VMware vSphere: Fast Track Adv.

System administrators, systems engineers, consultants, or help desk personnel who need the knowledge, skills, and abilities to troubleshoot performance, configuration, or operational problems in vSphere deployments.

At the end of the course, you will be able to do the following:

• Use vSphere tools to monitor the performance of VMware ESX™/ESXi hosts
• Diagnose performance problems relating to CPU, memory, network, and storage on an ESX/ESXi host
• Apply guidelines for monitoring application performance
• Use the VMware vSphere Client and command-line utilities to diagnose and rectify ESX/ESXi, VMware vMotion™, VMware Storage vMotion, VMware High Availability, VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler, and virtual machine power-on problems
• Use ESXi technical support mode to diagnose and rectify problems on ESXi
• Create and use a network packet capture utility to capture and display virtual switch network traffic

Manage for Performance Modules

Module 1 - Course Introduction

• Introductions and course logistics
• Course objectives

Module 2 - Performance in a Virtualized Environment

• Discuss the vSphere performance troubleshooting methodology
• Discuss software and hardware virtualization techniques and their impact on performance
• Monitor performance using vCenter

Module 3 - CPU Performance

• Discuss the CPU scheduler and other features that have an impact on CPU performance
• Monitor key CPU performance metrics
• Troubleshoot common CPU performance problems

Module 4 - Memory Performance

• Discuss memory reclamation techniques and memory overcommitment
• Monitor key memory performance metrics
• Troubleshoot common memory performance problems

Module 5 - Guidelines for DRS and Resource Controls

• Discuss performance guidelines for DRS clusters, resource pools, and resource allocation settings

Module 6 - Network Performance

• Discuss the performance features of modern network adapters
• Monitor key network performance metrics
• Troubleshoot common network performance problems

Module 7 - Storage Performance

• Discuss how storage protocols, VMware vStorage VMFS configuration, load balancing, and queuing affect performance
• Monitor key storage performance metrics
• Troubleshoot common storage performance problems

Module 8 - Virtual Machine Performance

• Discuss guidelines for configuring a virtual machine for optimal performance

Module 9 - Application Performance

• Discuss tools and guidelines for application performance

Troubleshooting Modules

Module 1 - Course Introduction

• Introductions and course logistics
• Course objectives

Module 2 - ESXi Command-Line Troubleshooting Methods

• Install and use the VMware vSphere Management Assistant
• Learn common vSphere command-line interface commands and syntax
• Configure ESXi technical support mode and Secure Shell (SSH) access

Module 3 - ESX, ESXi, and vCenter Server Log Files

• View ESX, ESXi, and vCenter Server log files
• Configure a centralized ESX/ESXi log host

Module 4 - Network Troubleshooting

• Identify and configure vNetwork components
• Configure and use a network traffic packet capture utility

Module 5 - Management Troubleshooting

• Troubleshoot vSphere management components

Module 6 - Storage Troubleshooting

• View, configure, and diagnose storage-access problems Configure iSCSI authentication and digests

Module 7 - vMotion Troubleshooting

• Troubleshoot vMotion and Storage vMotion errors

Module 8 - VMware Infrastructure Troubleshooting

• Troubleshoot DRS cluster errors with shares, pools, and limits
• Troubleshoot VMware HA cluster errors with slot calculations, admission control, and host monitoring
• Review virtual machine power-on requirements
• Troubleshoot virtual machine power-on failures

• VMware vSphere: Manage and Design for Security (VSMDS)
• VMware vSphere: Automation with vSphere PowerCLI (VSA)
• VMware View: Install, Configure & Manage (VMVIEW4)