Our PowerLearning Exploring VMware vSphere 4.0 training course goes beyond what is normally taught to give you the first VMware training course that teaches you how to truly master the vSphere 4.0 materials.  We include more demonstrations, information and additional topics to help students truly succeed.

Exploring VMware vSphere 4.0 Training Course teaches students Installation, Planning, Configuration, Deployment, Security, Storage, Access Controls, High Availability, and Automation all in one complete training course.

VMware vSphere 4.0 training is intended for Network or Server Administrators who wish to learn and master VMware VSphere for project planning and daily management and is for educational purposes.  If you are a beginner to VMware or have worked with previous versions of the software and are looking to learn and master the new vSphere version, this is the course for you.

The information in this course is based on the exam objectives for the vSphere VCP certification exam and is designed as both a study preparation guide and hands-on learning system for mastering VMware vSphere 4.0. **Note - VMware requires you to attend one of their pre-exam classes, which will serve as a review of the material, before sitting for the exam.

Note: The courses on our website are all different, having been developed over a period of years. Some have simulations and some don't have simulations at all. In high-end courses, there is no realistic way to simulate the product in enough detail to help on the exam. To pass the exam students will need hands on practice using the real software. They need to either download a trial version of the software or buy licensing for it and practice using it. Its really the only way to be fully prepared for both the exam and on the job. That is really where our training shines. We provide the necessary pieces for people to grasp and to give them a road map of sorts to practice on their own.

Learning and Exploring VMware vSphere 4.0 
Course Curriculum

Introduction and Overview

Instructor Introduction: Meet Your Instructor Roger Brogan
Course Overview: What is Covered in the Course

Module 01 - Introduction to VMware vSphere 4.0
 

Module Overview
A General Introduction to Virtualization
The Various Parts and Products that Make up the vSphere Suite
Some Final Thoughts and Ideas about Virtualization
Introduction to Virtualization
What is Virtualization?
Virtualization Defined
vSphere Parts and Products
What is a Hypervisor?
Type 1 vs Type 2 Hypervisors
ESX Architecture
The Difference Between ESX and ESXi
vCenter Server
vCenter Update Manger
vSphere Client
VMotion
Storage with VMotion
Distributed Resource Scheduler
Final Thoughts and Ideas about Virtualization
High Availability
Fault Tolerance
Consolidated Backup
vShield Zones
vCenter Orchestrator
VMware Licensing
VMware vSphere™ 4 Pricing, Packaging and Licensing Overview
TCO calculator and ROI
Module Review

Module 02 - Planning and Installation of ESX/ESXi Hosts
 

Module Overview
Differences Between the ESX Types
Compatibility Requirements
How to Plan a Deployment
Installation and Configuration
vSphere Client
ESX Types and Compatibility Requirements
ESX or ESXi?
Choosing the Right Hardware
How Many CPUs Do You Need?
How Much RAM?
How Much Storage?
Fiber Channel, iSCSI and NFS
Network Cards
Installation and Configuration
ESX Comes with the Service Console
Quick Review of Some Linux File System Details
Service Console Default Partition Scheme
Root Partition
Boot Partition
The /var and /var/log Partitions
Swap Partition
The /opt Partition
ESX 4 Treats all Local Storage as a VMFS 3 Partition
Installing ESX
Installing with the DVD
The install DVD Can Initialize SAN LUNs During the Install
Demonstration: Installing ESX
Unattended Installation
Install with a DVD Locally with an Answer File on a USB Drive
Local DVD with Answer File on the Network
Using the Pre Boot Execution Environment
Demonstration: Unattended Install from DVD with the Answer File Coming from the Network
Unattended PXE Installation
DHCP
TFTP Server
PXELINUX with gPXE
Demonstration: Unattended PXE Install
Installing ESXi on 3.5 and 4.0
Installable and Embedded
Supports Local SATA, SCSI and SAS Drives on the HCL
A Note on Network Cards and the Install Process
Demonstration: Installing ESXi
Installing vSphere Client
Demonstration: Installing the vSphere Client
What Happens if You Can’t Get to the Web Page?
Demonstration: Fixing ESX and ESXi
Changing the Management Port for ESX and ESXI
Demonstration: Changing the Management Port
RAM Setting and Time Synchronization Settings
Demonstration: RAM and Time Sync Settings
Module Review

Module 03 - Installation and Management of vCenter Server
 

Module Overview
What is vCenter Server?
Planning a vCenter Deployment
Setting up the vCenter Database
Installing the vCenter Server
Quick Overview of vCenter Features
What is vCenter Server?
Managing the ESX hosts
Managing the Virtual Machines
Managing Templates 
Deploying Virtual Machines
Authentication with vCenter Server
vCenter Server Architecture 
Planning a vCenter Deployment
Server Hardware
Database Server
Disaster Recovery Plan
Can I and Should I Run vCenter Server in a Virtual Machine?
vCenter Server Heartbeat
Setting Up the vCenter Server
Oracle 10/11g Server Setup
Install the Oracle Client
Create the ODBC DNS
Setup the TNS Service Name
Microsoft SQL Server Setup
Create the ODBC DNS
Installing the vCenter Server
Demonstration: Installing vCenter Server
Maximum Number of Hosts and VMs
Linked Mode Group
vCenter Organizational Options and Features
Demonstration: vCenter/etc/hosts and DNS
Notes on the Importance of DNS and Hostnames Resolution
Demonstration: Features
Module Review

Module 04 - Installation and Management of Update Manager
 

Module Overview
Installation of vCenter Update Manager
Integration with vSphere Client
Determining the ESX Hosts to Patch
Using Update Manager to Update VMs
Applying Patches to ESX Hosts
Applying patches to VM Guest OS
Installation of vCenter Update Manager
vCenter Update Manager is a Sophisticated Tool With Many Functions
Updating and Patching of ESX Hosts
Monitors and Updates the Virtual Machines
Updating of Windows and Linux
Integrates with the Distributed Resource Scheduler
Fully Integrated with vSphere client and vCenter Server
Setup a Separate Database for Update Manager
Setup a DSN for that Database
Install
Configure Authentication
Install the Plug-in for the vSphere Client
Update Manager Download Service
Demonstration: Installing the Update Manager
Configuring the Update Manager
Baselines and Baseline groups
Patch Baselines
Upgrade Baselines
Dynamic Baselines
Static Baselines
Demonstration: Creating Baselines and Baseline Groups
Demonstration: Configuration
Remediation in vCenter Update Manager
Demonstration: Remediation
Module Review

Module 05 - Planning and Setting up Virtual Networks
 

Module Overview
The Components of Virtual Networking
Learn How to Create Virtual Switches
Learn How to Create Distributed Virtual Switches
Configure NIC Teaming, VLANs and Private VLANs
Setup Security Policies for Virtual Switches
Components of Virtual Networking
Virtual Switch
Distributed Virtual Switch
Ports and Port Groups
Service Console Port
VMkernel Port
VM Port Group
VLAN
Trunk Port
Access Port
NIC Team
Virtual Switches, Ports and Uplinks
Virtual Switches are Built and Executed in the VMkernel
Virtual Switches Operate at Layer 2 in the Network
2 Port Types and 1 Port Group Type
The Service Console Port is for Management Traffic to the Service Console
VMkernel Port is Used for Things Like Vmotion and iSCSI Traffic
The Port Group is Used to Provide Ports for the VMs to Connect
Uplinks are Physical Network Adapters Installed in the Host
Load Balancing or Fault Tolerance
Maximum Number of Physical NICs
Adding Service Console Ports
Understanding How it Works and is Configured
Demonstration: Client and Command Line
Creating VM Kernel Ports
VMotion, iSCSI, NAS, NFS and VMware Fault Tolerance
Demonstration: Client and Command Line
Setting Up the Management Interface on ESXI
Demonstration: Configuring the Management Interface
Adding Port Groups
Demonstration: Adding Port Groups
VLANs and Nic Teaming Configuration
VLANs and How They Work
Do You Beed a VLAN?
Demonstration: Setting up NIC Teams
Load Balancing Options
vSwitch Port-based Load Balancing (Default)
Source MAC-based Load Balancing
IP Hash-Based Load Balancing
Port-Based Load Balancing Policy and How it Works
Demonstration: Setting the Load Balancing Policy
Configuring Failover Policy
Link Status and Beacon Probing
Demonstration: Configuring Failover Policy
Configuring Traffic Shaping Options and Max Values per Host
Average Bandwidth
Peak Bandwidth
Burst Size
Demonstration: Configuring Traffic Shaping
Creating and Configuring Virtual Distributed Switches
dvSwitch
Demonstration: Creating and configuring dvSwitch
Configuring DV Port Groups
Demonstration: Configuring dvPort Groups
Managing Virtual and Physical Adapters
Service Console or vswif and the VMkernel or vmknic
Physical NICs
Demonstration: Managing and assigning NICs to dvUplinks
Creating Private Virtual LANs
Pairs of VLANs
Primary and Secondary VLANs
Promiscuous, Isolated and Community
Demonstration: Setting up PVLANs
Virtual Switch Security
Security Policy Settings
Promiscuous Mode, MAC Address Change and Forged Transmits
Demonstration: Setting up Security Policies
Module Review

Module 06 - Planning and Setting Up Storage
 

Module Overview
The Basics of Shared Storage Including Storage Area Networks and Network Attached Storage
The Storage Options in vSphere
Virtual Machine Storage Options
Best Practices for Storage in vSphere
Storage Options Overview
A Good Shared Storage Design is Critical
The Shared Storage Must be Highly Available 
Shared Storage Fundamentals
Bandwidth, Throughput and Latency
Storage Array Options
Fibre Channel
Fibre Channel over Ethernet
iSCSI with Software and Hardware Initiators
Network File System
Local SAS/SCSI/SATA
Infiniband
SSDs
RAID
Active/Active and Active/Passive
Fibre Channel Settings
Point to Point or FC-P2P
Arbitrated Loop or FC-AL
Switched or FC-SW
LUNs, Targets and Initiators
Zoning
Demonstration: Fibre Channel Settings
iSCSI Settings
LUNs, Targets and Initiators
iSCSI Qualified Name
Challenge Authentication Protocol
Dynamic and Static Discovery
iSCSI Naming Service
Demonstration: iSCSI Settings
Segmenting iSCSI traffic
Jumbo Frames
Flow Control
STP
Fibre Channel over Ethernet vs iSCSI
Load Balancing and Multipathing for NFS
VMware Specifics
Shared Everything Storage Model
VMFS Datastores
Distributed Locking Mechanism
Demonstration: Creating a VMFS datastore
Number of datastores
Number of VMs per datastore
Creating a NFS Data Store
File Server Locks
NFS Performance
Demonstration: Creating an NFS Datastore
Disk Mapping and Virtual Disc Configuration
Raw Device Mapping
RDM performance vs. VMFS
Snapshots
Thin Disks
Thick Disks
Aligning a Partition
Virtual SCSI Adapters
New Features in vSphere and Multi Pathing
Thin Provisioning
Virtual Disk Formats
Fault Tolerance
Clustering Support
Dynamic Expansion
New GUI
Changed Block Tracking
Demonstration: New Features
Storage Management
VMDirectPath I/O
Single Root I/O Virtualization
vStorage APIs for Multipathing
Native Multipathing Plug-in or NMP
Storage Array Type Plug-in or SATP
Path Selection Plug-in or PSP
Multipathing Plug-in or MPP
SAN and NAS Best Practices
Storage Vmotion
VMFS and NFS
Examples
VMware Capacity Planner
Predictive and Adaptive Datastores
Module Review

Module 07 - Installation and Management of Virtual Machines
 

Module Overview
How to Create a Virtual Machine
Installing an Operating System in a VM
Setting up VMware Tools
Managing a Virtual Machine
Creating VM Templates
Deploying Virtual Machines
Creating a Virtual Machine
Default VM Hardware Emulation
Phoenix BIOS
Intel Motherboard
Intel PCI IDE Controller
IDE CD-ROM Drive
BusLogic or LSI Logic Parallel SCSI Controller
AMD or Intel CPU Depending on the Host CPU
Intel e1000 or AMD PCnet NIC
Standard VGA Adapter
VMware Virtual SMP
Demonstration: Creating a VM
Size and Naming Practices for VMs
Best Practices for Disk Sizes and Numbers
Installing an Operating System in a VM
ESX Operating System Support 
Client Device, Host Device and Datastore ISO
Demonstration: Mounting Media
Setting up VMware Tools
VMware Tools
Demonstration: Installation of VMware Tools
Managing a Virtual Machine
Demonstration: Partition Aligning
Demonstration: Snapshots
Creating VM Templates and Deploying Virtual Machines
Convert to Template
Clone to Template
Demonstration: Template Creation
A Final Note on VM Cloning
Module Review

Module 08 - Migration and Importing VMs
 

Module Overview
vCenter Server Guided Consolidation
Physical to Virtual Hot Migrations
Physical to Virtual Cold Migrations
Importing Virtual Appliances
vCenter Server Guided Consolidation
vCenter Converter
Guided Consolidation
Demonstration: Installation of vCenter Converter
Demonstration: Installation of Guided Consolidation
vCenter Converter Agent
Physical to Virtual Hot Migrations
Candidates for Hot Migration
Demonstration: Hot Migration
Physical to Virtual Cold Migrations and Importing Virtual Appliances 
Candidates for Cold Migration
Demonstration: Importing a Virtual Appliance
Module Review

Module 09 - Configuration and Management of vSphere Access Controls
 

Module Overview
Managing ESX Permissions
Managing vCenter Server Permissions
Managing VMs Through a Web Browser
Adding a Custom Role
Users, Roles, Groups, Privileges and Permissions
Assign a Role Privileges or Groups of Privileges
No Access, Read-Only and Administrator Roles
Demonstration: Creating a Custom Role
Creating a Resource Pool and Assigning Permissions
How Privileges Get Associated with the Objects on the Host
Hosts, VMs, Templates and Other Objects
Inheritance
Resource Pools
Demonstration: Creating a Resource Pool and Assigning Permissions
vCenter Server Available Privileges
The Roles view
Add, Delete or Modify Existing Roles
Using Groups and Permissions Inside vCenter Server
Managing Permissions in vCenter Server
The vCenter Server Hierarchy
Planning your vCenter Hierarchy
Hosts and Clusters View
VMs and Templates View
VM Power User, VM User, Resource Pool Administrator, VMware Consolidated Backup User, Datastore Consumer and Network Consumer
Demonstration: Privileges
Demonstration: winServerBuild and winServerAdmin
Using the Web Console
Apache Tomcat Web Services
VMware VirtualCenter Management Webservices
Demonstration: Web Console
Final Thoughts About the Web Console
Module Review
 

Module 10 - vSphere Resource Allocation Management
 

Module Overview
Managing VM Memory and CPU Allocation
Learn How to Create and Manage Resource Pools
Setup and Use VMotion
Setup and Manage Clusters
Setup and Manage the Distributed Resource Scheduler
Managing VM Memory and CPU Allocation
Min, Default and Max virtual memory
Idle Page Reclamation and Transparent Page Sharing
Memory Limit, Reservation and Shares
Choosing the Number of CPUs in a VM
CPU Reservations, Limits and Shares
Examples
Create and Manage Resource Pools
Managing the Memory and CPU Settings
Demonstration: Creating and Setting up a Resource Pool
Expandable Reservation
Example
Using VMotion
Move a VM to another host while it is running
Demonstration: VMotion
Host Requirements
VM Requirements
Managing Clusters
What Happens if a Host Fails
Host Requirements
Demonstration: Creating a Cluster
Distributed Resource Scheduler
Managing the Distributed Resource Scheduler
Manual, Partially Automated and Fully Automated Modes
Migration Threshold
Demonstration: DRS Rules
Hide the NX/XD Flag from Guest
Demonstration: Setting the NX/DX Flag
Enhanced VMotion Compatibility
Module Review

Module 11 - vSphere High Availability
 

Module Overview
Windows Clusters
The High Availability Options
The Differences of VCB and VCDR
The Data Replication Options
Windows Clusters
Network Load Balancing and Failover Clustering
Majority Node Set
Demonstration: Setting up a cluster
High Availability Options
Automatic Availability Manager
vCenter Server Agent
HA Requirements
Host Failures Allowed, Admission Control and Virtual Machine Options
Example
Strict and Guaranteed Admission Control
Restart Priority
Low, Medium, High and Disabled
Isolation Response
Fault Tolerance
VMware vLockstep
Backup, Recovery, and Replication
Demonstration: VMware Consolidated Backup
vCenter Data Recovery
Plugin for vCenter Server, a Virtual Appliance and Deduplicated Destination Storage
Final Thoughts on SAN Capabilities
Module Review

Module 12 - vSphere Performance Monitoring 
 

Module Overview
Using Alarms
Using Performance Graphs
Using Command Lines Tools to Gather Performance Data
Monitoring Resource Usage at the Host and VM Level
Creating Alarms
Triggers and Actions
Objects
Scope
Demonstration: Creating an Alarm to Monitor Snapshot Disk Space Consumption
Managing Alarms
Range and Frequency
Triggered Alarms view
Demonstration: Managing alarms
Performance Graphs
Trends Over Time
Overview and Advanced Layout
Command Line Tools
Demonstration: Performance Graphs
Monitoring Resources
Alarms, Graphs and Command Line Tools
CPU
Memory
Network Traffic
Disk
Demonstration: Performance Counters
Module Review

Module 13 - vSphere Security
 

Module Overview
Managing Users on Local ESX Hosts
Configuring Authentication on ESX Hosts
Controlling Network Access on ESX Hosts
Providing Secure Network Zones
Managing Users on Local ESX Hosts
Local Groups and Users
Managing Accounts on Local Hosts
Active Directory via Kerberos
Controlling Network Access
SSH
TCP Wrappers
ESX Firewall
Demonstration: Configuring the ESX Firewall
Using the VM-Support Command Line Tool
Demonstration: vm-support Tool
Securing the ESXi Host
Passwords
NIC Management
Host Profiles
Lockdown Mode
Securing Virtual Machines
Best Practices From the OS Vendor
Network Settings
vShield Zones
vShield Manager and the vShield Virtual Appliance
Precedence Levels
Demonstration: Setting up vShield Zones
Module Review

Module 14 - vSphere Automation
 

Module Overview
Tools Used to Automate vSphere
vCenter Orchestrator
Creating PowerCLI Scripts
Using Shell Scripts on ESX
Tools for Automating vSphere
GUI
Scripts
vSphere SDK for Perl
ESX Service Console
PowerShell
vSphere Web Services SDK
vCenter Orchestrator
Demonstration: vCenter Orchestrator configuration
Installing Power CLI
PowerShell with PowerCLI
Demonstration: Installing Power CLI
Demonstration: Using Power CLI
Running Shell Scripts From ESX
Demonstration: Some Useful Tasks
Module Review
Course Review

Note: The PowerLearning™ courses are presented by Industry Specialists and use a powerful combination of audio, full-motion video, text and colourful graphics, providing the necessary training for people to grasp and to give them a road map to practice on their own. Not all modules/courses have interactive software simulations. To pass the exams we recommend students need to practice using the actual software itself. For persons without access to the software, we often find that the software vendors provide trail versions of software – we recommend you visit their website for details. This also further enhances a person’s preparation for taking a related exam. The training programs are subject to copyright and software licence terms. The developers reserves the right to alter materials listed in published outlines in order to address current certification requirements. See FAQ for more information.