Section 9.1. Introduction

9.1. Introduction

The focus of this chapter will be the administration of a virtual infrastructure. Changing from the legacy mind-set of a single OS per physical server to a virtualized infrastructure is a paradigm shift that will require a change in thought process. You no longer need to be as concerned with rack space because your focus will now be on managing a pool of virtual resources and how to partition physical servers and administer virtual machines. Your server resources (VMs) are no longer tied to a physical servers, and you have the ability to move a running VM from one physical server to another without missing a beat (If you haven't seen VMotion in action, all I can say is sweet!). This chapter delves into VirtualCenter, which is one of the coolest products on the market for managing a virtual infrastructure. For those organizations that are strapped for cash we will also explore using the ESX Server Management Interface (MUI) for administering the virtual infrastructure. Topics such as systems requirements, VirtualCenter terms and concepts, performance management, as well as security, will be covered. You will learn how to deploy templates and perform migrations of VMs with VMotion. VMware has created three product categories that are as follows:

• vManage Includes VMware VirtualCenter with VMotion

• vPlatform Includes VMware ESX Server, Virtual SMP, GSX Server, Workstation and ACE

• vTools Currently includes VMware P2V assistant

VirtualCenter is the focus of this chapter, but in reality you'll probably use a hybrid approach to manage your virtual infrastructure because depending on your task, the MUI may work just fine, whereas other times VirtualCenter will be your best option. So once you get over the learning curve associated with this paradigm shift you'll start grasping the most efficient way to manage your virtual infrastructure. We hope this chapter points you in the right direction and increases your knowledge of the products.