Ask the Experts

Ask the Experts

• What to consider before you install vCloud Connector

  VMware vCC requires a handful of prerequisites before you can deploy it. Install vCC once you have the correct processors, memory, network controllers and software.  Continue Reading

• The importance of vCloud Connector server, interface and nodes

  The three crucial components of vCC are the interface, the server and the nodes. The interface enables admins to modify the environment, while the server acts as the go-between.  Continue Reading

• What is vCloud Connector and what does it do?

  VMware vCC enables organizations to move workloads, such as VMs, templates and vApps, between clouds by extending the data center, synchronizing content and managing content.  Continue Reading

• Learn which edge data center types are best to virtualize

  You can implement ESXi on ARM -- or other RISC processors -- in micro and nano data centers. A nano data center is more specialized but also more limited than a micro data center.  Continue Reading

• What does an ESXi on ARM architecture look like?

  When you run a hypervisor such as VMware ESXi on ARM architecture, consolidation shouldn't be your goal; isolation, sandboxing and management should be.  Continue Reading

• Implement edge virtualization to ease device management

  Virtualization at the edge offers pros and cons. By virtualizing edge devices, admins can use a familiar management platform for devices both in and out of the data center.  Continue Reading

• Choose between CISC vs. RISC processors for edge virtualization

  CISC and RISC processing architectures have different benefits and drawbacks when it comes to implementing virtualization at the edge, but RISC processors reduce power consumption.  Continue Reading

• Can you run an enterprise workload on VMware Cloud on AWS?

  There is a small list of enterprise-class deployments and integrations known to run on VMware Cloud on AWS, but not all complex workloads are suited to the cloud yet.  Continue Reading

• Stay up to date with the VMware Cloud on AWS roadmap

  Upcoming features on the VMware Cloud on AWS roadmap include two SDKs, disaster recovery testing improvements and increased VMware Site Recovery protection.  Continue Reading

• Learn about VMware Cloud on AWS pricing and availability

  VMware Cloud on AWS offers three pricing tiers for different types of businesses and is available in most major global AWS regions. Learn which tier works best for your business.  Continue Reading

• Take advantage of these 4 VMware Cloud on AWS features

  VMware features, such as Site Recovery, vSphere vMotion, vSAN stretched clusters and Elastic Distributed Resource Scheduler, are available on VMware Cloud on AWS.  Continue Reading

• What are the limitations of free ESXi?

  VMware's ESXi hypervisor is free to license and use, but its capabilities are limited without vSphere. You get what you pay for.  Continue Reading

• These VMware and third-party VM backup tools make your job easier

  With the right tools and resources, VM backup and recovery can be easier. Consider factors such as product compatibility and future business needs before deciding what to use.  Continue Reading

• 6 VMware VM backup best practices you should know

  Understand these six crucial best practices for backing up and restoring VMs on your ESXi host. These strategies will ensure backups are protected and restoration is successful.  Continue Reading

• VMware VM backup strategies combine tradition with new methods

  Different VM backup and restoration approaches can favor consistency, speed or simplicity. Consider which you value most, and tailor your methodology to that.  Continue Reading

• Use the command line for ESXi host backup and restoration

  Backing up and properly restoring VMs are essential tasks for workload protection. Use a command-line interface, such as vSphere CLI or PowerCLI, to back up and restore the ESXi host.  Continue Reading

• How do you enable centralized vCenter logging?

  Centralize vCenter log files with vRealize Log Insight. Configuration with vSphere is simple and enables the centralization and transmission of event and task logs.  Continue Reading

• How do you reconfigure access to a VMkernel port?

  Use ESXi firewall configuration settings and VMkernel ports to control the levels of access that different services, such as Secure Shell, have to your management network.  Continue Reading

• How do you prevent host isolation during network maintenance?

  The host in a VMware high availability cluster uses a heartbeat network that can incorrectly report host isolation. Reconfigure your settings to prevent this during maintenance.  Continue Reading

• Why aren't I seeing DRS load-balancing recommendations?

  Conservative vSphere cluster settings tell DRS to only apply the recommendations that are required for host maintenance, so you might not get any load-balancing suggestions.  Continue Reading

• How should I prepare for a VMware exam?

  To prepare for a VMware certification exam, study the blueprint that VMware provides. You can also save some money on the test if you keep an eye out for discount codes.  Continue Reading

• How can I use and keep track of VMware flash storage devices?

  There are several uses for flash drives in VMware vSphere, but admins must keep an eye on drive lifespan. One way to do that is to compare actual usage with what vendors promise.  Continue Reading

• How are VMware thin provisioning and thick provisioning different?

  Thin provisioning helps ensure that organizations don't waste storage capacity, which is a potential pitfall of thick provisioning. But thin provisioning requires more monitoring.  Continue Reading

• What are the benefits and drawbacks of raw device mapping?

  Admins can give VMs access to storage through RDM, but some devices don't support it. And choosing physical compatibility mode affects what administrative features are available.  Continue Reading

• How does storage acceleration work in a VMware environment?

  Storage acceleration helps improve array performance by offloading storage operations from the server to the ESXi host, and it uses fewer processor and memory resources.  Continue Reading

• Navigate vROps dashboard options in the Service Discovery MP

  Admins can view infrastructure information in the services relationship, VM relationships, service distribution and service visibility dashboards of the vROps Service Discovery MP.  Continue Reading

• VMware management pack version 2.0 features and requirements

  Version 2.0 of the vRealize Operations Service Discovery Management Pack has been updated with user-defined service discovery, but consider the prerequisites before upgrading.  Continue Reading

• What does vRealize Operations Service Discovery MP do?

  The vRealize Operations Service Discovery MP automatically discovers services running on VMs, as well as the relationships and interdependencies between VMs based on network traffic patterns.  Continue Reading

• Which tools does NSX use for virtual network management?

  NSX uses VMware services, such as vRealize Operations Manager and VMware Integrated OpenStack, and integrates with third-party platforms for security and virtual network management.  Continue Reading

• Which VMware NSX editions are suited for your organization's needs?

  There are four VMware NSX editions, each with its own feature set. Learn more about these features and whether they meet the needs of your infrastructure.  Continue Reading

• Which VMware NSX features handle networking and security?

  The VMware NSX network virtualization platform provides a flexible software-defined networking overlay and granular security to round out the company's software-defined data center.  Continue Reading

• What are the benefits of the NSX network virtualization platform?

  VMware's NSX network virtualization platform applies software-layer abstraction to networking, adds network functionality and enforces granular security policies.  Continue Reading

• What is VMware Remote Console and how do you run it?

  A vSphere administrator can use VMware Remote Console to remotely access a VM's peripherals, configuration and desktop remotely through the vSphere Web Client.  Continue Reading

• How do you upgrade VM hardware, and what are the benefits?

  You can set up your infrastructure to better take advantage of new technology in just a few steps. Perform a VM version upgrade to get the most out of what you have.  Continue Reading

• How do you use VMware ESXi logs to troubleshoot your host?

  With access to logs, you can troubleshoot your ESXi host and track issues as they crop up. You can access your logs via the console or a web browser with only a few simple steps.  Continue Reading

• What happens when you violate affinity or anti-affinity rules?

  Just because VM placement is flexible doesn't mean you should take it for granted. Affinity rule conflicts can take a serious toll on the functionality of multiple VMware platforms.  Continue Reading

• What are VM-VM and VM-host affinity and anti-affinity rules?

  It's important to create specific rules in VMware DRS to outline how different VMs and hosts behave. What kinds of affinity and anti-affinity rules are there, and how do they work?  Continue Reading

• How can a VM storage policy improve vSAN cluster redundancy?

  FTT dictates how many failures can occur in a vSAN cluster without sacrificing availability. How can you use a VM storage policy to define the amount of Failures To Tolerate?  Continue Reading

• How do you manually download VMware Tools ISO images?

  VMware Tools optimizes VMs within a vSphere infrastructure. Although it's typically bundled with ESXi hosts, you can also manually install VMware Tools via an ISO image.  Continue Reading

• What is Photon OS, and why would I use it in my data center?

  Due to its scalability, low cost and fast deployment, container technology is on the rise. How does VMware harness the power of containers in a vSphere environment?  Continue Reading

• How do deduplication and compression compare to RAID erasure coding?

  RAID 5 and RAID 6 erasure coding, deduplication and compression are similar but distinct concepts that reduce data and maintain storage capacity in virtualized environments.  Continue Reading

• How does VMware secure boot protect VMs and ESXi hosts?

  New to vSphere 6.5, the secure boot feature protects VMs and ESXi hosts from viruses, malware and spyware -- and enabling it is as easy as checking off a box.  Continue Reading

• What issues can storage I/O control present in vSphere?

  Storage I/O control can be an effective way to handle occasional storage sharing issues, but it is not always suitable for every virtual machine.  Continue Reading

• What is storage I/O control in VMware vSphere 6.5?

  VMware storage I/O control helps improve the quality of storage in vSphere. VSphere 6.5 integrates storage I/O control configurations into the VM Storage Policy.  Continue Reading

• Best practices to keep your vSphere environment secure

  VMware introduced a lot of new features that focused on security in vSphere 6.5. But, beyond those features, you can follow these practices to improve security.  Continue Reading

• What is enhanced logging and how does it boost vSphere security?

  Logs have been an integral piece of troubleshooting. New enhanced logs boosts vSphere security by providing much more detail about errors and changes.  Continue Reading

• How do you change ESXi 6.5 host names and DNS configuration?

  Admins have options when it comes to changing an ESXi 6.5 host name, but only the vSphere Web Client has full functionality in the latest release.  Continue Reading

• What is the role of the message bus in VMware NSX?

  A message bus guarantees the delivery of messages to a host, even if that host is unavailable or you're unable to establish a connection. So, how do you use it in NSX?  Continue Reading

• How do you recreate a missing VMDK descriptor file?

  The descriptor file plays an essential role in a virtual machine disk file, pointing to the larger data file and other VMDK information. So, what do you do when it goes missing?  Continue Reading

• How does an OVF file work with VMware Workstation?

  With so many different files forms supported in virtualization, there is a lack of standardization. Administrators can mitigate that problem using OVF file format.  Continue Reading

• What vSphere's latest features mean for VMware vDS

  VSphere 5 and 6 offer a number of features to boost networking performance. Let's take a look at how these features affect the functionality of vSphere Distributed Switches.  Continue Reading

• How can a vSphere Distributed Switch improve your networking experience?

  Tools like the vSphere Distributed Switch help numb the pain of networking by introducing robust network features and aggregating virtual switches into a single distributed switch.  Continue Reading

• What is the best way to log in to vCenter Server with vSphere 6 Web Client?

  In order to successfully log in to vCenter Server with vSphere Web Client, start by figuring out which version of vCenter Server you're running.  Continue Reading

• How do you open a VM console and use timeouts in vSphere Web Client?

  By making small alterations and adjustments to the VM console, you can customize and optimize your vSphere 6 Web Client experience.  Continue Reading

• How can you disable snapshots in vSphere 6?

  Reducing the number of snapshots that you have could boost performance. Here's how to disable snapshots completely.  Continue Reading

• How do vRealize Automation and vRealize Orchestrator differ?

  VMware offers two products that can help automate cloud management tasks to provide more consistency with the distribution of IT services.  Continue Reading

• Can a VMware snapshot resurrect a VMDK file?

  Snapshots can be used to undo botched upgrades, but can they be used to rebuild a broken VMDK file?  Continue Reading

• Is there an SDN open source alternative to NSX?

  VMware's NSX and Cisco's ACI platforms have gotten the most attention in the SDN space, but is there room for open source alternatives?  Continue Reading

• Taming data center disturbances with vRealize Operations Manager

  As more workloads and servers are virtualized, the vSphere administrator will need some kind of tool to help keep an eye on resources and make intelligent choices.  Continue Reading

• How do I address capacity issues in VMware VDP?

  A certain amount of data will need to be backed up before the advantage of deduplication in vSphere Data Protection will become apparent.  Continue Reading

• What causes UUID errors with Replication 6?

  There are a few situations that will trigger a UUID issue when using vSphere Replication 6 to copy VMs -- and one direct way to correct it.  Continue Reading

• Connect the dots to uncover Replication RPO violations

  When attempting to troubleshoot an RPO violation in vSphere Replication, the underlying cause is oftentimes more complex than it appears on the surface.  Continue Reading

• How to troubleshoot VMware vSphere Replication issues

  When problems occur with the tool you use to protect your data, it's imperative to track down the logs that can help restore order.  Continue Reading

• How does VMware App Volumes differ from ThinApp?

  VMware App Volumes, formerly CloudVolumes, is the virtualization company's attempt to speed application deployments and reduce IT headaches.  Continue Reading

• How much longer will that SSD last in a vSphere server?

  Even modestly sized SSDs can be more expensive than traditional hard drives, but do the benefits outweigh any concerns about longevity?  Continue Reading

• What are some key VMware Workstation features?

  While VMware Workstation offers flexibility for a busy test/dev shop, it won't help if the hardware underneath can't meet end-user demands.  Continue Reading

• What are some vCloud Director features for cloud management?

  In virtualization's evolution from servers to the cloud, VMware has several offerings for managing resources in virtual data centers.  Continue Reading

• How does a VMware vApp compare to ThinApp, RDSH apps?

  There's a variety of options for an enterprise to deliver applications to its customers and employees, but settling on one delivery method requires weighing the pros and cons of each.  Continue Reading

• How can an enterprise benefit from using a VMware vApp?

  By developing a virtual appliance technology, VMware has given businesses a way to both bundle and manage multiple VMs into a single package.  Continue Reading

• Is vCenter Operations Manager good for storage analysis?

  There are many infrastructure management tools on the market to check the health and speed of your storage, but there's a free tool that can do the job.  Continue Reading

• Is VMware Integrated OpenStack just a development tool?

  VMware is touting its OpenStack offering as a way to ease the deployment and operations in the open-source cloud environment.  Continue Reading

• Key advantages to a virtualized server environment

  An infrastructure architect details his journey to increasing the number of virtualized servers in his UNIX environment.  Continue Reading

• Is thick provisioning better than thin?

  There's some doubt about whether there is an advantage to using thin provisioning over thick when setting up virtualized storage; our expert weighs in.  Continue Reading

• What licensing is required to use vCloud Air?

  Potential users of VMware's vCloud Air offering may not know what type of tools they need to manage the hybrid cloud offering.  Continue Reading

• What's better? An OVF or an OVA file?

  What is an OVA file and how does it compare to an Open Virtualization Format package?  Continue Reading

• The right way to rename VMs with vSphere Storage vMotion

  A quirk in older ESX/ESXi versions will not result in a prompt rename of a VM until it has moved to another data store.  Continue Reading

• How to hunt down VM network timeout issues with performance charts

  Setting up the performance counters in the vSphere client can help troubleshoot a dropped packets issue.  Continue Reading

• How to clear a clogged core dump in VMware ESXi

  With a little manipulation via SSH or ESXi Shell, a locked core dump file can soon be just a distant memory for your ESXi environment.  Continue Reading

• Which CPU settings deliver optimal VMware Workstation 9 performance?

  Newer processors pack more punch, but administrators still need to tailor CPU allocation for a smoother Workstation 9 experience.  Continue Reading

• Copy VMDK files if you need to hand over a virtual machine

  Copy VMDK files and then import them into the host if you need to hand over a VM to a client.  Continue Reading

• Cloud management tasks that VMware vCAC can and cannot do with vCD

  VMware vCloud Director and vCloud Automation Center manage cloud resources together. But depending on your VMware vCAC version, they hardly interact.  Continue Reading

• How many VMs can vSphere vMotion move at once? And other questions

  VMware vMotion live migrates VMs between hosts. Evolving with vSphere, vMotion has gained a lot of capabilities, but it still has limitations.  Continue Reading

• Is VMware Capacity Planner free?

  Many consultants offer VMware Capacity Planner free to interested virtualization admins, but if you dread their sales pitch, consider vBenchmark.  Continue Reading