Monday, October 21, 2013

When to Virtualize Your Servers?

Server virtualization isn't just for big companies. Entry-level virtualization tools are free or low-cost, and there are many benefits to virtualization (including saving money). It’s not a question of “if” you should virtualize your servers; it’s a question of “when.” In this article, I outline five steps you should take to determine when to virtualize your servers. There are a number of server virtualization solutions available today. However, this article isn’t about which solution to choose. Many virtualization questions are “solution agnostic,” and the question of “when” to virtualize your servers...
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Thursday, October 17, 2013

vSphere Web Client

Use the vSphere Web Client to connect to vCenter Server systems and manage vSphere inventory objects. Use of the vSphere Web Client requires a supported Web browser. The vSphere Web Client requires the Adobe Flash Player version 11.5.0 or later to be installed with the appropriate plug-in for your browser. Log in to vCenter Server using the vSphere Web Client If you want to use vCenter Server 5.0 with vSphere Web Client, verify that the vCenter Server 5.0 system is registered with vSphere Web Client. If you...
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Tuesday, October 15, 2013

ESXi 5.5 Hardware Requirements

Make sure the host meets the minimum hardware configurations supported by ESXi 5.5 Hardware and System Resources To install and use ESXi 5.5, your hardware and system resources must meet the following requirements: Supported server platform. For a list of supported platforms, see the VMware Compatibility Guide at http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility. ESXi 5.5 will install and run only on servers with 64-bit x86 CPUs ESXi 5.5 requires a host machine with at least two cores ESXi 5.5 supports only LAHF and SAHF CPU instructions ESXi 5.5 requires the NX/XD...
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vSphere 5.5 Upgrade Process

Upgrading is a multistage process in which procedures must be performed in a particular order. Follow the process outlined in this high-level overview to ensure a smooth upgrade with a minimum of system downtime. IMPORTANT Make sure that you understand the entire upgrade process before you attempt to upgrade. If you do not follow the safeguards, you might lose data and access to your servers. Without planning, you might incur more downtime than is necessary. If you use vCenter Server Heartbeat in your vSphere deployment, use...
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Licensing ESXi 5.5 Hosts

You can use the vSphere Web Client and vCenter Server to license an individual host. About ESXi Evaluation and Licensed Modes After you purchase vSphere licenses, VMware provides a serial number that you use to license ESXi hosts. You can use evaluation mode to explore the entire set of features that are available for ESXi hosts, including features that are not included in the license that you have. For example, in evaluation mode, you can use vMotion, HA, DRS, and other features, even if you...
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Disable ESXi

If you do not want your server to be an ESXi host, you can deactivate the ESXi setup. Procedure 1 Remove VMFS datastores on the internal disks so that the internal disks are no longer set up to store virtual machines. 2 Change the boot setting in the BIOS so that the host no longer boots into ESXi. 3 Install another operating system in its place. ...
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Remove All Custom Packages on ESXi 5.5

After adding custom packages, you might decide to remove them. Prerequisites Before you remove custom packages, shut down or migrate running virtual machines off of the ESXi host. Procedure 1 Reboot the ESXi host. 2 In the direct console, select Remove Custom Extensions and press F11 to confirm. 3 Reboot the host. All custom packages are removed. ...
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