Friday, April 30, 2021

[ TIP OF THE DAY ] Thin Disk. vs Thick Lazy Zeroed Disk. vs Thick Eager Zeroed Disk.

(1) Thin Disk. Uses the space as needed for the initial function. It can be greater than the real space, an over-subscription is possible. The total space for the VM disks on the datastore can be greater than the actual size.

(2) Thick Lazy Zeroed Disk. All the space given, is taken when the VM is created. The blocks containing older data on the storage are cleared when the VM writes new data to the disk for the first time. 

(3) Thick Eager Zeroed Disk. Takes much longer to create a disk than other types of disks and increasing the size takes too much time. All disk space is taken at the time of creation, and all storage blocks that was there are wiped out .       

Conclusion: Eager zeroed thick-provisioned got the best for performance and security. Lazy zeroed thick-provision are much better for short creation times, but faster than eager zeroed & less secure. Thin-provisioned disks are the best choice to save datastore space. 

Thursday, April 29, 2021

[ TIP OF THE DAY ] VMware’s Fault Tolerance (FT) and High Availability (HA) protect virtual machine (VM).

VMware FT vs VMware HA. Fault Tolerance guarantee zero downtime but HA still comes with some downtime. HA load balancer or hypervisor, to detect a problem and restart the VMs can add up to minutes or even hours. FT keeps VM copies on a separate host machine. With only HA configured, the hypervisor attempts to restart the VM on the same host cluster. With FT, the VM workload is moved to a separate host.   

VMware’s Fault Tolerance (FT) and High Availability (HA) protect virtual machine (VM) operation in the event of an ESX/ESXi host failure. Fault-tolerant instantly move to a new host but high-availability HA cannot prevent VM failure it will see the VMs fail with the host before restarting on another host. Fault tolerance mean you don't lose the in-memory application state in the event of a failure such as a host crash. Fault Tolerance is much harder than high availability in a virtual environment.

Wednesday, April 28, 2021

[ TIP OF THE DAY ] VMware Horizon Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI).

An Introduction to VMware Horizon Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). What is VMware Horizon VDI? 1_ VMware Horizon Suite is all about end-user computing, or EUC. 2_ VDI allows IT administrators to host and administer end-user desktops in a virtual machine running on a server in a data center. End users can access their virtual desktop — running in the data center — using VMware Horizon clients such as zero client hardware devices and Mac, Android, and iPad clients.

VMware Horizon (formerly called Horizon View) is a commercial desktop and app virtualization product developed by VMware, Inc for Microsoft Windows, Linux and macOS Operating Systems. Horizon supports hybrid and multi-cloud architectures that allow organizations to scale flexibly across public and private clouds such as VMware Cloud on AWS and Microsoft Azure – now also with support for Google Cloud and VMware Cloud on Dell EMC.

Tuesday, April 27, 2021

[ MULTI-CLOUD EXPERTISE ] VMware vSphere Virtual Standard Switch (vSS).

An Introduction to VMware vSphere Virtual Standard Switch (vSS). What is vSS? When you install ESXi, the default management port group is attached to the first vSphere Standard Switch that is created by the installation – vSwitch0. vSS can be connected to physical switches by using physical Ethernet adapters called Uplinks, and their important function is to connect the virtual network into a physical network as they are connected to a physical switch.

vSS provide network connectivity:
- Between VMS within the same ESXi host.
- Between VMS on different ESXi hosts.
- Between virtual and physical machines on the network.
- For VMkernel access to networks for vMotion, iSCSI, NFS, FT & ESXi management.

vSphere Standard Switch Properties:
- You can change the Size of the MTU on a vSS
- You can change the Speed of a Physical Adapter
- You can Add and Team Physical Adapters in a vSS
- You can View the Topology Diagram of a vSS



[ CHALLENGE QUESTION ] Monitor a vCenter Server Appliance (vCSA) Resource Use of Services.

With what tool do you monitor a vCenter Server Appliance (vCSA) Resource Use of Services?

A. vmstat
B. esxcli
C. esxtop
D. vimtop
E. NONE
F. B & C

Comment Your Suggested Answer!


[ MULTI-CLOUD EXPERTISE ] "CPU, MEMORY, HDD" an Introduction to Virtualization.

An Introduction to Virtualization. What is virtualization? Virtualization uses software that simulates hardware functionality "CPU, MEMORY, HDD" to create a Virtual Machine (VM). OS virtualization is the use of software "ESXi" to allow a piece of hardware "Physical Server" to run multiple operating system images at the same time. A hypervisor and the hardware let you split one physical system into separate VMs. The virtualization Layer is an additional abstraction layer between network and storage hardware, computing, and the application running on it.

Hypervisors have been split into two classes:
- Type I
Bare-metal hypervisors "ESXi" that run guest virtual machines directly on a system’s hardware.

- Type II
Hosted hypervisors "WorkStation" that abstract guest operating systems from the host operating system.

TYPES OF VIRTUALIZATION
- Desktop Virtualization
- Application Virtualization
- Server Virtualization
- Network Virtualization
- Storage Virtualization


Monday, April 26, 2021

[ CHALLENGE QUESTION ] Other TCP/IP stack support management traffic.

Custom TCP/IP stacks can be used to handle the network traffic of other applications and services, which may require separate DNS and default gateway configurations. Which other TCP/IP stack support management traffic, IP storage, vSphere vMotion and vSphere Fault Tolerance? (Choose 1)

A. Provisioning TCP/IP stack
B. VXLAN TCP/IP stack
C. Default TCP/IP stack
D. vSphere vMotion TCP/IP stack
Comment Your Suggested Answer!



Sunday, April 25, 2021

[ TIP OF THE DAY ] VMware vCenter inventory objects.


VMware vCenter monitors and manages the following inventory objects:
(1) Data Centers.
- Virtual machines (and templates)
- Hosts (and clusters)
- Networks
- Datastores

(2) Clusters. Collect ESXi hosts and their VMs to work together as a unit.

(3) Datastores. Is the storage location for virtual machine files.
- Local SCSI disk of the ESXi host
- Network Attached Storage (NAS) arrays
- vSAN datastores

(4) Folders. Group objects of the same type so you can easily manage them.

(5) Hosts. Is the physical computer hardware to install vSphere ESXi.

(6) Networks.
- Virtual network interface cards (virtual NICs)
- vSphere Standard Switches (vSS)
- vSphere Distributed Switches (vDS)

(7) Resource pools. Separate the CPU and memory resources of a host or cluster.

(8) Templates. Is a copy of a virtual machine with O/S & apps that can be used to create new VMs.

(9) Virtual machines. VMs allow you to run an O/S and apps that behaves like a full computer.

(10) vApps. vSphere vApp can have multiple virtual machines.



Friday, April 16, 2021

[ CHALLENGE QUESTION ] Requirement to enable vCenter High Availability (HA).

How many host do you need to enable vCenter High Availability (HA)?

A. 4
B. 6
C. 3
D. 12

Comment Your Suggested Answer!



▶ ITSA EDUCATION - DEVELOPING THE FUTURE.

VMware vSphere - P1: ESXi Host (Hypervisor) - Concept & Quick Tour
HD Full Screen (1920 x 1080) Video Toturial with Closed Caption (CC) Available.
▶ ITSA Education @ https://www.ITSA.Cloud/Edu1.html
▶ https://www.youtube.com/user/ITSystemsAdmin/videos 

VMware ESXi is an enterprise-class, type-1 hypervisor developed by VMware for deploying and serving virtual computers. As a type-1 hypervisor, ESXi is not a software application that is installed on an operating system; instead, it includes and integrates vital OS components, such as a kernel.
 


Thursday, April 15, 2021

[ CHALLENGE QUESTION ] VLAN ID to which component in ESXi .

ESXi provides VLAN support by assigning a VLAN ID to which component? (Choose the best answer.)

A. Virtual standard switch
B. Physical network interface card (NIC)
C. Virtual distributed switch
D. Port group

[ CHALLENGE QUESTION ] VMware virtual disk option minimum storage capacity.

Which virtual disk option allows a virtual machine to consume the minimum storage capacity? (Choose the best answer.)

A. Independent persistent
B. Lazy-zeroed thick-provisioned
C. Eager-zeroed thick-provisioned
D. Thin-provisioned

Wednesday, April 14, 2021

[ CHALLENGE QUESTION ] Content library named ‘VDI’ is published at corporate headquarters "New York City".

ITSA has part of the vSphere environment with the following characteristics: A content library named ‘VDI’ is published at corporate headquarters "New York City" on a vCenter Server named ‘ITSA-VC1’. A regional data center contains a set of hosts managed by a vCenter Server named ITSA-VC7. ITSA-VC7 subscribes to the ‘VDI’ content library. You want to create a new virtual machine image to use on ITSA-VC7. What are two possible ways you can accomplish this task? (Choose two.)

A. Configure ITSA-VC7 to download all library content immediately.
B. Upload the new image to the ‘VDI’ library on ITSA-VC7.
C. Publish the ‘VDI’ content library on ITSA-VC7.
D. Upload the new image to the ‘VDI’ library on ‘ITSA-VC1’.
E. Upload the new image to a local content library on ITSA-VC7.

[ TIP OF THE DAY ] VMware vSphere virtual switches "vSS" & "vDS".

Both types of VMware vSphere virtual switches "vSS" & "vDS" let you control vSphere virtual machine (VM) traffic. (1) vSS: When you install ESXi, the default management port group is attached to the first vSphere Standard Switch that is created by the installation – vSwitch0. It'S used to provide network connectivity to hosts and virtual machines. No matter how many hosts you have running in your cluster, you will need to configure the same vSS for each host. For two or three ESXi hosts is ok but if you have hundreds of ESXi hosts to configure between multiple clusters, it can become very tedious.

(2) vDS: Is part of the vCenter Server, You will not be able to use the vSphere Distributed Switch if you are running standalone hosts. vDS is a single virtual switch across all ESXi hosts and allows virtual machines to keep consistent network configuration as they migrate across multiple hosts. vDS is only available as part of vSphere Enterprise plus licensing and it’s not created by default.

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

[ INTERVIEW QUESTION ] Name what components or features of VMware are you familiar with.

Impressive Answer! Quest: Can you name what components or features of VMware are you familiar with. Please, explain one of them. Ans:

Hypervisor
Fault Tolerance
Virtual Networking
vCenter Server
Virtual Storage (datastore)
New elements in vSphere 7
Content Libraries
vSAN
vApp
Miscellaneous

It is important to make a good impression on whoever is interviewing you. You can also explain... A virtualization layer that enables multiple operating systems to share a single Hardware "host" is called Hypervisor. The host allocates physical resources like memory, storage, CPU, etc. to the Virtual Machine or operating system "Windows".

There are two types of hypervisors:
(1) Hosted Hypervisor, it works as a "VMware Workstation" application installed in Windows O/S. (2) Bare-metal, it includes virtualization software "vSphere ESXi" is directly installed into the hardware and controls all physical resources.

[ CHALLENGE QUESTION ] Two single sign-on (SSO)-related options presented.

When deploying a vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA), which two single sign-on (SSO)-related options are presented to you? (Choose two.)

A. Create a vCenter Enhanced Linked Mode group
B. Create a vCenter Single Sign-On domain
C. Join an existing vCenter Single Sign-On domain
D. Repoint to another domain
E. Reset Single Sign-On password

Monday, April 12, 2021

[ TIP OF THE DAY ] VMware vSphere, vCenter and ESXi. (Explained)

(1) VMware vSphere is a product suite. It isn’t a single product, or a single entity. vSphere consists of two main components: ESXi and vCenter, when you talk about vSphere, you are talking about the combination of these two products. (2) VMware vSphere ESXi is the software that runs on your physical server to allow virtual machines to run on it. This software is a special type of software called a hypervisor. (3) VMware vCenter is the management component of VMware vSphere, it's the brains of your vSphere environment. It brings features like DRS, HA, and more to vSphere.

For large enterprises, there are:
vSphere Standard
vSphere Enterprise Plus
vSphere Platinum

For smaller environments:
VMware vSphere Essentials and Essentials Plus

To deploy vSphere in more distributed:
VMware vSphere Remote Branch Office Editions.


Saturday, April 10, 2021

[ TIP OF THE DAY ] Things to Check When Troubleshooting DRS.

The Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) ESXi cluster became unbalanced. Things to Check When Troubleshooting DRS. * A Cluster is Red Because of an Inconsistent Resource Pool. * DRS doesn’t move any virtual machines from a host. * A Virtual Machine Power On Fails. * Load Imbalances on a Cluster. I’ve listed a few reasons of an unbalanced cluster.
- VM/VM or VM/Host DRS rules prevent virtual machines to move.
- DRS is disabled for the machine.
- CD/iso files mounted that are local to a host.
- vMotion is not enabled or setup.
The Main DRS clustering features are Load Balancing, Distributed Power Management, and Affinity Rules. Three automation levels are available:
Manual — vCenter will only recommend moving resources.
Partially Automated — vCenter will automatically place the VM on the best host.
Fully Automated — vCenter is in control of initial placement and VM migrations.

Thursday, April 8, 2021

[ TIP OF THE DAY ] Virtual Machines CPU performance issues running in the ESXi Hosts.

You're experiencing some of the following performance issues in the Virtual Machine (VM).

- The guest operating system boots slowly
- Applications running in VMs perform poorly
- Applications running in VMs take a long time to launch
- Applications running in VMs frequently become unresponsive
- Multi-user services can handle less simultaneous users than expected

These might be caused by virtual machines CPU performance issues running in the ESXi Hosts. To test the performance of an ESXi host in the form of memory, CPU, and network utilization, ESXTOP tool is used. It is a very good tool available for VMware administrators to troubleshoot the performance issues. For configuring ESXTOP, you’ll need vSphere Client and putty and SSH session should be enabled.

For CPU performance testing, %RDY, %MLMTD, and %CSTP counters are used.

Check the virtual machine's virtual hardware settings and make sure that you have provided enough resources to the virtual machine, including memory and CPU resources.

Wednesday, April 7, 2021

[ MULTI-CLOUD EXPERTISE ] Does Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Make Sense for Small Businesses.

Any industry that wants to provide a digital workspace for their employees across multiple locations can benefit from VDI. But which VDI is right for you depends on the exact type of work your employees will be doing. Increasing the productivity of employees and allowing secure access for both in-house and remote workers can allow for great collaborations and teamwork with your staff. So Why (VDI) Make Sense?

✔ 80% of Fortune 500 businesses already include VDI
✔ Admin and operating costs were reduced by 70%
✔ Energy bills were reduced by 97%
✔ Productivity was increased by about 98%
✔ 70% of professionals worked via smart mobile devices
✔ The U.S alone has a 62% VDI adoption rate 

Employees are empowered to work from wherever they are. Now, they can work from home, on the train, at the doctor’s office, or wherever life may take them. Being out of the office is no longer a barrier to teams collaborating and moving projects forward. So Who Can Use VDI?

VDI for Law Firms
VDI for CPA Firms
VDI for Service Industry
VDI for Real Estate
VDI for Government
VDI for Startups
VDI for Small Business
VDI for Manufacturers
VDI for Remote Teams
VDI for Personal Use

[ TIP OF THE DAY ] A VM unexpectedly powered off. Which VM logs files should be considered to troubleshoot.

If a VM is unexpectedly powered off. Which VM logs files should be considered to troubleshoot the issue? By default, ESXi hosts store virtual machine-specific logging in the same directory as the virtual machine's configuration files. The default log file name is vmware.log. The vmware.log file is located in virtual machine folder along with the vmx file. SSH a session to your host for example: To identify the location of vmware.log files of all VMs:

find /vmfs -name "vmware.log*"

If a VM unexpectedly powered off, you should check vmware.log and hostd.log files to troubleshoot the issue. Also, when the vmware.log file is next archived, the existing vmware-1.log file is renamed vmware-2.log & so on. Virtual machine logs can be reconfigured to archive at different intervals, with different names, in different volumes, or when the log reaches a specific size. Optional: Skyline Health Diagnostics (SHD) is a tool that analyses log files to detect known issues and recommend solutions/KBs.



[ INTERVIEW QUESTION ] Before upgrading virtual machine (VM) hardware.

Impressive Answer! What you should do before upgrading virtual machine (VM) hardware? Ans: Before upgrading a VM hardware, I should create a backup or snapshot of the VM, upgrade VMware Tools to the latest version, and verify that the VM is stored in a VMFS or NFS datastore. Upgrading a Virtual Machine to the latest hardware version is the same physical of swapping the drive out of one system and putting it into a new one.

It is important to make a good impression on whoever is interviewing you. You can also explain... If a virtual machine is created on a specific virtual hardware version and is then migrated to a another that does not support this level of virtual hardware, it does not power on. If the VM power on with a virtual hardware version that is lower than what it supports, the menu items will be grayed out and unavailable.

Tuesday, April 6, 2021

[ CHALLENGE QUESTION ] Deploying the Virtual Machine File System (VMFS)

Which two storage technologies can you use to deploy the Virtual Machine File System (VMFS)? (Choose two.)

A. Fibre Channel storage
B. vSAN storage
C. Virtual Volumes storage
D. NFS storage
E. iSCSI storage


New to virtualization, interested in improving your chances to Get Hired - Be Promoted, earn certifications.

With us, you get the perfect blend of both concepts and real-world experience. ITSA provides training for those who are new to virtualization, interested in improving their chances to Get Hired - Be Promoted, earn certifications and who may either be in school currently, searching for a new job or simply trying to gain more knowledge.

LET'S FOLLOW - CONNECT.
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Sunday, April 4, 2021

[ CHALLENGE QUESTION ] Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) - 2 clusters & two domain controller VMs.

You run a two-node vSphere cluster, which contains two domain controller virtual machines (VMs). You want to ensure that VMs run on separate hosts without interfering with normal maintenance operations. How should you configure Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS)? (Choose the best answer.) Comment Your Suggested Answer!

A. Create a ‘Must run Virtual Machines to Hosts’ anti-affinity rule.
B. Create a ‘Virtual Machines to Virtual Machines’ anti-affinity rule.
C. Create a ‘Virtual Machines to Virtual Machines’ dependency rule.
D. Create a ‘Should run Virtual Machines to Hosts’ anti-affinity rule.

👽 Affinity and anti-affinity rules determine whether or not VMs are kept together as they are moved around within your environment.
-- Affinity rules keep VMs together on the same host
-- Anti-affinity rules ensure that VMs are distributed across different hosts

Friday, April 2, 2021

[ TIP OF THE DAY ] VMware clone vs VMware template: what is the difference.

VMware clone vs VMware template: what is the difference? Cloning a virtual machine creates a virtual machine that is a copy of the original. The new virtual machine is configured with the same virtual hardware, installed software, and other properties that were configured for the original virtual machine. If you clone an encrypted virtual machine, you cannot change the storage policy.

A vSphere template is also a copy of a VM with ordered folders, applications, and a specific configuration, along with permissions to access it. It is a protected version of the VM model that, for example, can be used to create a new VM. Thus, it cannot be run as a standalone VM.

ITSA provides training for those who are new to virtualization.

With us, you get the perfect blend of both concepts and real-world experience. ITSA provides training for those who are new to virtualization, interested in improving their chances to Get Hired - Be Promoted, earn certifications and who may either be in school currently, searching for a new job or simply trying to gain more knowledge. ▶ ITSA Tutorials



Thursday, April 1, 2021

[ MULTI-CLOUD EXPERTISE ] NSX for vSphere and NSX-T is the vCenter integration--NSX-T .

VMware's NSX hypervisor is the platform to manage virtualized network deployments. NSX is best known for the ability to provide zero-trust security between virtual machines, many tech analysts believe the time of the software-defined network (SDN) has arrived. In the Software-Defined Data Center (SDDC), all aspects of operations depend on NSX.

The primary difference between NSX for vSphere and NSX-T is the vCenter integration--NSX-T doesn't have the tight vCenter integration of NSX for vSphere. VMware has has two tracks for the VMware NSX platform: NSX for vSphere and NSX-T. 


Wednesday, March 31, 2021

[ CHALLENGE QUESTION ] vCenter Server e-mail notifications are NOT being sent.

"Refer to the ITSA image" You enable email notifications as shown in the red attached alarm. However, notifications are NOT being sent. Where must the mail server settings be configured to resolve this issue? (Choose two.) - Comment Your Suggested Answer!

A. In vCenter Server General settings in the vSphere Client.
B. In the alarm rule definitions
C. In the ESXi host system config for the cluster node hosting the vCenter Server Appliance
D. In Administration settings in the vCenter Server Management Interface



Tuesday, March 30, 2021

[ MULTI-CLOUD EXPERTISE ] How to Accelerate Video Conferencing Tools with NVIDIA vGPU


From offering expert advice to solving complex problems, we've got you covered. We will easily deploy VMware HORIZON VDI an Internal/External browser-based desktops for remote access to your business. Simple and cost-effective pricing with no hidden costs. ITSA can help you architect the workplace of your future Private/Public cloud. www.ITSA.Cloud

[ CHALLENGE QUESTION ] VM two migration methods in vSphere.

"Refer to the ITSA image" Which two migration methods in vSphere can you use to move a virtual machine (VM) from the VC-1-DC1-CLU1 cluster to the VC-2-DC1-CLU1 & VC-3-DC1-CLU1 clusters and vice versa? Assuming you already have the Cross vCenter Server vMotion capability enabled for the 30 hosts in the ITSA.Cloud infrastructure (Choose two.) Comment Your Suggested Answer!

A. Cold migration of compute resource only
B. Cold migration of storage only
C. Hot migration of compute resource and storage resource
D. Hot migration of compute resource only
E. Cold migration of compute resource and storage resource

Monday, March 29, 2021

[ CHALLENGE QUESTION ] "SnapShot" the state of the virtual machine (VM).

Which two statements are true regarding the state of the virtual machine (VM) if you click the "Delete All" option? (Choose two.)

Comment Your Suggested Answer!
A. The VM state will match av-p1.
B. No snapshots will remain on the VM.
C. SS-3-27-21 will be intact on the VM.
D. The VM state will match www.ITSA.Cloud.
E. The VM state will match SS-3-27-21.




Sunday, March 28, 2021

[ CHALLENGE QUESTION ] Implementing stateless desktops using VMware products.

A small government organization wants to implement stateless desktops using VMware products. The IT team is unable to add or alter any GPO in the organization's Active Directory. It wants to minimize the storage space required for the user VMs and preserve user's profiles and other personalization settings. Which accomplishes these goals?

Comment Your Suggested Answer!
A. Horizon Instant Clone desktop pools with VMware User Environment Manager
B. Horizon RDS desktop pools with App Volumes Writable Volumes
C. Horizon Full VM desktop pools with App Volumes Writable Volumes
D. Horizon Linked Clones desktop pools with persistent disks

Friday, March 26, 2021

[ CHALLENGE QUESTION ] VMware Horizon 8 in two different physical locations.

A customer wants to deploy VMware Horizon 8 to support virtual desktops hosted in two different physical locations and wants users to connect to the location nearest them to start a session. Which three steps must be completed to enable this functionality?

Comment Your Suggested Answer!
A. Initialize Microsoft DFS.
B. Configure Global Entitlements.
C. Configure two View Pods.
D. Configure one View Pod spanning two sites.
E. Configure two event logging databases.
F. Initialize the Cloud-Pod Federation.
(Choose three.)


👽 This diagram below is of traditional HORIZON VDI environments, in this example each pod is independent entity and must be managed separately. In this example each pod has its own locally managed entitlements.



Thursday, March 25, 2021

[ CHALLENGE QUESTION ] Formula to design a 40% utilization strategy for 80 VMs.

HEY GUYS!!! When meeting with a customer, these VM template requirements for instant-clone are determined: -> 2 vCPU -> 4 GB Memory -> 20 GB OS disk. Which is the formula to design a 40% utilization strategy for 80 virtual desktops, given the above requirements?

Comment Your Suggested Answer!
A. 80 * ((0.4 * 20) + 4) +20
B. 80 * (0.4 * 20) + 20
C. 80 * ((0.4 * 20) + 4) + (2*20)
D. 80 * (0.4 * 20) + (2*20)


Tuesday, March 23, 2021

[ TIP OF THE DAY ] Architecture Design for Small-Medium Sized Companies Data Center.

This is a high level architecture design for a new or redesigned Small-Medium Sized Companies Data Center, that details a cluster of 4 ESXi hosts, connected to a vCenter Server that has 150+ VM’s balanced across the hosts.There are 2 network switches vSS-1 & vDS-2 and ESXi servers are connected to for VM & management traffic via VLAN’s. The hosts are connected to four 500 GB shared storage LUN’s that are presented via fiber channel. Do you also need HORIZON VDI? No problem!

Meet ITSA VMware Engineer Consultants. A Highly Engaged Team. Every Short-Term Task, Recurring Project or Full-Time VMware Contract Work, will receive plenty of support from us to ensure that your needs are understood and that your expectations are exceeded. Technical Assistance 24x7.


[ INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ] VCSA Platform Service Controller (PSC).

Impressive Answer! What is VMware PSC? vCenter PSC is the Platform Service Controller. This is an extended SSO model which was there in previous versions of vSphere. It takes care of authentication, licensing, certificates etc.. It is important to make a good impression on whoever is interviewing you. You can explain...

VMware simplified the VCSA topology by supporting vCenter Server with an embedded platform services controller running in enhanced linked mode (ELM). ELM allows you to link multiple vCenter Servers together as a ‘single pane of glass’. This allows architectural design without the complexity of external PSCs or load balancers. NO more external PSCs.

[ INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ] Changing the Enhanced vMotion Compatibility (EVC) mode.

Impressive Answer! How can you change the Enhanced vMotion Compatibility (EVC) mode of an existing cluster in a vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA)? First, If all the hosts in a cluster are compatible with the new mode, I can change the EVC mode of the current EVC cluster. I do not need to turn off any running virtual machines in the cluster. It is important to make a good impression on whoever is interviewing you. You can explain...

VMs that are running do not have access to the new features in the new EVC mode until they are powered off and powered back on. A full shutdown of all running VMs is required. Rebooting the guest operating system or suspending and resuming the virtual machine is not enough.


[ MULTI-CLOUD EXPERTISE ] Cisco UCS Blade running VMware HORIZON for VDI.

Cisco UCS B-Series Blade Servers running VMware HORIZON for VDI. Based on the Intel Xeon processor offers up to 3 TB of memory to handle 5000 desktops up and running in 20 minutes. This enterprise-class server offers market-leading performance for Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI).

This is the first VMware Horizon desktop virtualization Cisco Validated Design with Cisco UCS 5th generation servers. The Cisco UCS B200 M5 Scalable processors with up to 28 cores per socket and 40 Gigabit Ethernet. Two optional hot-pluggable, hard-disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs) or NVMe 2.5-inch drives. Including!

· Cisco UCS B200 M5 blade servers
· VMware vSphere ESXi Hypervisor
· VMware Horizon Server RDS Hosted server sessions
· VMware Horizon non-persistent Instant Clone Windows 10 virtual machines
· VMware Horizon persistent Full Clones Windows 10 virtual machines


[ CHALLENGE QUESTION ] vSphere effective role for a VM.

What is the effective role the ITSA-Admin1 account has on the cs-1 virtual machine (VM) & why? Look! At the ITSA image.

A. No access
B. Administrator
C. Read-only
D. Virtual machine user

(Choose the best answer.) Optional: Explain. This will help all Followers & Connections to better understand about VMware vSphere roles and permissions.


Sunday, March 21, 2021

[ CHALLENGE QUESTION ] Multiple Microsoft Office apps no extra license.

Your IT team want to provide multiple Microsoft Office suite applications to end users without any extra Windows operating system licensing fees. They also want each end users to keep their Office application customization settings, and configuration changes restored when the users log off & log back in. Which two VMware technologies must they deploy to meet the requirements? (Choose two.)

A. VMware Identity Manager
B. VMware Horizon Enrollment Server
C. VMware Horizon application pools
D. VMware User Environment Manager
E. VMware App Volumes Writable volumes



Friday, March 19, 2021

[ CHALLENGE QUESTIONS ] vSphere Standard Switch (vSS)

Which statement about vSphere Standard Switch (vSS) is true?
A. Performs Port Mirroring simultaneously for virtual machines in all port groups
B. Performs Port Mirroring for virtual machines in the same port group.
C. Bridges traffic between virtual machines in other port groups.
D. Bridges traffic internally between virtual machines in the same port group.

[ TIP OF THE DAY ] ESXi and VMs appears to be disconnected.

When the ESXi and VMs in a vCenter server appears to be disconnected what should you try to fix the issue?

- (vpxa) a service which runs in the ESXi host. This service communicates with vcenter server.
- (hostd) core service which runs in the ESXi host
- (vpxd) a service which runs in the vcenter server which communicates with the vpxa

* Try to ping the ESXi host. This ensures that the host is reachable.
* Ensure you can login to the VMs remotely. This ensures that VMs in the host are working fine.
* Try to login to the ESXi host using vsphere client. This ensures that the hostd services are running perfectly. If this step fails, restart the hostd service using putty.
* If the above three steps worked fine for you, the issue would be with the vpxa or vpxd service. In that case, first try to restart the vpxa service in the host and if that didn't resolve the issue, try restarting the vCenter server service of the vCenter.

[ INTERVIEW QUESTIONS 1 out of 5 ] vCenter vs vSphere.

How does vCenter differ from vSphere? Answer: vCenter is installed on a server that either runs on UNIX or Windows. This can either be a desktop or a laptop. On the other hand, vSphere is an application management system that can be managed in a centralized manner. It controls virtual machines centrally.

[ INTERVIEW QUESTIONS 2 out of 5 ] PORTS to connect vSphere net consumer with ESXi.

What ports are needed if an administrator wants to connect vSphere net consumer with ESXi directly? Answer: It may be necessary to use multiple ports for connecting vSphere net consumer with ESXi. These include 443 TCP, 902 TCP and UDP, and 903 TCP ports. An administrator and open these ports for operation from security profile.

[ INTERVIEW QUESTIONS 3 out of 5 ] The Vlockstep Technology.

What is Vlockstep Technology? Answer: It is a technology that is used to transfer data from a primary virtual machine to a secondary virtual machine. The data includes events, movements, and inputs. The technology helps capture these elements on a primary server and sends them to the secondary server.

[ INTERVIEW QUESTIONS 4 out of 5 ] The Different Kinds of Virtualization.

What Are The Different Kinds of Virtualization? Answer: VMware manages different kinds of virtualization that used for the different purpose in the industry. Below are the kinds of virtualization that offer VMware:

-Server Virtualization
-Network Virtualization
-Application Virtualization
-Presentation Virtualization
-Storage Virtualization

[ INTERVIEW QUESTIONS 5 out of 5 ] The Solutions Offered by VMware.

What Are The Solutions Offered by VMware? Answer: VMware is considered to be the best standard for virtualization. It provides the widest range of solution that better for the business to improve the growth in a simple way. Here are the popular solution offered by VMware like

(1) VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager
(2) VMware vCenter Server
(3) VMware Horizon
(4) VMware WorkSpace ONE

-Software-Defined Data Center
-App Modernization
-Hybrid Cloud
-Multi-Cloud Operations
-Virtual Cloud Network
-Digital Workspace
-Intrinsic Security

Wednesday, March 17, 2021

[ CHALLENGE QUESTIONS ] Explaining virtualization to your manager.

There are two types of hypervisor. Type 1 hypervisors run on bare metal, type 2 hypervisors run on top of an OS, both have their pros and cons. You are explaining virtualization to your manager when he asks you to explain the term "hypervisor". Which of the following statements best describes the function of the hypervisor?

A. A CPU emulator that translates old programming code into new CPU instructions.
B. Software responsible for allocating hardware resources to a virtual machine.
C. Software that simulates different operating systems.
D. A monitoring application installed within virtual machines.


[ YOUR BOSS QUESTION ] COO asks you to explain the benefits of virtualization.

You're meeting the COO to help the company consider implementing data center virtualization. The COO asks you to explain the benefits of virtualization. Which are three benefits of data center virtualization with vSphere 6.x - 7.x? (Choose three.)

A. It supports automatic software integration.
B. It provides unlimited storage.
C. It delivers high application availability.
D. It helps reduce capital and operating expenditures.
E. It increases IT productivity.

So, what is virtualization? Many people confuse virtualization and cloud computing. Virtualization is the process of creating a virtual, rather than an actual version of something such as computing, operating systems, storage devices, or network components.

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

[ TIP OF THE DAY 2 ] "Troubleshooting" ESXi iSCSI arrays using software initiators.

👽 Note: The flow chart and troubleshooting steps are based on real experience, other troubleshooting steps could be done in different situations.  

👽 Note:  Ensure that the mapped iSCSI initiator name on the SAN array exactly matches (including upper and lower case) the name listed in the properties of the iSCSI initiator on the ESXi host to avoid any connectivity issues.

[ TIP OF THE DAY 1 ] ESXi iSCSI software initiators fail to connect

"Troubleshooting" Why does an ESXi iSCSI arrays using software initiators fail to connect? A few issues. "Software iSCSI LUN Inaccessibility" Note: A misconfigured jumbo frame on the iSCSI Network may delay the booting of the ESXi host which can lead to longer wait times while doing a rescan on the iSCSI LUNs.

(1) The ESXi cannot ping the storage
(2) The ESXi cannot vmkping the storage
(3) The ESXi cannot see any targets
(4) The host cannot see any initiators

[ CHALLENGE QUESTIONS ] Minimum CPU core FOR an ESXi installation.

What is the minimum CPU core requirement for successful installation, or upgrade, an ESXi host? (Choose the best answer.)

A. 8
B. 1
C. 32
D. 2

[ TECHNICAL QUESTIONS ] vSphere 6.x - 7.x effective resource management.

Which three vSphere 6.x - 7.x features allow you to perform effective resource management? In the image cpu resource example you can see that out of the 4 cores of the system, only one is being accessed at the moment with 1 scheduled vCPU request. With a total of 3 cores available at the moment, VM9, VM5, VM3, and VM6 are all potential candidates for being scheduled. (Choose three answers.)

A. DRS
B. vMotion
C. vRealize Operations
D. Storage I/O Control
E. NAS


[ INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ] Patch an ESXi with VMware Update Manager (VUM).

Impressive answer! Quest: How do you Patch an ESXi with VMware Update Manager (VUM). Get me a complete Walk-through? Ans: Before starting the updates, I make sure to check the compatibility of my current vCenter and hardware version with the new ESXi patches version. Next;

(1) Upload the new files to VUM
(2) Create a custom baseline
(3) Attach the baseline to (ESXi or Cluster)
(4) Compliance check (optional)
(5) Remediation pre-check
(6) Remediation

It is important to make a good impression on whoever is interviewing you. You can add... The process of remediating a host can be divided into the following steps:

(A) ESXi entered in the maintenance mode
(B) A patch is installed
(C) The ESXi host is rebooted
(D) The ESXi reconnect to vCenter
(E) The ESXi exits the maintenance mode
(F) The patching starts for the next ESXi

Monday, March 15, 2021

[ TIP OF THE DAY ] VMware vSphere ESXi Virtual Standard Switch (vSS)?

VMware vSphere ESXi Virtual Standard Switch (vSS). The ITSA image shows you a Logical & Physical example of one ESXi Host with one vSS, in there you can see __6 VMs - 2 going by vCenter High Availability (VCHA) PG & - 4 going by Virtual Machine Networks (VMNET) PG __3 Ports Groups MGMT, VCHA, VMNET and __1 VMkernel. All connected to a physical switch by a physical network card. With a vSS this ESXi host doesn't have to be connected to a vCenter server at all. A vSS - vSwitch0 is created during the ESXi installation to configure the management vmkernel interface (vmk0) on it.

- VMK - A virtual network interfaces, used by the (VMKernel) - Used for ESXi management.
- NIC - The real physical interface on the ESX host (VMNIC).
- vNIC - A Virtual Machine Network Interface (vNIC)
- Port Groups - Used to apply a single VLAN to a group of VMs Port Group (PG).
- Uplinks - A physical NIC to bridge the physical and virtual network.

What option on VMware vSphere will help you avoid morning boot storm VMs, storage related issues?

(Choose one) Comment Your Suggested Answer! A. Configure vCenter HR ad DRS B. Cluster/ESXi Storage DRS C. Enable Storage I/O Control D. VMFS...