and distributed.
To find out more about VMware cloud computing, you can go to vmware.com/cloud-
computing/overview.html.

Slide 10
Now we will look at VMware Skyline.
VMware Skyline shortens the time it takes to resolve a problem so that you can get back to
business quickly. VMware Technical Support engineers can use VMware Skyline to view your
environment's configuration and the specific, data-driven analytics to help speed up problem
resolution. VMware Skyline provides the following benefits:
• First, we have Issue avoidance: This proactively identifies potential issues based on
environment-specific configuration, details, and usage.
• And it resolves issues before they even occur, improving environment reliability and
stability.
• It also shortens time to resolution: With Environment-specific, data-driven analytics
which accelerate problem resolution.
• It also provides personalized recommendations: so that the Resolution is specific to your
environment.
• And, there are no additional costs: You receive additional value with your current
support subscription such as Basic, Production, or Premier support.

Slide 11
Here we see the VMware Skyline Family which includes Skyline Health and Skyline Advisor.
Let’s look at some of the differences between them.
With Basic Support, you can access Skyline findings and recommendations for vSphere and
vSAN by using Skyline Health in the vSphere Client (version 6.7 and later).
With Production or Premier Support, you must use Skyline Advisor and the full functionality of
Skyline (including Log Assist).
With Premier Support, you receive additional Skyline features that are not available with
Production Support, for example:
• You receive an advanced set of proactive findings and recommendations.
• You receive scheduled and custom operational summary reports that provide an
overview of the proactive findings and recommendations.
• And you receive all additional benefits of Premier Support, including the following
services:
o A designated support team
o Direct access to senior-level technical support engineers
o Assistance with multivendor troubleshooting
o And onsite support services, such as Mission Critical Support or MCS,
Healthcare Critical Support or HCS, and Carrier Grade Support or CGS

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Module 2 – Lesson 1: Overview of vSphere and Virtual Machines Video Transcript

Skyline supports vSphere, NSX for vSphere, vSAN, VMware Horizon, and vRealize
Operations Manager. A Skyline management pack for vRealize Operations Manager is also
available. If you install this management pack, you can see the Skyline proactive findings and
recommendations within the vRealize Operations Manager client.
The identification and tagging of VxRail and VMware Validated Design deployments help you
and VMware Technical Support to better understand and support multiproduct solutions.
Skyline also identifies all ESXi 5.5 objects within a vCenter Server instance and provides
additional information in VMware knowledge base article 51491 at kb.vmware.com/kb/51491.
This article details the end of general support for vSphere 5.5. For versions of vSphere, vSAN,
NSX for vSphere, VMware Horizon, and vRealize Operations Manager that are supported by
Skyline, see the Skyline Collector Release Notes at docs.vmware.com.

Slide 12
To review, you should now be able to meet the following objectives:
• Explain basic virtualization concepts, such as what a host, guest, VM, and hypervisor
are and how they work together.
• You should also be able to describe how vSphere fits into the software-defined data
center and the cloud infrastructure, and the different layers therein.
• And finally, you should be able to describe how to proactively manage your vSphere
environment with tools such as Vmware Skyline, and their suite of offerings.
This is the end of the Lesson 1 Lecture. If you have any questions, please contact your
instructor. We will see you in the next lesson, and thank you for watching!

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