VMware vSphere

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VMware vSphere
Basic data

developer VMware
Current  version 7.0
operating system cross-platform
category Virtualization
License Proprietary
German speaking Yes
vsphere.html

VMware vSphere is a virtualization platform for the area of ​​cloud infrastructure, data center and server virtualization. VMware vSphere consists of a collection of software products from the US company VMware Inc. Central components of these software products are the type 1 hypervisor VMware vSphere ESXi , which provides virtual machines for x64 -based hardware and their operating systems, and VMware vCenter for the graphical management of the entire structure of data centers, clusters, networks, data stores, CPUs and virtual machines in the form of a dynamic and seamless operating environment.

functionality

The VMware vSphere software is a hypervisor and thus, as a bare metal hypervisor with approx. 400 MB footprint, is directly based on the x86-64 hardware certified by the manufacturer. VMware uses both Linux and open source- based parts ( bootloader grub, drivers for the hardware such as network cards, chipset, storage, etc.) as well as the actual VMkernel, which contains proprietary technology.

Up to version 5.0, the software is available both as a slim bare metal hypervisor (ESXi) and as an ESX version with a so-called console operating system for managing the hypervisor. With version 5.1, this console operating system was abandoned and only the ESXi version was offered.

VMware vSphere stores virtual machines in so-called datastores and there in directories. The most important files are configuration files (* .vmx) and virtual hard disks (* .vmdk). NFS shares or hard disks are used as datastores. The latter can be local hard disks or LUN provided via a SAN (via HBA or iSCSI ) . Hard disks are formatted with the VMware VMFS file system when a datastore is created. This is a robust, cluster-compatible file system that has been optimized for the use of virtual machines. The current version bears the number 5, the predecessor, VMFS 3, still had restrictions in connection with block size and maximum volume size.

VMware vSphere is offered in six editions ( Essential, Essential Plus, Standard, Enterprise, Enterprise Plus and vSphere Desktop ). In addition to the price, these differ in terms of the functions provided, such as the maximum number of virtual CPUs, storage API integration, automated load distribution, IO control (for network and storage) or distributed, virtual switches. The essential editions are intended for small and medium-sized companies (SMEs or SMB).

There is also a free version, called VMware vSphere Hypervisor , with currently the following most important limitations per server; the restriction of a maximum of 32 GB RAM was lifted in version 5.5:

  • a maximum of 2 CPU sockets (no limits on cores)
  • Limited administration (vCenter, scripting) and automation.

Detail functions

The following, most important functionalities enable a high degree of automation and a strong consolidation of resources.

Snapshot

Allows the state of a virtual machine to be frozen and thus the possibility of returning to this state, for example during a test deployment of software or patches.

vMotion

Requires the use of vCenter and shared storage (NFS, iSCSI, SAN). Enables running virtual machines to be moved between different vSphere servers without interruption, for example when hardware maintenance is required or for manual load distribution.

Storage vMotion

Requires the use of vCenter. Enables the migration of files belonging to a running virtual machine. For example, from a data store on the same server or on another shared storage in the event of performance bottlenecks or upcoming maintenance.

HA (High Availability)

HA (High Availability) enables high availability by automatically restarting the corresponding virtual machines on another available vSphere host if a host fails. The functionality requires the use of vCenter and shared storage.

FT (Fault Tolerance)

FT (Fault Tolerance) enables the clustering of important systems in conjunction with the corresponding hardware and vCenter. The hardware resources are mirrored via two vSphere servers and all commands are also executed redundantly on the mirror server. If the master server fails, the slave takes over further processing of the running applications in real time. In the vSphere version 6.0, the virtual machine can be equipped with 4 vCPUs.

DRS (Distributed Resource Scheduler)

DRS (Distributed Resource Scheduler) enables automatic load balancing in a vSphere environment managed with vCenter. Using vMotion, virtual machines are automatically moved between servers based on predefined rules, servers are restarted or stopped when not in use.

administrative tools

The administration of the servers running under vSphere can be done with the following VMware tools:

  • vCenter Server
The vCenter Server represents the central management solution. The software can be installed on a Windows server and use an integrated database (for small environments) or an external MS SQL or Oracle database as a backend. A Linux version has also been available since vSphere 5.0, which is delivered as a virtual appliance (pre-configured system including database). The vCenter Appliance can use the integrated database (DB2 in vSphere 5.0, Postgres in later versions) or be connected to an external Oracle server.
  • PowerShell cmdlets
The Windows PowerShell API (PowerCLI) can be downloaded for free from the VMware website. Management tasks can also be taken over. Functions are available that are not offered in the GUI.
Since version 10, PowerCLI is also available for Mac and Linux. PowerShell Core must be installed in each case.
  • Pearl
A Perl implementation of the API is available for Linux. However, this does not provide all functions that are also available via the PowerShell cmdlets.
  • Orchestrator
It is controlled using drag and drop in a Java-based GUI, with JavaScript or Java. The orchestrator can map many IT-based processes. An open extension interface is available for this, which can be used by 3rd party manufacturers as well as by standard interfaces (PowerShell, Perl, SSH, SNMP, REST etc.).
  • 3rd party software that connects to the publicly available API.
For example, the connection of MS System Center Suite is possible.

vSphere client

The vSphere Client is a Windows application that enables interactive access to the resources of a vSphere server. Enables functions such as starting / stopping virtual machines, creating / deleting virtual machines, etc.

vSphere web client

Browser-based client that will replace the vSphere client in the near future. Requires the use of a corresponding server that implements the commands from the web client. The vSphere Client (Windows), the further development of which has been discontinued since vSphere Version 5.1, is no longer compatible since vSphere Version 6.5 and has been completely replaced by the vSphere Web Client.

vSphere Management Assistant

A Linux-based virtual management appliance that provides command-line-based management tools.

SDK for clients

For management clients under Linux (Perl) and Windows (Powershell) SDKs can be installed, which allow script-controlled access to the vSphere servers.

vCenter

The separately available product VMware vCenter enables the full level of inventory and automation. The functions vMotion, HA, FT, DRS require the use of the vCenter.

Whitebox

In connection with the free edition VMware Hypervisor, unsupported hardware is occasionally used. One often speaks of a “white box”. The challenge of operating a white box has decreased somewhat since the newer versions of vSphere.On the one hand, older, stable mainboards with standard chipsets are mostly supported and, on the other hand, self-compiled OSS drivers can also be used for more exotic hardware (network cards) .

See also

literature

  • Roland Runge, Christian Sturm, Stefan Wißkirchen, Nadin Ebel, Joachim Groh, Oliver Höller, Carsten Mewes: VMware Infrastructure 3 in the business environment: Virtualization of medium and large environments with VMware ESX 3.5 and ESXi 3.5. Addison-Wesley, net.com series, ISBN 978-3-8273-2698-0
  • Lars Friedrichs, Jens Gonska, Joachim Groh, Michael Kefferpütz, Roland Runge, Christian Sturm: vSphere 5 in the business environment: The guide to the virtualization of medium-sized and large environments. Addison-Wesley, vmware-press series, ISBN 978-3-8273-2850-2
  • Bertram Wöhrmann, Carsten Schäfer, Günter Baumgart, Urs Stephan Alder, Marcel Brunner: VMware vSphere 6: The comprehensive manual. Rheinwerk-Verlag, Computing series, ISBN 978-3-8362-3816-8

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2020/04/vsphere-7-new-generation-vsphere.html
  2. ↑ https://www.vmware.com/ch/products/datacenter-virtualization/vsphere/vmfs.html#glance  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.vmware.com  
  3. ↑ http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-50/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.vmware.vsphere.storage.doc_50%2FGUID-7552DAD4-1809-4687-B46E-ED9BB42CE277.html
  4. ↑ https://www.vmware.com/ch/products/datacenter-virtualization/vsphere/features.html#
  5. ↑ https://www.vmware.com/ch/products/datacenter-virtualization/vsphere/vmotion.html#glance  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.vmware.com  
  6. ↑ https://www.vmware.com/ch/products/datacenter-virtualization/vsphere/storage-vmotion.html#glance  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.vmware.com  
  7. ↑ https://www.vmware.com/ch/products/datacenter-virtualization/vsphere/high-availability.html#glance  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.vmware.com  
  8. ↑ https://www.vmware.com/ch/products/datacenter-virtualization/vsphere/fault-tolerance.html  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.vmware.com  
  9. ↑ https://www.vmware.com/ch/products/datacenter-virtualization/vsphere/drs-dpm.html#glance  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.vmware.com  
  10. ↑ https://blogs.vmware.com/PowerCLI/2018/02/powercli-10.html
  11. ↑ https://www.vmware.com/ch/products/datacenter-virtualization/vcenter-server/overview.html