VMwarevSphereInterviewQuestions

Part1
July5,2014inInterviewQuestions,VMwarevSphere,vSphereQ&A
VMwareinfrastructurebecomeverylargedaybydayandVMwareiskeeponintegratingnew
technologiestotheirnewervSpherereleases.ItsbecomingquitedifficultforVMware
newbiestounderstandthetechnologyandproductcompletely.Thisarticlewillanswermany
questionsforVMwarebeginnersabouttheVMwarevSphereproductofferingsandfeatures.I
havenotexplainedtheproductsandfeaturesverydeeplybutthisonelineanswerswillhelp
youoninterviewstokeepyouranswershortandsweet.
1.WhataretheproductsincludedinVMwarevSphere5.5Bundle?
VMwareESXi
VMwarevCenterServer
VMwarevSphereClientandWebClient
vSphereUpdateManager
VMwarevCenterOrchestrator
2.WhattypeofHypervisorVMwareESXiis?
VMwareESXiisBaremetalhypervisor.Youcandirectlyinstallonserverhardware.

VMwareHypervisor
3.WhatistheroleofVMwarevCenterserver?

 vCenterprovidesacentralizedmanagementplatformandframeworkforallESXihosts
andtheirrespectiveVMs.vCenterserverallowsITadministratorstodeploy,manage,
monitor,automate,andsecureavirtualinfrastructureinacentralizedfashion.Tohelp
providescalability,vCenterServerleveragesabackenddatabase(MicrosoftSQL
ServerandOraclearebothsupported,amongothers)thatstoresallthedataaboutthe
hostsandVMs.

vCenterServerOverview
4.IsitpossibleinstallvCenterserveronLinuxhosts?
No.ButPrebuildvCenterapplianceisavailableinVMwareportalwhichisLinux
based.Youcanimporttheapplianceasvirtualmachine.
5.HowtoupdatetheVMwareESXihostswithlatestpatches?
WecanupdatetheESXihostsusingVMwareUpdateManager(VUM).Wecanuse
thisVUMaddonpackageonWindwosbasedvCenterserverandLinuxbased
vCenterserver(vCenterappliance)
6.WhatistheuseofVMwarevSphereClientandvSphereWebClient?
vCenterServerprovidesacentralizedmanagementframeworktoVMwareESXi
hosts.ToaccessvCenterserver,youneedvSphereclientorvSphereWebclient
serviceenabled.


vSphereClient
7.WhatisthedifferencebetweenvSphereClientandvSpherewebclient?
vSphereClientistraditionalutilitywhichprovidesuserinterfacetovCenterserver.But
fromVMwarevSphere5onwards,vSpherewebclientisaprimaryinterfaceto
managevCenterserver.ForvSphereclient,youneedinstallsmallutility.ButvSphere
Webclientdoentrequireanysoftware.Youcandirectlyconnectusingweb
browser.ButstillVUMismanagedthroughvSphereClient.
vSphereClient:


vSphereClientLogin
vSpherewebclient:


vSpherewebclient
8.WhatistheuseofVMwarevCenterOrchestrator?
vCneterOrchestratorisusedforautomationonvariousvSphereproducts.
9.WhatarethefeaturesincludedinVMwarevSphere5.5?
vSphereHighAvailabitliy(HA)
vSphereFaultTolerance
vSpherevMotion
vSphereStoragevMotion
vSphereDistributedResourceScheduler(DRS)
virtualSAN(VSAN)
FlashReadCache
StorageI/OControl
NetworkI/OControl
vSphereReplication
10.WhatistheuseofvSphereHighAvailability(HA)?Whereitcanbeapplied?
VMwarevSphereHAminimizetheVMsunplanneddowntimebyrestartingtheVM
guestsonnextavailableserverESXinodeinacaseoffailureoncurrentESXInode.
VMwareHAmustbeenabledtoreducetheVMunplanneddowntime.


VMwareHA
11.WillvSphereHAhelponVMfailurestoo?
InanordertodetecttheVMfailures,youneedtoenableVMFailureMonitoring.So
thatitdetectstheDiskI/OandsendstheinternalheartbeattochecktheVMallthe
time.IftheVMisstoppedfunctioning,VMwillberestartedautomaticallybyvSphere
HA.
12.WhatistheuseofvMotion?
UsingvMotionfeature,wecanmovetherunningVMsfromoneESXihosttoanother
ESXihostwithoutanydowntime.vMotioncopiestheVMsinmemorycontentstothe
destinationserverandfreezetheoperationoncurrentESXihostandresumesthe
VMsonremoteESXInode.


VMwarevMotion
13.WhatistheuseofStoragevMotion?
vMotionispossibleonlywhenyouhaveSharedstoragelikeFCSAN,ISCSISANor
NFS.IfyouwanttomovetheVMfromonedatastoretoanotherdatastorewithoutany
downtime,thenyouneedtoperformstoragevMotion.


vMotionandStoragevMotion
Note:YoucanperformthevMotionandStoragevMotiontogetherwithoutanydowntime.
14.WhyvMotionfeatureisnotused/cantuseinvSphereHA?
vMotionisusedforplannedmigrationsandpossibleonlywherethesourceand
destinationESXIhostsarerunningproperly.vSPhereHAisusedtoreducethe
downtimeduetofailuresofphysicalESXihosts.SoWhenthefailureaccoursonESXi
nodes,thereisnotimetoperformvMotionandcantbeused.
15.IsthereanywaytopreventtheVMsunplanneddowntimeusingvSphereHA?
Yes.YoucanpreventtheunplanneddowntimeusingvSpherefaluttollerancealong
withvSphereHA.
16.HowthevSphereFaulttolerance(FT)works?
UsingvLocksteptechnology,vSphereFTmaintainsthemirroredsecondaryVMon
differentESXiphysicalhostthatiskeptinlockstepwiththeprimary.Sowhenthe
primaryESXinodegoesdownduetohardwareissue,secondaryVMwillimmediately
stepinandprovidetheservice.Atthispoint,thisVMwillbecomeprimaryand

secondaryakamirroredVMwillbecreatedonpossibleESXIhosttopreventthe
furtherESXifailure.

VMwareFaultTolerance(FT)
17.WhatisvSphereDRS(DistributedResourceScheduler)?Howitworks?
vSphereDRSisanintelligentframeworkswhichalwaysmonitorstheclusternodes
healthcheckandperformsthevMotionautomaticallywheneverrequired.Foran
example,ifoneoftheESXIclusterhostmemoryhasbeenutilizedmorethan90%and
duetothatlotofpaginghappeningonthatserver.vSphereDRSdetectssuchthingsin
quicktimeandmovesfewVMstoanotherESXiclustertoleastbalancethecluster
nodeswithoutanydowntimebyleveragingvMotionfunctionality.Itappliesforhigh
contentionforCPUutilizationtoo.SovSphereDRShelpstobalancetheCPU&
MemoryutilizationacrosstheESXiclusternodes.


VmwareDRS
18.WhatisvSpherestorageDRS?Howitworks?
vSphereStorageDRSlikevSphereDRSbutitappliestostorage.Ithelpstobalance
storageutilizationandperformancebetweendatastoresonsameESXiclusters.

`19.WhatisVSAN?Howitworks?
VSANformsthestoragepoolsacrossthemultiplenodesusinginternaldisksand
allowsyoutocreateadatastoresthatspansmultipleESXIhosts.VSANalsoprotect
thedatausingVMstorageprofilesandyoucanconfigureitaccordingtoyour
requirement.YouneedSSDs(SolidStateDrive)toconfigureVSAN.Clickhereto
learnmoreaboutVSAN.


VSANoverview
20.WhatisFlashReadCache?
vSphere5.5supportssolidstatedrivethroughfeaturecalledFlashReadCache.Using
FlashReadCache,youcanassignacachingspacetoVMslikehowareyou
assigninglikeCPU,MemoryandotherresourcestoVMs.Solidstatedrivecanprovide
muchbetterthatIOPScomparetonormaldisks.


FlashReadCache
21.WhatistheuseofStorageI/OControlinvSphere5.5?
YoucanlimitthenumberofIOPSforeachVM.
22.WhatistheuseofnetworkI/Ocontrol?
ItssimilartostorageI/OcontrolbutitscontrolstheVMsNetworkbandwidth.
23.WhatisvSphereReplication?
ItreplicatesthecompleteVMfromonedatacentertoanotherdatacenteronperVM
basisUnlikehardwarereplication.


vSphereReplication
HopeIhavemostlycoveredaboutallthevSphereproductsanditfeaturesinhighlevel.
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