Introduction to

Virtualisation and
VMware ESXi 5

COURSE: DIPLOMA IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

10333 NETWORKING

Virtualisation
 Introduction to Virtualisation and VMware ESXi 5

Table of Contents
1 – Virtualisation Basics .......................................................................................................................... 2
1.1 – What is Virtualisation? ................................................................................................................ 2
1.2 - What is Server Virtualisation? ..................................................................................................... 2
1.3 – Benefits of Server Virtualisation ................................................................................................. 2
1.4 – How Server Virtualisation is implemented? ................................................................................ 2
1.5 – Server Virtualisation Approaches ............................................................................................... 2
1.5.1 – Virtualisation Management Layer (also called Hosted) ....................................................... 2
1.5.2 – Dedicated Virtualisation Approach....................................................................................... 3
1.5.3 – P2V Consolidation ............................................................................................................... 3
1.6 – Storage Virtualisation ................................................................................................................. 3
1.7 – Network Virtualisation ................................................................................................................. 3
1.7.1 – Internal Network Virtualisation ............................................................................................. 3
1.7.2 – External Networks ................................................................................................................ 4
1.8 – Application Virtualisation ............................................................................................................ 4
1.9 – Desktop Virtualisation ................................................................................................................. 4
1.9.1 – What Makes Virtualisation so Appealing? ........................................................................... 4
2 – Introduction to VMware vSphere 5 .................................................................................................... 5
2.1 – Overview of VMware vSphere 5 ................................................................................................. 5
2.2 – The Core of the vSphere Product Suite ..................................................................................... 5
2.3 – Type 1 and Type 2 Hypervisors ................................................................................................. 5
2.3.1 – Type 1 Hypervisor ................................................................................................................ 5
2.3.2 – Type 2 Hypervisor ................................................................................................................ 5
2.4 – VMware Licensing ...................................................................................................................... 5
2.5 – ESXi Free Edition Overview ....................................................................................................... 6
2.5.1 – Overview of the ESXi Free Edition ...................................................................................... 6
2.5.2 – Benefits of the Free Edition ................................................................................................. 6
2.6 – Hardware Requirements ............................................................................................................ 7
2.7 – Running ESXi 5 in VMware Workstation .................................................................................... 7
2.8 – Deploying ESXi........................................................................................................................... 7
2.9 – Installing ESXi on a USB Pen Drive ........................................................................................... 7
 Introduction to Virtualisation and VMware ESXi 5

1 – Virtualisation Basics
1.1 – What is Virtualisation?
Virtualisation is the creation of a virtual (rather than actual) version of something, such as an
operating system, a server, a storage device or network resources, watch the Introduction to
Virtualisation video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLJbP6vBk2M

1.2 - What is Server Virtualisation?

Server Virtualisation is where you use virtual machines to separate the hardware from the virtual
operating systems, allowing you to run multiple operating systems on a single computer, all at the
same time.

1.3 – Benefits of Server Virtualisation

Imagine that you run a company that operates 20 servers with virtualisation you may be able to
reduce the number of physical servers to 5 by consolidating 4 virtual servers on 5 physical servers.
This process will bring enormous benefits such as:

• Only 5 Physical Servers to manage

• Less switch ports are required
•
1
Deploy a smaller UPS
• Reduce electricity consumption considerably

1.4 – How Server Virtualisation is implemented?

For many IT Professional getting started with virtualisation or using it on their desktop, virtualisation is
done with a general virtualisation product like MS Virtual PC/Server or VMware Workstation. These
two virtualisation programs are extensively deployed by educational institutions and to a lesser
degree small businesses and home users.

However, in medium to large size businesses and in data centres, you are going to use professional
products such as VMware V-Sphere and Microsoft Hyper-V , these are all Enterprise grade
virtualisation products.

1.5 – Server Virtualisation Approaches

1.5.1 – Virtualisation Management Layer (also called Hosted)

Hosted Virtual Machines residing on

the same Computer

Virtualisation Software (Virtual PC,

VMware Workstation, etc.)

Host Operating System

(Windows 7, Xp, etc.)

Host Computer Hardware

1
Uninterrupted Power Supply
 Introduction to Virtualisation and VMware ESXi 5

As shown in the figure above, three hosted virtual machines reside on the same computer running
a workstation operating system such as Windows XP, Windows 7, etc. The three hosted virtual
machines can each be running a different operating system such as Windows Server
2003/2008/2012, Linux, or other workstation operating system.

1.5.2 – Dedicated Virtualisation Approach

In Dedicated Virtualisation Approach, the host operating system is eliminated as the Virtualisation
Software (VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, or Citrix Xen) is the operating system and controls
directly the computer hardware and thus there is no performance penalty associated with
virtualisation.

1.5.3 – P2V Consolidation

When many Physical Servers are consolidated into fewer Virtual Servers, this is termed as P2V
Consolidation.

1.6 – Storage Virtualisation

Storage virtualisation removes the physical mapping of storage and moves storage into physical
objects. These logical (or virtual) objects are much more easily managed.

Many benefits are achieved from the virtualisation of storage – lower cost of storage; ease of data
migration, and less administrative burden.

Watch this brief video on Storage Virtualisation by InfoClipz at the following URL:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vURnIkGOrp4

1.7 – Network Virtualisation

1.7.1 – Internal Network Virtualisation

Internal Network Virtualisation provides network functionality purely based on software. An

example of is the network topology used by common Virtualisation produces such as VMware ESX
or Microsoft Hyper-V. In these you use existing network in your environment and present it to the
virtual machines using a simple bridged or NAT based networking. However Internal Network
Virtualisation can be much more complex and with the software itself you can provide Virtual
Switching, Virtual Networking and even Virtual Firewall solutions.
 Introduction to Virtualisation and VMware ESXi 5

1.7.2 – External Networks

External Network Virtualisation involves an actual physical device that caters to your network. This
type of virtualisation has been around for some time now, a typical example of this would be a
CISCO networking switch that provides VLAN (virtual LAN) capabilities through its internal CISCO
iOS software.

1.8 – Application Virtualisation

Application Virtualisation is layered on top of other Virtualisation technologies, such as storage
Virtualisation to allow computing resources to be distributed dynamically in real time.

In standard computing, applications install their settings onto the host operating system, hard-coding
the entire system to fit that application's needs. With application Virtualisation, each application brings
down its own set of configurations on-demand, and executes in a way so that it sees only its own
settings. This leaves the host operating system and existing settings unaltered.

Further Reading:

Application Virtualisation with Citrix XenApp, Citrix

http://www.citrix.com.au/products/xenapp/how-it-works/application-virtualization.html

VMware ThinApp, VMware

http://www.vmware.com/products/thinapp/overview.html

1.9 – Desktop Virtualisation

Desktop Virtualisation is software technology that separates the desktop environment and associated
application software from the physical client device that is used to access it.

Desktop Virtualisation is also called VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure), this is the consolidation of
desktop computers into virtualised server systems, and examples are VMware VDM/View Manager
and Citrix/XenDesktop

Further Reading:

What is Desktop Virtualisation, Youtube video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XK1ZseX2Co

Desktop Virtualisation, Youtube Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oF_9ZBbq0dU

App and Desktop Virtualisation, Citrix

http://www.citrix.com/solutions/desktop-virtualization/overview.html

1.9.1 – What Makes Virtualisation so Appealing?

• Fewer Servers and fewer Infrastructures needed

• Ease administrative burden
• Less energy required
• Speed response to business needs
• Increased availability of servers
• Easier disaster recovery
• Lower overall cost

Effectively Manage Virtualization to Fully Realize the Benefits, Youtube Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cCVPOf8ng4
 Introduction to Virtualisation and VMware ESXi 5

2 – Introduction to VMware vSphere 5

2.1 – Overview of VMware vSphere 5
VMware vSphere 5 is a Bare Metal Operating System that provides a Virtualisation environment. The
VMware vSphere product suite is a comprehensive collection of products and features that together
provide a full array of enterprise Virtualisation Functionality.

The vSphere product suite includes the following product features:

• VMware ESXi
• VMware vCenter Server
• vSphere Update Manager
• VMware vSphere Client
• VMware vSphere Web Client
• VMware vShield Zones
• VMware vCenter Orchestrator
• vSphere Virtual Symmetric Multi-Processing
• vSphere vMotion and Storage Motion
• vSphere Distributed Resource Scheduler
• vSphere Storage DRS
• Storage I/O Control and Network I/O Control
• Profile-Driven Storage
• vSphere High Availability
• vSphere Fault Tolerance
• vSphere Storage APIs for Data Protection and VMware Data Recovery

2.2 – The Core of the vSphere Product Suite

The core of the vSphere product suite is the hypervisor, which is the Virtualisation layer that serves as
the foundation for the rest of the product line. In vSphere 5, the hypervisor comes in the form of
VMware ESXi.

2.3 – Type 1 and Type 2 Hypervisors

2.3.1 – Type 1 Hypervisor

Type1 hypervisors run directly on the system hardware and thus are often referred to as bare-
metal hypervisors; VMware ESXi is a type 1 Hypervisor.

2.3.2 – Type 2 Hypervisor

Type 2 hypervisors require a host operating system, and the host operating system provides I/O
device support and memory management; VMware Workstation is a type 2 Hypervisor

2.4 – VMware Licensing

VMware has a complicated licensing arrangement there are three editions of VMware vSphere:

• vSphere Standard Edition

• vSphere Enterprise Edition

• vSphere Enterprise Plus Edition

Each version addresses specific enterprise requirements, an overview of VMware vSphere product
editions can be seen in the table below:
 Introduction to Virtualisation and VMware ESXi 5

Standard Edition Enterprise Edition Enterprise

Plus Edition
vCenter Server vCenter Server vCenter Server
vCenter Server Compatibility Foundation and Foundation and Foundation and
Standard Standard Standard
vRAM 32 GB 64 GB 96 GB
CPU per VM 8 8 32
High Availability Yes Yes Yes
Data Recovery Yes Yes Yes
vMotion Yes Yes Yes
Virtual Seria Port No Yes Yes
Hot Add No Yes Yes
vShield Zones No Yes Yes
Fault Tolerance No Yes Yes
Storage APIs for Array Integration No Yes Yes
Multipatching
Storage vMotion No Yes Yes
Distributed Resource Scheduler No Yes Yes
Distributed Power Management No Yes Yes
I/O Controls (Network and Storage) No No Yes
Host Profiles No No Yes
Auto Deploy No No Yes
Policy Driven Storage No No Yes
Storage DRS No No Yes

For Information about Licensing and Cost see the VMware Website:
http://www.vmware.com/au/support/support-resources/licensing/

2.5 – ESXi Free Edition Overview

2.5.1 – Overview of the ESXi Free Edition

During the course of the Virtualisation journey we will be using the ESXi free Edition, in fact this is
a 60 days free Trial edition, and it can be reinstalled so that you obtain a further 60 days if you
need more evaluation time.

In our test lab for the 60 days evaluation period all vSphere functionalities were available,
however, after the evaluation period the system continued to work but at a basic operational mode,
for example, vMotion and other licensing features were no longer available.

People that will benefit the most of this free edition are:

• Developers
• Students
• Others

2.5.2 – Benefits of the Free Edition

• You can use one Server for more than one Operating System and Applications
• Save on hardware, power, and cooling costs
• Enable easier backup and restore
• Ease administrative burden
• It allows you to do more for less
• Save time and money

When you are ready to buy a fully featured Virtualisation platform the move will be easier as you
will only have to purchase the licenses required.
 Introduction to Virtualisation and VMware ESXi 5

2.6 – Hardware Requirements

ESXi will run on most 64 bit hardware, the VMware Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) is available at
the following URL:

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId
=2006028

2.7 – Running ESXi 5 in VMware Workstation

Running ESXi 5 in VMware is a great Educational tool; it allows you to perform most ESXi activities if
you have the correct Host Computer and Host Operating System.

Please Note:

In our test lab we prepared all Workshops presented in this Virtualisation course using the ESXi
Version 5 Free Edition in VMware workstation with the following hardware and software
specifications:

• Motherboard with Virtualisation Enabled in BIOS

• I5 CPU (Preferably i7)
• 8 GB RAM (Preferably 16)
• 500 GB Hard Disk
• Windows 7 (64 bit) Host Operating System
• VMware Workstation Version 9

2.8 – Deploying ESXi

There are three primary ways to deploy ESXi:

• Interactive installation of ESXi

• Unattended (scripted) installation of ESXi
• Stateless provisioning of ESXi

Of these, the simplest is an interactive installation. Which you will be performing a number of times during this
Virtualisation course.

2.9 – Installing ESXi on a USB Pen Drive

ESXi can be installed on USB pen drives, see a few examples below:

Installing ESXi in a USB Pen Drive (4 GB required) is a common practice in small production
environments. This type of installation allows the ESXi server to utilise the local memory and avoid
using the local hard disk, storage is acquired via a SAN (Storage Area Network) accessed over the
network.