Day 1

Virtualization Intro
ESXi Installation
 Lesson 3:
Vmware vCenter
 About the vCenter Server Management Platform
vCenter Server is a service that acts as a central administration point for ESXi hosts and their virtual machines connected on a
network.
This service directs the actions of virtual machines and hosts.

vCenter Server

Manage

vSphere vSphere vSphere

 vCenter Server Architecture
• The diagram shows the supporting components for vCenter Server.
Active Directory Domain

vSphere Web
Client
vCenter Platform
Server and Services
Additional Controller with
Modules vCenter Single
Database Sign-On

ESXi Host ESXi Host ESXi Host

ESXi and vCenter Server Communication
TCP
443, 9443
TCP 443
vCenter Server
vpxd

TCP/UD TCP/UDP
P 902 902

hostd vpxa

ESXi Host
 vCenter 6.5 Architecture
• In vCenter 6.5, the architecture has changed dramatically compared to 5.x
• Provided by Platform Services Controllers
o VMware vCenter Single Sign-On™
o License service
o Lookup service VMware Directory Services
o VMware Certificate Authority

• Provided by vCenter Server Service

o vCenter Server
o VMware vSphere Web Client
o VMware vSphere Auto Deploy™
o VMware vSphere ESXi Dump Collector
o vSphere Syslog Collector on Windows and vSphere Syslog Service for
VMware vCenter Server Appliance™
o vSphere Update Manager (included with appliance only)

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Minimum requirements for the VMware vCenter Server 6.x Appliance

If you are using the VMware vCenter Server

Appliance, beginning with vSphere 5.x you
can download vCenter Server as a virtual
machine appliance. With the VMware
vCenter Server Appliance, the necessary
components are contained in a pre-
configured virtual machine.
The VMware vCenter Server Appliance can
be deployed only on hosts that are running
ESX/ESXi 5.x or later. 

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 Other Considerations
• The VCSA with embedded PSC requires the following hardware resources (disk can be thin
provisioned)Tiny (up to 10 hosts, 100 VMs) – 2 CPUs, 10 GB RAM.
• Small (up to 100 hosts, 1000 VMs) – 4 CPUs, 16 GB RAM.
• Medium (up to 400 hosts, 4000 VMs) – 8 CPUs, 24 GB RAM.
• Large (up to 1000 hosts, 10,000 VMs) – 16 CPUs, 32 GB RAM.
• X-Large (up to 2000 hosts, 35,000 VMs) – 24 CPUs, 48 GB RAM – new to v6.5.
• Where the PSC is deployed as a separate appliance this requires 2 CPUs, 4 GB RAM, 60 GB
disk.
• Environments with ESXi host(s) with more than 512 LUNs and 2048 paths should be sized
large or x-large.

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 VMware vSphere 6.5 Configuration Maximums
• VMware Virtual Machine Maximums
• Number of vCPU per VM = 128
• RAM per VM = 6128 Gb
• Virtual NVMa per VM = 4
• Virtual NVMe targets per virtual SCSi
adapter = 15
• Video Memory per VM = 2Gb (vSphere 6.0
had 512Mb)
Platform Service Controller (PSC)
vCenter Server Maximums •Maximum PSCs per vSphere Domain = 10
•Hosts per vCenter server = 2000 •Maximum PSCs per site, behind a load balancer =
•Powered On VMs per vCenter = 25000 4
•Registered VMs per vCenter = 35000
•Linked vCenter servers = 10
•Number of ESXi hosts per Datacenter = 2000
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 vCenter 6.5 Architecture (cont.)
• Two basic architectures are supported as a result of this change
• Platform Services Controller is either Embedded or External to vCenter Server
• Choosing a mode depends on the size and feature requirements for the environment

External Virtual Machine or Server Embedded Virtual Machine or Server

Platform Services Platform Services
Controller Controller
Platform Services
Controller Platform Services
Controller

vCenter Server
Virtual Machine or Server

vCenter Server

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vCenter Server 6.5 with an Embedded Platform Services Controller

Virtual Machine or Server

Sufficient for most environments

Platform Services Easiest to maintain and deploy

Controller
Recommended for small environments with
no need for Enhanced Linked Mode
vCenter Server
Supports embedded and external database

Available for Windows and vCenter Server

Appliance

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vCenter Server 6.5 with an External Platform Services Controller

Virtual Machine or Server

For larger customers with numerous
Platform Services
vCenter Servers
Controller
Reduces infrastructure by sharing Platform
Services Controller across several vCenter
Servers

Recommended for complex environments

Virtual Machine or Server
with multiple vCenter Servers

Supports embedded and external database

vCenter Server

Available for Windows and vCenter Server

Appliance

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 vCenter 6.5 Architecture (cont.)
• Enhanced Linked Mode has the following maximums
o The architecture should also adhere to these maximums to be supported

Description Scalability Maximum

Number of Platform Services Controllers per domain 10

Maximum Platform Services Controllers per vSphere site (behind a single load balancer) 4

Maximum objects in a vSphere domain (users, groups, solution users) 1,000,000

Maximum number of VMware solutions connected to a single Platform Services

10
Controller

Maximum number of VMware products/solutions per vSphere domain 10

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vSphere Update Manager Architecture Improvements in vSphere 6.5

vCenter Server Update

6.0 or 6.5 VCSA 6.5 with
Manager
on Windows on Windows Integrated VUM
Additional Windows VM for VUM Integrated and enabled by default

Extra configuration & DB Zero setup; embedded DB

dependency
Sizing and latency considerations Scalable and low impact on resources

No inherent backup or failover Leverages VCSA HA and backup

Migration
Support!
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 vCenter Best Practices
• Verify that vCenter, the Platform Services Controller, and any database have
adequate CPU, memory, and disk resources available
• Verify that the proper inventory size is configured during the installation
• Minimize latency between components (vCenter and Platform Services Controller)
by minimizing network hops between components
• External databases should be used for large deployments
• Verify that DNS is configured and functional for all components
• Verify that time is correct on vCenter and all other components in the environment
• VMware vSphere Update Manager™ for Windows should be installed on a separate
system if inventory is large

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vCenter High Availability
 vCenter Architecture Overview
• A vCenter HA cluster consists of three vCenter Server Appliance instances. The first instance,
initially used as the Active node, is cloned twice to a Passive node and to a Witness node. Together,
the three nodes provide an active-passive failover solution.
1. Active
1. Runs the active vCenter Server Appliance instance
2. Uses a public IP address for the management interface
3. Uses the vCenter HA network for replication of data to the Passive node.
4. Uses the vCenter HA network to communicate with the Witness node
2. Passive
1. Is initially a clone of the Active node
2. Constantly receives updates from and synchronizes state with the Active node over the vCenter HA network
3. Automatically takes over the role of the Active node if a failure occurs
3. Witness
1. Is a lightweight clone of the Active node
2. Provides a quorum to protect against a split-brain situations

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 Native vCenter High Availability
• vCenter Appliance only
o Supports external Platform Services Controller

• Two configuration options: Basic & Advanced

• Active / Passive with Witness
• Required network configuration Public
Public IP
vCenter
vCenter
IP
vCenter
vCenter
(Active) DB and File (Passive)
o eth0 – public network (Active)
Replication
(Passive)
Private IP Private IP
o eth1 – private network (added during configuration)

• Automatic failover although the Web Client may

need to re-login Witness
Witness
(Passive)
(Passive)

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vCenter High Availability

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 vCenter HA Hardware and Software Requirements

• vCenter HA was introduced with the vCenter Server Appliance 6.5 .

• The vCenter deployment size should be at least small, and therefore 4 vCPU 16 GB RAM.
• A minimum of three hosts.
• The hosts should be running at least ESXi 5.5.
• The management network should be configured with a static IP address and reachable
FQDN.
• SSH should be enabled on the VCSA.
• A port group for the HA network is required on each ESXi host.
• The HA network must be on a different subnet to the management network.
• Network latency between the nodes must be less than 10ms.
• vCenter HA is compatible with both embedded deployment model and external PSC.

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