About the Authors xviii Dedications xix Acknowledgments xx About the Reviewers xxi Reader Services xxii Introduction xxiii Chapter 1 Administrator Tools 3 "Do I Know This Already?" Quiz 3 Foundation Topics 6 VMware vSphere Client 6 Installation 6 Usage 7 ESXCLI Command Set 11 Getting Started 11 Navigating the Namespace 13 Formatting ESXCLI Output 16 vmkfstools Command 18 Help Information 18 Managing VMFS Datastores 19 Managing Virtual Disks 22 esxtop and resxtop Commands 23 Overview 23 Usage 24 Batch Mode 27 vCLI and vMA 29 Overview 29 esxcfg Commands 30 Deploying the vMA 30 Authentication and Authorization for the vMA 31 Fastpass 33 File Manipulation with vifs 35 PowerCLI 36 Installation 37 Usage 37 Running Scripts in VMs 41 Summary 41 Exam Preparation Tasks 42 Review All the Key Topics 42 Key Terms 43 Review Tasks 43 Chapter 2 Network Administration 45 "Do I Know This Already?" Quiz 45 Foundation Topics 48 Implement and Manage Complex Networks 48 Overview 48 Confi gure SNMP 59 VMware Direct Path I/O 61 Migrate from Standard to Distributed Virtual Switches 62 Confi gure Virtual Switches Using CLI Commands 66 Analyze Virtual Switches Using ESXCLI 67 Confi gure NetFlow 68 Discovery Protocols 68 Confi gure and Maintain VLANs and PVLANs 69 Types of VLANs and PVLANs 69 Determine Use Cases for VLAN Trunking 70 Determine Use Cases for PVLAN Trunking 71 Command Tools to Troubleshoot and Identify VLAN Confi gurations 73 Deploy and Maintain Scalable Virtual Networking 74 Identify NIC Teaming Policies 74 Determine and Apply Failover Settings 77 Confi gure Port Groups to Properly Isolate Network Traffi c 79 Administer vSphere Distributed Switches 79 Understand the Use of Command-line Tools to Confi gure Distributed Virtual Switch Settings on an ESXi Host 80 Determine Use Cases and Apply Port Binding Settings 80 Live Port Moving 81 Identify Distributed Virtual Switch Technologies to Satisfy Network Requirements 81 Confi gure and Administer vSphere Network I/O Control 83 Summary 85 Exam Preparation Tasks 85 Review All the Key Topics 85 Defi nitions of Key Terms 86 Review Tasks 86 Chapter 3 Storage Concepts 89 "Do I Know This Already?" Quiz 90 RAID Levels 92 Raid-0 (Striping at the Block-level) 92 Raid 1 (Mirroring) 93 Raid 5 (Striping with Distributed Parity) 94 Supported HBA Types 94 Virtual Disk Format Types 95 Lazy-zeroed Thick 95 Eager-zeroed Thick 96 Thin Provisioned 96 RDM 98 N-Port ID Virtualization 99 VMware DirectPath I/O 101 vCenter Server Storage Filters 102 Understanding and Applying VMFS Re-signaturing 104 VAAI Hardware Acceleration 106 Block Devices Hardware Acceleration 107 NAS Hardware Acceleration 108 Confi guring and Administering Profi le-based Storage 109 Preparing Storage for Maintenance 114 Upgrading VMware Storage Infrastructure 115 Identifying Storage Provisioning Methods 116 Confi guring Datastore Alarms 117 Confi guring Datastore Clusters 120 Confi guring Software iSCSI Port Binding 123 Pluggable Storage Architecture Layout 124 MPP 125 NMP 125 SATP 126 PSP 126 Installing and Confi guring PSA Plug-ins 126 LUN Masking Using PSA-related Commands 127 Multipathing Policies 132 Changing a Multipath Policy 132 Identifying and Tagging SSD Devices 133 Summary 134 Exam Preparation Tasks 135 Review All the Key Topics 135 Key Terms 135 Review Tasks 135 Chapter 4 Performance 139 "Do I Know This Already?" Quiz 139 Foundation Topics 142 Tune and Optimize vSphere Performance 142 Capacity Planning and Peak Workload 142 Tune ESXi Host Memory Confi guration 142 Tune ESXi Host Networking Confi guration 146 Tune ESXi Host CPU Confi guration 147 Tune ESXi Host Storage Confi guration 148 Confi gure and Apply Advanced ESXi Host Attributes 150 Confi gure and Apply Advanced Virtual Machine Attributes 150 Confi gure Advanced Cluster Attributes 154 Optimize Virtual Machine Resources 154 Tune Virtual Machine Memory Confi gurations 154 Tune Virtual Machine Networking Confi gurations 155 Tune Virtual Machine CPU Confi gurations 155 Tune Virtual Machine Storage Confi gurations 156 Calculate Available Resources 157 Properly Size a Virtual Machine Based on Application Workload 158 Modify Large Memory Page Settings 159 Understand Appropriate Use Cases for CPU Affi nity 161 Confi gure Alternative Virtual Machine Swap Locations 162 Utilize Advanced vSphere Performance Monitoring Tools 163 Confi gure ESXTOP/RESXTOP Custom Profi les 164 ESXTOP Interactive, Batch, and Replay Modes 165 Use vscsiStats to Gather Storage Performance Data 168 Troubleshoot CPU and Memory Performance 170 Troubleshoot CPU Performance Issues 170 Troubleshoot Memory Performance Issues 172 Use Hot-Add Functionality to Address CPU and Memory Performance Issues 174 Troubleshoot Network Performance and Connectivity 176 Use net-dvs to Troubleshoot vSphere Distributed Switch Confi gurations 176 Use vSphere CLI Commands to Troubleshoot ESXi Network Confi gurations 177 Troubleshoot Private VLANs 179 Troubleshoot VMkernel-related Network Confi guration Issues 180 Troubleshoot DNS- and Routing-related Issues 182 Use ESXTOP/RESXTOP to Identify Network Performance Problems 183 Determine Whether the Root Cause Originates in the Physical Network Infrastructure 184 Confi gure and Administer Port Mirroring 184 Utilize the DCUI and the ESXi Shell to Troubleshoot ESXi Networking 185 Troubleshoot Storage Performance and Connectivity 188 Use ESXCLI Commands to Troubleshoot Multipathing- and PSA-related Issues 188 Use ESXCLI Commands to Troubleshoot VMkernel Storage Module Confi gurations 192 Use ESXCLI Commands to Troubleshoot iSCSI-related Issues 193 Troubleshoot NFS Mounting and Permission Issues 194 Use ESXTOP and vscsiStats to Identify Storage Performance Issues 196 Confi gure and Troubleshoot VMFS Datastores Issues Using VMKFSTOOLS 198 Troubleshoot Storage Snapshot and Resignaturing Issues 200 Analyze Log Files to Identify Storage and Multipathing Problems 201 Troubleshoot vCenter Server and ESXi Host Management 202 Troubleshoot vCenter Server Service and Database Connection Issues 203 Troubleshoot ESXi Firewall Issues 203 Troubleshoot ESXi Host Management and Connectivity Issues 205 Summary 205 Exam Preparation Tasks 206 Review All the Key Topics 206 Defi nitions of Key Terms 206 Review Tasks 207 Chapter 5 Clusters 209 "Do I Know This Already?" Quiz 209 Foundation Topics 212 VMware High Availability 212 Overview 212 Implement and Maintain Complex HA Solutions 213 Admission Control Policies and Determining the Best Policy 214 Create a Custom Slot Size Confi guration 215 Heartbeats and Dependencies 217 Customize Isolation Response Settings 218 Confi gure HA Redundancy 218 Calculate Host Failure Requirements 220 Confi gure HA-related Alarms and Monitor HA Clusters 221 Interactions Between DRS and HA 222 Use PowerCLI to Confi gure HA 222 VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler 223 DRS Overview 223 DRS Confi guration 223 DRS Affi nity and Anti-affi nity Rules 226 DRS Alarms 229 Use PowerCLI to Confi gure DRS 229 VMware Storage DRS 230 Storage DRS Overview 230 Storage DRS Confi guration 230 Storage DRS Affi nity and Anti-affi nity Rules 233 Storage DRS Alarms 235 Use PowerCLI to Confi gure SDRS 237 VMware Distributed Power Management 237 DPM Overview 237 DPM Confi guration 238 DPM Alarms 241 Use PowerCLI to Confi gure DPM 241 VMware Enhanced vMotion Compatibility 241 EVC Overview 241 EVC Confi guration 242 VMware Fault Tolerance 243 Overview 244 Requirements 244 Confi guration and Best Practices 245 FT Logging Confi guration 246 Operation 246 Summary 247 Exam Preparation Tasks 247 Review All the Key Topics 247 Defi nitions of Key Terms 248 Review Tasks 248 Chapter 6 Patch Management 251 "Do I Know This Already?" Quiz 251 Foundation Topics 254 Install and Confi gure VMware Update Manager 254 Overview 254 VUM Installation 255 VUM Confi guration 260 Shared Repository and Download to Repository 263 Create and Modify Baseline Groups 265 Orchestrated vSphere Upgrades 267 Troubleshooting and Reporting 275 Troubleshooting 276 VUM Reporting Using Excel 278 VUM Reporting Using SQL Server Query 278 Upgrade vApps and Appliances 279 Upgrade vApps 279 Smart Rebooting 279 Upgrade Virtual Appliances 280 PowerCLI and Update Manager Utility 280 VUM PowerCLI Installation and Usage 280 Update Manager Utility 282 Summary 284 Exam Preparation Tasks 284 R.