VMWare interview questions 1. What versions of ESX Server you have knowledge?ESX 4.0 & ESXi 4.0 2.

What versions of irtual!enter server you have knowledge ? " v#enter Server4.0 $. %oles and res&onsi'ilities on (ware ?)aking !are of $ ESX Servers* ++ (s & 1 v#enter Server. ,- eea. (onitor /.0 version 0% 1.2, (anaging virtual infrastru!ture through vS&here !lient 4.0 & taking !are of iS#S1 S23 , 4. E4&lain a'out your (ware environ.ent? 3o of ESX Servers* 3o of ( in ea!h ESX Server* What features are used? 5ow are they !onne!ted to storage ? /. What is the .a4i.u. no of virtual .a!hines !an 'e !reated on a Single ESX Server with high end !onfiguration ?,, (a4,$20 +. ESX server su&&orts how .any &ro!essors ? " /12 v#67s &er host 8. ESX server su&&orts what !a&a!ity of %2( ? ,, 1 )9 :. 5ow .any &ro!essors !an 'e allo!ated to ( ? " : v#67 ;. 5ow .any 31#s !an 'e allo!ated to ( ? , 10 10.What is the .a4i.u. %2( !an 'e allo!ated to (? 2/+ <9 11.What files are asso!iated with ( ? ,,, 12.What is Servi!e #onsole ? 1$.What is (=ernal ? 14.5ow .any networks will 'e installed 'y default in ESX Server ? 1/.Whi!h network is used for storage &ur&ose ? 1+.5ow .any virtual swit!hes !an 'e !reated in ESX Server ? 18.When 1 try to &ower on ( it is dis&laying error .essage #an>t .a& .e.ory for (? #annot allo!ate .e.ory. What are the reasons for the sa.e ? a. When there is no free s&a!e in (kernal SW26 @ile on the (@S file syste.* 1n!rease the (kernal SW26 file to atleast &hysi!al %2( SiAe. 1:.5ow !an you !he!k the 6hysi!al 31#>s in servi!e !onsole ? 1;.5ow !an you for.at (@S file syste. in Servi!e !onsole? 20.5ow to !lone a ( in Servi!e !onsole B without irtual #enter ? 1 21.What is a !old .igrate ? 22.What is a storage v.otion ? 2$.What ha&&ens to irtaul (a!hines* when one server in 52 !luster goes down ?

24.What ha&&ens to irtual .a!hines* when one server in 0%S !luster goes down? 2/.#an we esta'lish a !luster with different &ro!essor ? 2+.E4&lain te!hni!al fun!tionality of .otion ? 28.E4&lain te!hni!al fun!tionality of 52 #luster ? 2:.1n !luster if irtual !enter goes down what ha&&ens ? 2;.What is the &ort no of irtual #enter server ? $0.Whi!h We'server will 'e used 'y irtual #enter server? $1.5ow !an you verify the &hysi!al Ethernet ada&tors using Servi!e !onsole ? $2.What do you .ean 'y 6aravirtualiAation ? $$.5ow do you !reate %esour!e &ools ? $4.What is the differen!e 'etween Ci.it & %eservation in %esour!e &ools? $/.What is the use of Shares ? $+.What is differen!e 'etween availa'le .e.ory and %eservation ? $8.What is role as a .ware ad.inistrator ? $:.What kind of a!tivities will 'e &erfor.ed on a daily 'asis in ESX Server ? $;.E4&lain a'out your environ.ent D 5ow .any es4 servers* !onfiguration of es4 servers* how .any virtual .a!hines* storageE 40.5ow do e4tent datastores ? 41.#an we atta!h 4 )9 6artition as (@S filesyste. ? 42.What is the use of &ro.is!uous .ode in )raffi! sha&ing ? 4$.What traffi! sha&ing &oli!ies are availa'le ? 44.Whi!h dae.on in ESX server is res&onsi'le for authenti!ating? 4/.Whi!h dae.on in ESX Server is res&onsi'le for res&onding to irtual #enter? 4+.What is the .a4i.u. no of ESX Servers !an 'e added to irtual !enter ? 2 48.What ha&&ens to virtual !enter if you !hange the &assword of root a!!ount in ESX Server ? 4:.What will you do if FS <ets !orru&ted in ( ? 4;.5ow do you trou'leshoot the <uest FBs in ( ? /0.5ow do you trou'leshoot ESX Server? /1.5ow do you &ower on ( in Servi!e !onsole? /2.Where do you !onfigure S()6 Server? /$.What is the default traffi! routing settings?

/4.What is the re!ent 6at!h na.e & nu.'er released 'y (ware for ESX Server and irtual #enter? //.What is #9 & e4&lain te!hni!al fun!tionality of #9 ? /+.5ow do you !onfigure 1S#S1 storage devi!es? /8.5ow does C23 & 6ort grou&s differ? /:.What settings should 'e done in 6hysi!al swit!h if 2ll C23 infor.ation should 'e e4&osed to ESX Server? /;.1f huge nu.'er of irtual .a!hines to 'e de&loyed* then how do you do this ? +0.1f you want to roll 'a!k !hanges in ( then what will you do ? +1.5ow do you restore 'a!ku& of a ( ? +2.5ow do you verify the version of ESX Server fro. servi!e !onsole and as well in 1 #lient ? +$.5ow do you get the list of ( running in Servi!e !onsole ? +4.5ow do you get resour!e usage infor.ation fro. servi!e !onsole ? +/.Where does the ( log files stored ? ++.#an 1 use s!hedule tasks in 1 #lient !onne!ted to ESX host ? +8.What is the differen!e 'etween volu.e 'ased .igration and disk 'ased .igration ? +:. how do you !onfigure logi!al volu.es in linu4 ? +;. 5ow do you &arse !o..ands to %edhat kernel ? $ 80. What 'oot .odes availa'le in %edhat ? 81. what tools did u use for &2v ? 82. What versions of &2v used for .igration ? 8$. What do u .ean 'y hot !loning and !old !loning ? 84. 1s it &ossi'le to do hot !loning for linu4 'o4 ? 8/. What errors you fa!ed during &2v take few !ases and e4&lain and how did u resolve ? 8+. What ste&s you will take to resolve kernel &ani! error in ESX ? 88. 5ow do you a&&roa!h to resolve Cinu4 'oot &ro'le.s after .igration fro. &hysi!al server ? 8:. 5ow do you resolve 'lue s!reen errors after .igration fro. &hysi!al server and whi!h !ase it throws a 'lue s!reen ? 8;. 5ow .any servers did you do &2v* 5ow did you &lan ?

:0. 5ow do you !onfigure 3)6 settings & how do you verify it is working fine or not. :1.5ow to list the &at!hes installed in ESX Server ? :2. Whi!h !o..and is used to !he!k the ESX u&dates and install ? :$. What are the disadvantages of .otion ? :4. #o.&are 5y&er,v with ESX Server ? :/. 5ow do you sto& .igration of ( to different es4 server in 0%S #luster ? G1E 2re we a'le to add odd nu.'er virtual #67s to our virtual .a!hines* for e4a.&le $ or / #67 as !o.&ared to 1$ version when virtual S(6 only su&&orts 2 or 4 #67 &er virtual .a!hine ? Hes* we !an now add odd nu.'er #67 to our virtual .a!hines. 4 G2E What is the li.itation for !onfiguring (ware @ault )oleran!e for a virtual .a!hine ? irtual .a!hine sele!ted for (ware @) .ust 'e &rovisioned with thi!k disk and not thin disk* if it was &rovisioned with thin disk* there will 'e a &ro.&t to inflate the e4isting disk siAe. G$E What is the disadvantage of !onfiguring ( dire!t &ath 1BF for a virtual .a!hine ? 1f we !onfigured ( dire!t &ath 1BF* the virtual .a!hine gains signifi!ant &erfor.an!e i.&rove.ent as it is &rovided dire!t a!!ess through the ada&ter* however* it loses itIs virtualiAation features and the ada&ter !annot 'e used 'y other virtual .a!hines. G4E 0oes vS&here &rovide su&&ort for the !urrently version of (ware Site %e!overy (anage version 1.0 ? vS&here has does not su&&ort S%( version 1.0 at this &resent .o.ent. G/E What is the 'enefit of using a 0istri'uted vSwit!h as !o.&ared to a Standard vSwit!h ? With a distri'uted virtual swit!h* the network statisti!s and &oli!ies of the virtual .a!hine that has 'een v.otion to another ESX Server will .igrate with the (. )his &rovides the a'ility for network v.otion and is useful for i.&le.enting inline intrusion dete!tion syste.s and firewalls. G+E 0oes ESX 4 and ESXi 4 su&&ort Ju.'o fra.es and )SF ? Hes* 'oth ESX 4 and ESXi 4 &rovides su&&ort for Ju.'o fra.es as well as )SF* these !an now 'e !onfigured in the <71 as !o.&ared to 1$ where ad.inistrators !ould only do it via !o..and lines. G8E What is the different 'etween (ware 0ata 6rote!tion as !o.&ared to the traditional (ware #onsolidated 9a!ku& ? (ware 0ata 6rote!tion su&&orts all storage ar!hite!ture for 'a!ku& and restore via C23 and S23. 1t also su&&orts full* in!re.ental and differential file level 'a!ku& o&tions.

G:E What is the key driving fa!tor for users ado&ting (ware v#enter 0ata %e!overy ? 1tIs an 261 that runs in a virtual .a!hine within your v#enter* it &rovides agentless 'a!ku& and !an 'a!ku& virtual .a!hines even when they are 'eing v.otion to a different host. G;E #an we &erfor. Storage .otion now via the <71 inside v#enter ? Hes* Storage .otion feature is now avalia'le in the vS&here #lient !onne!ted to v#enter Server. 1t &rovides full su&&ort for @# S23 and 3@S. G10E When using v#enter Cinked (ode feature* what are the fun!tions that !ould 'e shared a.ong the v#enters in this link ? v#enter Cinked (ode allows ad.inistrator to !entrally .anage all the v#enter within a single view* roles and li!enses !an 'e shared a!ross the v#enters !onfigured in a link. G11E 0o 1 still reKuire a @le4net Ci!ense Server if all .y ESX Servers are ESX 4 and ESXi 4 ? 3o* you no longer reKuire a li!ense server for the to .anage the new ESX Servers. 2ll li!enses are .anaged within the v#enter Server. / G12E 1f .y !usto.er has a hy'rid environ.ent where they still have ESX $ and ESX $./* !an v#enter !o..uni!ate with the e4isting @le4net Ci!ense Server ? Hes* v#enter !an !o..uni!ate with e4isting li!ense servers so as to allow it to .anage lega!y ESX Servers. v#enter will &ull the li!enses for lega!y hosts fro. the fle4net li!ense server. G1$E Why a. 1 una'le to hot add #67 and .e.ory to virtual .a!hine ? Hou are reKuired to ena'le this fun!tion under the virtual .a!hine settings in order to use it. )herefore* it is advisa'le to ena'le it 'efore you start your virtual .a!hine for the very first ti.e. G14E 1s it true we !an now use the new (ware 7&date (anager to u&grade our lega!y ESX Servers D@or e4a.&le? ESX $./E to ESX 4.0 version ? Hes* the new 7( has the a'ility to u&grade your lega!y ESX Server hosts for you. 5owever* if you are u&grading a standalone host* you will 'e reKuired to &ower off all virtual .a!hines running on that host. G1/E 5ow !o.e we are una'le to use our e4isting 1 #lient to .anage our ESX 4 and v#enter 4 ? 3o* the lega!y 1 #lient is una'le to .anage newer ESX Server 5osts and v#enter. Hou will need to install vS&here #lient to .anage newer ESX Server 5osts and v#enter as well as lega!y ESX 5osts. G1+E 1n vS&here* !an we !onfigure 'idire!tional #526 authenti!ation for iS#S1 ? Hes* we !an now !onfigure 'idire!tional #526 authenti!aton for iS#S1 software. 1t is fully su&&orted. 6reviously* we !ould only !onfigure unidire!tional #526 authenti!ation.

G18E 0o we still need to !onfigure a Servi!e #onsole &ort for iS#S1 initiator ? 3o* we no longer need a Servi!e #onsole for software iS#S1 initator. )he v.kis!sid no longer runs in the Servi!e #onsole. )here have 'een i.&rove.ents .ade to the new iS#S1 sta!k in the kernel and also with the use of )#6B162 whi!h has .ulti threading !a&a'ilities. G1:E What is the .a4i.u. nu.'er of #67 and .a4i.u. a.ount of .e.ory a virtual .a!hine !an s!ale ? 1n vS&here* a virtual .a!hine !an now 'e !onfigure with a .a4i.u. of : virtual #67s and 2// <9 of .e.ory. G1;E What is the .a4i.u. a.ount of logi!al #67s and .e.ory &er ESX Server 4 host !an s!ale ? ESX Server 4 now su&&orts a .a4i.u. of +4 logi!al #67s and 1 )9 of .e.ory. G20E What a!tions allow us to !onfigure thin disk &rovisioning for a virtual .a!hine ? When we !reate a new virtual .a!hine* !lone an e4isting virtual .a!hine* !lone a te.&late or &erfor. Storage .otion on an e4isting virtual .a!hine. G21E What is the 'enefit of !onfiguring thin disk &rovisioning as !o.&ared to thi!k disk &rovisioning for a virtual .a!hine ? When we !onfigure thin disk &rovisioning the virtual .a!hine only uses the s&a!e that it reKuires and not the entire disk siAe* this allows the re.aining unused s&a!e for other virtual .a!hines. )his ena'les us to do Storage Fver!o..it.ent and use the storage .ore effi!iently. + G22E Will .y virtual .a!hines still have !onne!tion if the virtual !enter that stores .y 0istri'uted vSwit!h !onfiguration goes down ? Hes* this is 'e!ause the 0istri'uted vSwit!h has an !ontrol &lane whi!h sits at the v#enter Server level and an 1BF &lane whi!h are the for. of hidden vSwit!hes sitting at the ESX level. )herefore* even if the v#enter goes down* virtual .a!hines !ontinue to have !onne!tivity through the 1BF &lane at the ESX level. G2$E What is the .a4i.u. nu.'er of ESX 5osts we !an !onne!t to a single distri'uted swit!h ? We !an !onne!t u& to +4 ESX hosts &er distri'uted swit!h and v#enter 4 !an su&&ort u& a .a4i.u. of 1+ distri'uted swit!hes. Whi!h .eans we !an have u& to 1024 hosts on these 1+ distri'uted swit!hes. %efer to L#onfigure (a4i.u.sL for .ore details. G24E What is the version of the +4 'it Servi!e #onsole running in ESX 4 ? )he Servi!e #onsole is a 2.+ linu4 kernel !o.&ati'le with %ed 5at Enter&rise Cinu4 /.2 or #entFS /.2 version. G2/E What is the .a4i.u. nu.'er of u&links or &orts &er ESX 4 or ESXi 4 5ost ?

)he .a4i.u. nu.'er of u&links &er ESX 4 or ESXi 4 5ost is $2 u&links. %efer to L#onfigure (a4i.u.sL for .ore details. G2+E #an we install v#enter Server on a +4 'it Windows FS ? Hes* v#enter Server !an 'e installed on 'oth $2,'it and +4,'it Windows FS. %efer to L#o.&ati'ility .atri4L for .ore details. G28E 0oes ESXBESXi 4 su&&orts round ro'in .ulti&athing &oli!y ? Hes 'esides fi4ed D&referredE and .ost re!ently used D(%7E* ESXBESXi 4 now su&&orts round ro'in .ulti&athing &oli!y and it has to 'e !onfigured on the storage level. G2:E #an v#enter 4 su&&ort a !luster whi!h in!ludes ESX $.4 and ESX 4 hosts ? Hes* we !an !luster lega!y ESX $.4 hosts and ESX 4 hosts together in the sa.e !luster. v#enter will have to !onne!t to the fle4net li!ense server to .anage the li!enses for the lega!y hosts. 5owever* new features su!h as hot add and 6#1 &ass through .ay not 'e avalia'le to the (s on lega!y hosts. %efer to L7&grade <uideL for .ore details. G2;E When u&grading fro. virtual !enter 2.4 to v#enter 4* is there downti.e for the host and do we need to re add the ESX hosts 'a!k into the inventory ? 3o* thereIs no ti.e for the hosts and e4isting hosts will re.ain in the inventory. 5owever* there will 'e downti.e for virtual !enter. %e.e.'er to 'a!ku& the data'ases as during the u&grade &ro!ess* the data'ase s!he.as are !hanged and in the event of a u&grade failure* you will not 'e a'le to roll 'a!k and you will have to do a restore. %efer to L7&grade <uideL for .ore details. G$0E When we hot add .e.ory to a &owered on (* will the swa& file get dyna.i!ally in!reased ? When we hot add .e.ory to a &owered on (* the swa& file siAe will get dyna.i!ally in!rease. G$1E When we hot add .e.ory to a &owered on ( and the swa& file get dyna.i!ally in!reased* what ha&&ens if there is not enough disk s&a!e to .eet the growing vswa& file siAe ? 8 Hou will not 'e a'le to add .e.ory to that ( that has not enough .e.ory for the swa& file to grow and you will re!eive an error. G$2E #an we add 7S9 !ontrollers to our ( in ESXBESXi 4 ? Hes* we now have the a'ility to hot &lug 7S9 !ontroller into our (s while they are running. 5owever* the us' devi!e has to 'e !onne!ted to the ESX Server and not the !lient lo!al .a!hine. G$$E When installing !onvertor &lug,in* 1 get a 404 error and the installation halts ? 0uring installation of v#enter #onvertor you will have to enter the @G03 instead of the 16 address or net'ios na.e as this .ay !ause you to re!eive the 404 error when installing the v#enter !onvertor &lug,in later.

G$4E Where is 0istri'uted 6ower (anage.ent !onfigured and what are the &roto!ols it uses ? 06( is !onfigured and .anaged at the 0%S !luster level. 1t uses 16(1* 1CF and Wake Fn C23 &roto!ols. 0%S !an use 06( to &ut under utiliAed hosts into stand'y .odes to save &ower !onsu.&tion. G$/E What is new with v#enter 4 user a!!ess and role .anage.ent as !o.&ared to the virtual !enter 2./ ? v#enter 4 allows us the a'ility to assign ad.inistrators to inventory o'Je!ts su!h as networks and datastores whi!h were not availa'le with the &revious virtual !enter version. G$+E What are the new tasks we !an s!hedule in v#enter 4 task s!heduler ? v#enter 4 task s!heduler allows us the a'ility to s!hedule a task to in!rease the resour!es in a resour!e &ool or virtual .a!hine. )his would 'e good to !ater to the needs of virtual .a!hines that will reKuire additional ad,ho! resour!es su!h as finan!e de&art.ent doing .onth end !losing whi!h .ay result in resour!es surge on their .a!hines. G$8E 5ow does (ware 52 on an ESXi Server sends out heart 'eat if ESXi does not have a servi!e !onsole ? (ware 52 !lusters !onfigured for ESXi Servers uses the v.kernel &resent on all ESXi Servers to send and re!eive heart 'eats. Whereas* on ESX Servers the heart'eat is send and re!eive through the servi!e !onsole. )herefore* we .ay not want to !luster ESX and ESXi Servers together in the sa.e !luster. G$:E #an we !reate a !luster with ESX and ESXi Servers ? Hes. 5owever* (ware 52 .ay not work as 'oth servers uses different &ort grou&s to send out heart 'eats. .otion and 0%S .ay still work. )his is not a su&&orted &ra!tise. G$;E What is the li.itation for !onfiguring (ware @ault )oleran!e for a virtual .a!hine ? irtual .a!hine sele!ted for (ware @) .ust 'e &rovisioned with thi!k disk and not thin disk* if it was &rovisioned with thin disk* there will 'e a &ro.&t to inflate the e4isting disk siAe. G40E 5ow !an 1 grow an e4isting (@S C73 without !reating an e4tent or &hysi!al &artition ? We !an use the grow fun!tion to grow an e4isting (@S C73. 1f the C73 is out of s&a!e* first we .ust get the storage ad.inistrator to grow the sa.e C73 on the storage level with storage array .anage.ent utilities then within the : v#enter Server* we !an then sele!t the C73 and grow it. G41E 5ow !o.e the hot add #67 and hot add .e.ory o&tion is greyed out for .y ( ? )his feature is !urrently availa'le only on su&&orted guest FS su!h as Windows Server 200$ enter&rise and Windows 200: data!enter edition. )he ty&e of li!ense also &lays a &art on the availa'ility of this feature to the (.

G42E What does the !hannel nu.'er stands for in v.h'aM?)?#?C? )he only real e4a.&le that 1Ive seen in vS&here so far* is the software iS#S1 initiator. 1f you give the (kernel .ulti&le (kernel &orts* and ea!h &ort !an rea!h Dover its own su'netE different targets* they are listed with different L!hannelL nu.'ers* to indi!ate whether they use the first (kernel &ort* the se!ond or the third. G4$E #an we install (ware #onsolidated 9a!ku& #9 in a virtual .a!hine ? Hes* #9 !an now 'e installed in a ( and it !an 'e use to 'a!ku& (s running on iS#S1 and 3@S. 5owever* if you wish to 'a!ku& (s whose files reside on an @# San C73* #9 .ust 'e installed on a &hysi!al .a!hine. G44E 0oes (ware iew $ work with (ware vS&here 4 ? 3o* !urrently (ware iew $ is only su&&orted on 1 $./ infrastru!ture and it is not su&&orted to work with vS&here 4 environ.ent. G4/E 1s the Servi!e #onsole root file syste. still running on e4t$ file syste. ? 3o* the S# root file syste. is now running on (0= and this is auto.ati!ally !reated during initial installation of ESX Servers. G4+E 1s it &ossi'le to !onfigure (ware 7&date (anager 4 to &oint to WS7S to gra' windows u&dates ? 3o* this is not &ossi'le as the 7( Server is una'le to !o..uni!ate with the WS7S Server. G48E #an v#enter 4 &erfor. Storage .otion on a lega!y ESX $.4 5ost and !onvert the ( virtual disk fro. thi!k to thin disk ? Hes* v#enter 4 is a'le to !onvert a (Is virtual disk fro. thi!k to thin using storage v.otion. %efer to this LESX $.4 and v#enter 4 S .otionL for .ore detail dis!ussion. G4:E 1 understand that Fra!le data'ases li!ensed 'y &er #67* how does that translate to the nu.'er of li!ense 1 have to &ur!hase if 1 &ort it over to ( ? 1n order for you to run your Fra!le 09 within a ( on that ESX Server* you have to &ur!hase li!ense for ea!h &hysi!al #67 on that ESX Server 'o4. %efer to this LFra!le Ci!ensing 6er 6ro!essorL for .ore detail dis!ussion. G4;E 5ow !o.e there is no standalone 'oot #0 for (ware #onvertor 4.0 for .e to download for use for !old !loning ? (ware v#enter #onverter Standalone 4.0.1 does not su&&ort !old !loning* you .ust use an earlier #onverter edition 'oot #0 $.0.4 Enter&rise Edition. %efer to this L (ware #onvertor 7ser <uideL for .ore infor.ation. G/0E When we !onvert a ( fro. thin disk to thi!k disk* whi!h state .ust the ( 'e in to &erfor. the reKuest ? ; )he ( .ust 'e in the &owered off state in order to 'e !onverted fro. thin to thi!k disk.

G/1E What is the default .ulti&athing &oli!y for ESX 4 ? )he hy&ervisor deter.ines whether to use (%7 or @i4ed 'ased on the ty&e of arrays it dete!ts. 1f array is a!tiveN&assive* it would 'e treated as (%7. 1f array is a!tiveNa!tive* it would 'e treated as fi4ed. %efer to L(ulti&athing 6oli!ies in ESX 4L for .ore details. G/2E What is the differen!e 'etween Enhan!ed v.4net and v.4net$ ? .4net$ is an i.&roved version of enhan!ed v.4net* so.e 'enefits and i.&rove.ents are (S1B(S1,X su&&ort* Side S!aling* !he!ksu. and )#6 Seg.entation Fffloading D)SFE over 16v+* off,loading and Carge )XB%X ring siAes. %efer to L .4net$ ti&s and tri!ksL for .ore details. G/$E When we re&li!ate the C73s over resignaturing only o!!urs for (@S C73s and not %0(* how do we get the re&li!ated %0( to work ? Hou !an re&li!ate the %0( to a new array* 'ut the .a&&ing file that is !onfigured on the v. itself will no longer 'e &ointing to the sa.e lo!ation it was &reviously* so the %0( has to 'e re,.a&&ed to the ( in a 0% s!enario. G/4E 2fter installing &lug,in inside the #* 1 a. una'le to ena'le the &lug,in and it always shows as disa'led. <o to servi!es..s! ensure that the irtual #enter (anage.ent We'servi!es is running and then relogin the vS&here #lient and ena'le the &lug,in. G//E What is the differen!e 'etween e&he.eral and dyna.i! 'inding on a distri'uted virtual swit!h ? E&he.eral a new &ort on every &ower,on. )he &ort is destroyed when the ( dis!onne!ts fro. the &ort. 0yna.i! assign a &ort when the ( is &owered on* it uses a !on!e&t si.ilar to 05#6 in that if the sa.e &ort is availa'le then it will renew that one. %efer to L3etworking 0ee& 0iveL for .ore details. G/+E What is the differen!e 'etween a thi!k virtual disk and eager Aeroed thi!k virtual disk ? )hi!k virtual disk does not for.at the (0= at the ti.e of de&loy.ent. )his .eans that data* whi!h needs to 'e written* .ust &ause while the 'lo!ks reKuired to store the data are Aeroed out. 2n eager Aeroed thi!k virtual disk a!tually for.ats all of its data 'lo!ks at the ti.e of de&loy.ent. G/8E What kind of &er.issions do we need to &rovide when !onfiguring a 32S Server ? We need to !onfigure &er.ission for the ad.inistrator grou& a!!ount rights on the 32S Server so that the ESX Server !an a!!ess the 32S Server. G/:E Storage iew ta's in the S23 storage datastore is 'lank and does not show anything ? Start the v#enter (ount Servi!e and virtual disk servi!e* then restart the v#enter Server servi!e on the Windows FS. )hen !li!k on refresh for the storage view ta's.

G/;E #an we .igrate ersion 4 ?

(s running on ESX host with

(ware 5ardware

ersion 8 to ESX host with

(ware 5ardware

3o we !annot .igrate (s running on hardware version 8 'a!k to hardware version 4. (ware hardware version 8 10Eonly e4ists on ESX4 and greater. 5owever* it is &ossi'le to .igrate (s running on ESX host with hardware version 4 to ESX host running on hardware version 8. G+0E 0oes (ware have an online &age where we !an sear!h for all the te!hni!al white &a&ers ? Hes. 6lease kindly refer to L)e!hni!al %esour!e #enterL for .ore infor.ation. G+1E 0oes #9 su&&orts Windows Server 200: ? #9 version 1./ su&&orts Windows Server 200:. %efer to L #9 1./ 7&date 1L release notes for .ore infor.ation. 11 (wareO1nterviewOGuestions..do! 3F)E ? 1 donIt know answers to so.e of the Kuestions in the do!* so if anyone of you aware of the answer for any &arti!ular Kuestion* &lease send .e an e.ail with the Kuestion and answer. 1 will u&date it in the do!. E.ail? !haranPisu&&ortyou.net 1. E4&lain the &hysi!al to&ology of irtual 1nfrastru!ture $ 0ata #entre? a ty&i!al (ware 1nfrastru!ture data !enter !onsists of 'asi! &hysi!al 'uilding 'lo!ks su!h as 4:+ !o.&uting servers* storage networks and arrays* 16 networks* a .anage.ent server and deskto& !lients. 2. 5ow do you !onfigure #lusters* 5osts* and %esour!e 6ools in 1$? 2 !luster is a grou& of servers working together !losely as a single server* to &rovide high availa'ility* load 'alan!ing and high &erfor.an!e. 2 host is a single 4:+ !o.&uting server with individual !o.&uting and .e.ory resour!es. %esour!e &ools are allo!ation of the availa'le resour!es in to &ie!es for the &ro&er distri'ution. $. What are resour!e &ools & what>s the advantage of i.&le.enting the.? 2 (ware ESX %esour!e &ool is a &ool of #67 and .e.ory resour!es. 1nside the &ool* resour!es are allo!ated 'ased on the #67 and .e.ory shares that are defined. )his &ool !an have asso!iated a!!ess !ontrol and &er.issions. #lear .anage.ent of resour!es to the virtual .a!hines. 4. E4&lain why (ware ESX Server is &referred over irtual Server or Workstation for enter&rise i.&le.entation? @or 'etter resour!e .anage.ent as it has a virtualiAation layer involved in its kernel* whi!h !o..uni!ates with the hardware dire!tly. /. 1n what different s!enarios or .ethods !an you .anage a 1$ ?

7sing the irtual 1nfrastru!ture #lient we !an .anage one es4 server* using virtual !enter we !an .anage .ore than 1 es4 server.. and also we !an use servi!e !onsole to .anage it. htt&?BBsear!hv.ware.te!htarget.!o.Bti&B0*2:;4:$*sid18;Og!i12:0/8+O.e.1*00.ht.l +. E4&lain the differen!e 'etween a!!ess through irtual 1nfrastru!ture #lient Dvi !lientE* We' a!!ess* Servi!e #onsole a!!essDsshE ? 7sing 1 #lient we !an a!!ess the ESX server as well as irtual #enter Server also* here we !an use uni4 ty&e of authenti!ation or windows ty&e authenti!ation. 9ut to a!!ess the servi!e !onsole* we should use uni4 ty&e of authenti!ation &refera'ly even though we !an a!!ess the servi!e !onsole through ad authenti!ation using es4!fg,auth* 'ut it does not su&&ort all fun!tions to work on* all the fun!tions are availa'le only with root a!!ount whi!h is 'ased on red hat Cinu4 kernel. 7sing the we' a!!ess also we !an .anage virtual !enter as well as a single host. 9ut all the enter&rise features are not su&&orted. #onsole a!!ess to the Servi!e #onsole )he disadvantages to this .ode are you .ust 'e at the !onsole Dor !onne!t using an 16 = (E and you .ust know Cinu4 to a!!o.&lish your task Dno <71E. SS5 to the Servi!e #onsole Hou !an SS5 to the !onsole &ro.&t of an ESX server and re!eive the sa.e Cinu4 te4t !onsole a!!ess as 1 showed a'ove. )elnet is not allowed. )o use this .ethod* the ESX server .ust 'e working on the network and you .ust have an SS5 !lient on your 6# to !onne!t. 2gain* in this .ode* you donIt get a <71 interfa!e. (ware irtual 1nfrastru!ture D 1E We' 2!!ess to the ESX Server )his is the (ware 1 We' 2!!ess interfa!e. )he 'enefit to using this is that you get a <71 !lient for your ESX server without having to install a !lient on your lo!al .a!hine. )he (wareO1nterviewOGuestions..do! htt&s?BBdo!s.google.!o.Bdo!u.entB&u'?id-14&i2(g$iiQ$1KkhF6/9wi<... 1 of 10 2B$B2012 8?1$ 2( downside to the we' interfa!e is that you !an only &erfor. 'asi! ESX fun!tions like !ontrolling e4isting .a!hines DstartBsto&B&auseE and !onsole re.ote a!!ess. Hou !annot add new (s* work with ( storage* or ( networks. Still* this is a great interfa!e if you Just need to !he!k the status of your ESX (s* restart a (* or use !onsole re.ote !ontrol. (ware irtual 1nfrastru!ture #lient D 1 #lientE to the Server )he 'enefits to the 1 !lient are that you have full a!!ess to do whatever is needed on the

ESX Server and you get a <71 !lient to do it in. )he only downside is that you .ust install the 1 !lient a&&li!ation to do this. 5owever* the installation is negligi'le and the 1 !lient is the a'solute 'est way to ad.inister your ESX Server. (ware irtual 1nfrastru!ture #lient D 1 #lientE to the irtual #enter Server D # ServerE @ro. this 1 # interfa!e* you !an .anage all ESX servers* ( storage* ( networks* and .ore. irtual #enter* of !ourse* is an o&tional &rodu!t that reKuires additional li!enses and hardware. 8. E4&lain advantages or features of (ware irtual (a!hine @ile Syste. D (@SE ? 1t>s a !lustered file syste.* e4!ellent su&&ort for sharing 'etween ESX servers in a !luster. @eatures 2llows a!!ess 'y .ulti&le ESX Servers at the sa.e ti.e 'y i.&le.enting &er,file lo!king. S#S1 %eservations are only i.&le.ented when C73 .eta data is u&dated De.g. file na.e !hange* file siAe !hange* et!.E 2dd or delete an ESX Server fro. a (ware (@S volu.e without disru&ting other ESX Server hosts. C ( allows for ada&tive 'lo!k siAing and addressing for growing files allows you to in!rease a (@S volu.e on the fly D'y s&anning .ulti&le (@S volu.esE With ESXBESXi4 (@S volu.es also !an 'e e4&anded using C73 e4&ansion F&ti.iAe your virtual .a!hine 1BF with adJusta'le volu.e* disk* file and 'lo!k siAes. %e!over virtual .a!hines faster and .ore relia'ly in the event of server failure with 0istri'uted Journaling. Ci.itations #an 'e shared with u& to $2 ESX Servers. #an su&&ort C73s with .a4 siAe of 2)9 and a .a4 (@S siAe of +4 )9 as of version 4 DvS&hereE. L)here is a (@S,$ li.itation where ea!h tree of linked !lones !an only 'e run on : ESX servers. @or instan!e* if there is a tree of disks off the sa.e 'ase disk with 40 leaf nodes in the tree* all 40 leaf nodes !an 'e si.ultaneously run 'ut they !an only run on u& to : ESX hosts.L (@S,$ li.its files to 2+2*144 D2 1: E 'lo!ks* whi!h translates to 2/+ <9 for 1 (9 'lo!k siAes Dthe defaultE u& to 2 )9 for : (9 'lo!k siAes. :. What are the ty&es of data stores su&&orted in ESX$./ ? iS#S1 datastores* @# S23 datastores* Co!al (@S* 32S and 3@S

;. 5ow !an you !onfigure these different ty&es of datastores on ESX$./ ? 1f we have @# !ards installed on the es4 servers* 'y going to the storage o&tion* we !an s!an for the luns. 10.What is .ware #onsolidate 9a!ku& D #9E ? E4&lain your work e4&osure in this area ? (ware #onsolidated 9a!ku& is a 'a!ku& fra.ework* whi!h ena'les $ rd &arty tools to take 'a!ku&s. #9 is used to hel& you 'a!ku& your (ware ESX virtual servers. Essentially* #9 is a L'a!ku& &ro4y serverL. 1t is not 'a!ku& software. 1f you use #9* you still need 'a!ku& software. 1t is !o..only installed on its own dedi!ated Windows &hysi!al server. 5ere are the 'enefits of (wareIs #9? #entraliAe 'a!ku&s of (ware ESX irtual Servers 6rovide file,level 'a!ku&s of (ware ESX irtual Servers , 'oth full and in!re.ental Dfile level 'a!ku& availa'le to only Windows guestsE (wareO1nterviewOGuestions..do! htt&s?BBdo!s.google.!o.Bdo!u.entB&u'?id-14&i2(g$iiQ$1KkhF6/9wi<... 2 of 10 2B$B2012 8?1$ 2( 6rovide i.age,level 'a!ku&s 6revent you fro. having to load a 'a!ku& agent on every irtual (a!hine 6revent you fro. having to shutdown irtual (a!hines to get a 'a!ku& 6rovides C23,@ree 'a!ku& 'e!ause the #9 server is !onne!ted to the S23 through your fi're !hannel ada&tor 6rovides !entraliAed storage of irtual Server 'a!ku&s on the #9 server* that is then .oved to your 'a!ku& ta&es through the $rd &arty 'a!ku& agent you install %edu!es the load on the (ware ESX servers 'y not having to load a $rd &arty 'a!ku& agent on either the (ware ESX servi!e !onsole or on ea!h virtual .a!hine. 7tiliAes (ware Sna&shots 9asi!ally* here is how #9 works? 1f you are doing a file level 'a!ku&* #9 does a sna&shot of the (* .ounts the sna&shot* and allows you to 'a!ku& that .ounted LdriveL through #9 to your $rd &arty 'a!ku& software 1f you are doing an i.age level 'a!ku& of the (* #9 does a sna&shot of the (* !o&ies the sna&shot to the #9 server* unsna&s the (* and allows you to 'a!ku& the !o&ied sna&shot

i.age with your $rd &arty 'a!ku& software. 11. 5ow do you !onfigure (ware irtual #entre (anage.ent Server for 52 & 0%S ? What are the !onditions to 'e satisfied for this setu&? 52 & 0%S are the &ro&erties of a #luster. 2 #luster !an 'e !reated only when .ore than one host added* in that !ase we need to !onfigure 52 & 0%S as well to &rovide 5igh 2vaila'ility and Coad 'alan!ing 'etween hosts and for the virtual .a!hines. 12.E4&lain your work related to 'elow ter.s ? ( 6rovisioning? irtual (a!hine #reation. 2lar.s & Event (anage.ent? 2lar.s are used to know the status of the resour!e usage for a (. Events are used .onitor the tasks that are taken &la!e on the es4 servers or in the virtual !enter )ask S!heduler? )ask s!heduler* if you want to s!hedule a task it will 'e used* for e4a.&le if you want .ove one v. fro. one host to another host or if you want shutdownBre'oot a v. et!. 5ardware #o.&ati'ility Cist? what are the hardware that !o.&ati'le with ESX FS. 1$.What S23 or 32S 'o4es have you !onfigured (ware with ? 5ow did you do that ? Storage tea. will &rovide the C73 infor.ation* with that we will add those C73s to ESX hosts fro. ( storage. 14.What kind of a&&li!ations or setu&s you have on you irtual (a!hines ? E4!hange server and Share 6oint* 'ut these are for 0E(F &ur&oses* #irtri4 &resentation servers et!. 1/. 5ave you ever fa!ed ESX server !rashing and irtual #entre Server !rash? 5ow do you know the !ause of these !rashes in these !ases ? 6lease send .e the answer if anyone knows a'out this* 1 will u&date the do!. !haranPisu&&ortyou.net 1+. Will 52 work if irtual #enter Server is down ? 21E 52 !ontinues to work if # is down , the agents are initially !onfigured 'y virtual !enter* 'ut 52 o&erations are !ontrolled 'y lo!al agents on ESX. # does 3F) .onitor the ESX servers for 52. ESX servers .onitor ea!h other. 0%S do not work while # is down. 22E @or 0%S* the !onfig and logi! is !o.&letely in #. @or 52* only the !onfig is in #. )he logi! is in the servi!e !onsoles* and thatIs where the rea!tion is !o.ing fro.. # will noti!e the 52 rea!tion afterwards when it !onne!ts to the servi!e !onsoles the ne4t ti.e.

3o* Why 'e!ause all these futures are !o.es with irtual #enter only. 18. What are the situations whi!h triggers v(otion auto.ati!ally? %esour!e #ontention 'etween virtual .a!hines D0%SE 0istri'uted &ower .anage.ent (wareO1nterviewOGuestions..do! htt&s?BBdo!s.google.!o.Bdo!u.entB&u'?id-14&i2(g$iiQ$1KkhF6/9wi<... $ of 10 2B$B2012 8?1$ 2( 6lease send .e the answer if anyone knows a'out thisR 1 will u&date the do!. !haranPisu&&ortyou.net 1:. What is 0%SB52B06(BdvSwit!hB@)Bv2&&sBvSafeBvShields ? ?,E 0%S ? 0istri'uted %esour!e S!heduling 52 ? 5igh 2vaila'ility 06( ? 0istri'uted 6ower (anage.ent dvSwit!h ? 0istri'ute vSwit!h " 1t>s a new feature introdu!ed in vS&here4.0 @) ? @ault )oleran!e for irtual (a!hines " it>s a new feature introdu!ed in vS&here4.0 v2&&s ? v2&& is a !ontainer sa.e as resour!e &ool* 'ut it is having so.e features of virtual .a!hines* a v2&& !an 'e &owered on or &owered off* and it !an 'e !loned too. htt&?BB!o..unities.v.ware.!o.B.essageB1$0:4/8M1$0:4/8 v.Safe ? (safeIs a&&li!ation &rogra..ing interfa!es are designed to hel& third,&arty vendors !reate virtualiAation se!urity &rodu!ts that 'etter se!ure (ware ESX* vShield Qones is a se!urity tool targets the (ware ad.inistrator. vShield ? Shield Qones is essentially a virtual firewall designed to &rote!t (s and analyAe virtual network traffi!. )his three,&art series des!ri'es vShield Qones* e4&lains how to install it and &rovides useful .anage.ent ti&s. )o 'egin* letIs get started with the 'asi!s? what vShield Qones is and how it works. htt&?BBsear!hv.ware.te!htarget.!o.Bti&B0*2:;4:$*sid18;Og!i1$+$0/1O.e.1*00.ht.l 1;. What are the reKuire.ent for @) ? htt&?BB!o..unities.v.ware.!o.BthreadB20;;// 20. What are the differen!es 'etween ESX and ESXi ? ESX is an FS with full features of virtualiAation* ESXi is a li.ited features FS with $2(9 i.age. 21. Whi!h are the new features introdu!ed in vS&here 4 ? SSSSS 1. +4,'it hy&ervisor , 2lthough not everyone realiAed it* the hy&ervisor in ESX Server $./ was $2,'it.

2s a result* ESX Server $./ !ouldnIt take full advantage of todayIs .ore &owerful +4,'it hardware &latfor.s. ESX Server 4.0 uses a native +4,'it hy&ervisor that &rovides signifi!ant &erfor.an!e and s!ala'ility enhan!e.ents over the &revious versions. 5owever* the new hy&ervisor does reKuire a +4,'it hardware &latfor.. 2. 1n!reased ( s!ala'ility , ESX Server 4.0Is new +4,'it ar!hite!ture &rovides signifi!ant in!reases in s!ala'ility. ESX Server 4.0 su&&orts virtual .a!hines D (sE with u& to 2//<9 of %2( &er (. 1n addition* the vS&here 4.0 Enter&rise 6lus edition &rovides su&&ort for u& to :,way virtual S(6 &er (. )he other editions su&&ort u& to 4,way virtual S(6. )hese gains are availa'le on 'oth Windows and Cinu4 guests. $. 5ot add #67* %2(* and virtual disks , )his i.&ortant enhan!e.ent in vS&here 4.0 is designed to !reate a dyna.i! 1) infrastru!ture through the a'ility to add #67* %2(* and virtual disks to a running (. )he hot add !a&a'ility lets you dyna.i!ally in!rease your (sI &erfor.an!e during &eriods of high resour!e de.ands. 4. )hin &rovisioning , )his feature is nothing new to (i!rosoft virtualiAation usersR vS&here now offers a thin,&rovisioning feature thatIs essentially the eKuivalent of 5y&er, Is dyna.i! disks. )hin &rovisioning lets you !reate and &rovision a irtual 5ard 0isk D 50E* 'ut the host uses only the a.ount of storage thatIs a!tually reKuired 'y the ( rather than using the 50Is allo!ated siAe. /. (ware @ault )oleran!e , @ault )oleran!e is a new high,availa'ility feature in vS&here 4.0. @ault )oleran!e works only 'etween two syste.s. 1t uses a te!hnology !alled vCo!kste& to &rovide &rote!tion fro. syste. failure with a'solutely no downti.e. (wareIs vCo!kste& te!hnology kee&s the %2( and the virtual &ro!essors of two (s in syn! at the instru!tion level. +. v3etwork 0istri'uted Swit!hvS&here 4.0Is v3etwork 0istri'uted Swit!h lets you !reate and share network !onfigurations 'etween .ulti&le servers. )he v3etwork 0istri'uted Swit!h s&ans .ulti&le ESX Server hosts* letting you !onfigure and .anage virtual networks at the !luster level. 1t also lets you .ove network !onfiguration and state with a ( when the ( is live .igrated 'etween ESX Server hosts. 8. 16v+ su&&ort , 2nother enhan!e.ent in vS&here 4.0 is su&&ort for 16v+. (any organiAations are &lanning to .ove to 16v+. vS&hereIs 16v+ su&&ort lets !usto.ers .anage v#enter Server and ESX Server hosts in .i4ed 16v4B16v+ network environ.ents. :. v2&&sv2&&s essentially lets you .anage as a single entity .ulti&le servers that !o.&rise an n,tiered a&&li!ation. 7sing v2&&s* you !an !o.'ine .ulti&le (s* their interde&enden!ies* and their

resour!e allo!ations together as a unit. Hou !an .anage all the !o.&onents of the v2&&s as a single unit* letting you &ower off* !lone* and de&loy all the v2&&s !o.&onents in the sa.e o&erations. (wareO1nterviewOGuestions..do! htt&s?BBdo!s.google.!o.Bdo!u.entB&u'?id-14&i2(g$iiQ$1KkhF6/9wi<... 4 of 10 2B$B2012 8?1$ 2( ;. vS&here 5ost 7&date 7tility)he new vS&here 5ost 7&date 7tility lets you !entrally u&date your ESXi and ESX Server $.0 and later hosts to ESX Server 4.0. )he 71 dis&lays the status of the re.ote u&dates in real ti.e. 10. (ware vShield Qones (wareIs new vShield Qones let !usto.ers enfor!e network a!!ess &rote!tion 'etween (s running in the virtual data !enter. )he vShield Qones feature lets you isolate* 'ridge* and firewall traffi! a!ross v#enter de&loy.ents. 22. Whi!h are the traffi! sha&ing o&tions availa'le to !onfigure? 2$. What is &ro.is!uous .ode ? 1f the &ro.is!uous .ode is ena'led for a swit!h* the traffi! sent that swit!h will 'e visi'le to all v.>s !onne!ted to that swit!h. 1 .ean* the data will 'e 'road!asted. 24. What .akes iS#S1 and @# diffrent ? 2ddressing S!he.e* iS#S1 relies on 16 and @# not* and the ty&e of transfer of data also. 1n @# the data transferred as 'lo!ks* in iS#S1 the data transferred as files. )he !a'ling also* @# uses @i're !a'le and iS#S1 uses %T4/. 2/. What is the for.at for iS#S1 addressing ? 16 2ddress 2+. (Is )ask (anager shows &erfor.an!e nor.al* 9ut v#enter re&orts high resour!e utiliAation* what is the reason ? Sear!h =EH WF%0S ? (Is &erfor.an!e nor.al* v#enter re&orts high resour!e utiliAation htt&?BB!o..unities.v.ware.!o.B.essageB:;8;8/ 28. What are the different ty&es of .e.ory .anage.ent tri!ks availa'le under ESX ? htt&?BBen.word&ress.!o.BtagBes4,.e.ory,.anage.entB htt&?BBwww.!s.northwestern.eduBUfa'ian'B!lassesB!s,44$,s0/BESX.&&s 2:. What is v..e.!tl ? htt&?BB&u's.v.ware.!o.Bvi$Bres.g.tBwwhel&Bwwhi.&lB!o..onBht.lBwwhel&.ht.?!onte4t-res.g.t& file-v!Oadvan!edO.g.t.11.24.ht.l 2;. 5ow we !an list &31#s & status using !o..and line ?

if!onfig "a $0. What is resour!e &ool ? What are the use of it ? 2 resour!e &ool is a logi!al a'stra!tion for fle4i'le .anage.ent of resour!es. %esour!e &ools !an 'e grou&ed into hierar!hies and used to hierar!hi!ally &artition availa'le #67 and .e.ory resour!es. $1. 2sk a'out how 52 works. (ware 52 &rovides high availa'ility for virtual .a!hines 'y &ooling the. and the hosts they reside on into a !luster. 5osts in the !luster are .onitored and in the event of a failure* the virtual .a!hines on a failed host are restarted on alternate hosts. $2. 1s 52 de&endent on virtual !enter DFnly for 1nstallE $$. What is the (a4i.u. 5ost @ailure allowed in a !luster D4E $4. 5ow does 52 know to restart a ( fro. a dro&&ed 5ost Dstorage lo!k will 'e re.oved fro. the .etadataE $/.5ow .any iS#S1 targets will ESX su&&ort : for $.01* D+4 for $./E $+ 5ow (any @i'er #hannel targets D2/+E D12: on 1nstallE $8 What is .otion (wareO1nterviewOGuestions..do! htt&s?BBdo!s.google.!o.Bdo!u.entB&u'?id-14&i2(g$iiQ$1KkhF6/9wi<... / of 10 2B$B2012 8?1$ 2( Da'ility to .ove running v. fro. one host to anotherE $: What is virtual S(6 " when and why should you give a v. .ulti&le v#67s , &art of their answer whould 'e that 'est &ra!rti!e is to start with a single v#67 'e!ause of you !an run into &erfo.an!e issues do to #67 s!heduling $; 2sk what version of Cinu4 kernel does ESX run if they are truly e4&erien!ed they should say ESX is not Cinu4 and does not use a Cinu4 kernel , and give the. an e4tra &oiJnt if they e4&lain that the servi!e !onsole runs a .odified version of %ed 5at Ent $, 40 does 52 use v.otion? the answer is no , v. sto&s and restarts on ESX other host

41. what is the different when you use vi!lient !onne!t to # and dire!tly to ESX server itself. When you !onne!t to # you .anage ESX server via v&4a D2gent on es4 serverE. &4a then &ass those reKuest to hostd D.anage.ent servi!e on es4 serverE. When you !onne!t to ESX server dire!tly* you !onne!t to hostd D'y&ass v&4aE. Hou !an e4tend this to a tro'leshoot !ase* where !onne!t to es4 see one thing and !onne!t to # see another. So the &ro'le. is .ost likely out of syn! 'etween hostd and v&4a* Lservi!e v.ware,v&4a restartL should take !are of it. 42. What was the .ost diffi!ult (Ware related &ro'le.Bissue you fa!ed in a &rodu!tion environ.ent and what were the s&e!ifi! ste&s you took to resolve it? 52 issues " 'e!ause of dns &ro'le.s* the hosts are una'le to !o..uni!ate together. #orre!ted 'y adding all servers i&>s in ea!h server>s Bet!Bhosts file ( was not &owered u& " 'e!ause the swa& file was lo!ked 'y another host* when 1 try to &ower on the v. its not &owering u&. 2fter releasing the lo!k its &owered on. 4$. When was the last ti.e you !alled ( Su&&ort and what was the issue? Ci!ensing related issues. 44. What was the .ost &erfor.an!e intensive &rodu!tion a&& that you su&&orted in (ware and what were the so.e of the !hallenges that it &osed? 1n e4!hange share&oint de.o &roJe!t* getting lot of C23 issues. Dits .y e4&erien!e* you !an say yoursE 4/. 5ow would you deter.ine that a &erf intensive a&& is a good !andidate? S&efi!ally what tools would you use to identify !andidates. S&e!ifi!ally inside those tools what .etri!s would you use? 6lease send .e the answer if anyone knows a'out thisR 1 will u&date the do!. !haranPisu&&ortyou.net 4+. What is yor &hiloso&hy on how .u!h of the data !enter !an 'e virtualiAed? D1f the interviewer wants .a4 virtualiAation* 'ut the interviewee is not !onvin!ed that this is a good idea* this !ould 'e a deal 'reakerE 6lease send .e the answer if anyone knows a'out thisR 1 will u&date the do!. !haranPisu&&ortyou.net 48. What is your o&inion on the virtualiAation vendors D(S vs ( vs #itri4 vs et!E and why? DTust trying to figure out if the !andidate is kee&ing u& with this ever !hanging virtualiAation .arketE 6lease send .e the answer if anyone knows a'out thisR 1 will u&date the do!.

!haranPisu&&ortyou.net (wareO1nterviewOGuestions..do! htt&s?BBdo!s.google.!o.Bdo!u.entB&u'?id-14&i2(g$iiQ$1KkhF6/9wi<... + of 10 2B$B2012 8?1$ 2( 4:. 1 'eleive another good Kuestion would 'e to ask the !andidate to 'riefly des!ri'e S)* <) & ES) .ode and :02.1G trunking. 1 say this 'e!ause networking is su!h an i.&ortant &art of (ware i.&le.entations and on going su&&ort..* do you really want a (ware engineer working in your environ.ent if they la!k the knowledge of these !on!e&ts DVunless of !ourse they are only delegated with low level &er.issions for generi! ( o&erationsVE 6lease send .e the answer if anyone knows a'out thisR 1 will u&date the do!. !haranPisu&&ortyou.net (ore infor.ation on these .odeIs !an 'e found here? www.v.ware.!o.B&dfBes4$OvlanOw&.&df 2lso ask the !andidate to e4&lain why one .ode would 'e used as o&&osed to another?* re.e.'er that there !an 'e nu.erous reasons for the use of different .odes de&ending on your !o.&anyB!lientIs network* se!urity &oli!ies et!.. 4;. 1f you are interviewing for a !onsultant role it would also 'e a good s!enario to &rovide a 'rief overview of a fi!tional network and ask the !andidate to do a white'oard draft of how the network would 'e layed out if say the ESX servers have + 31#Is or : 31#Is et!.. et!... 6lease send .e the answer if anyone knows a'out thisR 1 will u&date the do!. !haranPisu&&ortyou.net /0. What are nota'le files that re&resent a (? .v.4 " !onfiguration settings for ( .v.4f " !onfiguration settings used to su&&ort an X(C,'ased ( !onfiguration 261 .v.t4 " !onfiguration settings for a )e.&late ( Dre&la!es the .v.4 fileE .v.dk " virtual disk file. D3ote? if a thi!k disk is used* a "flat.v.dk file that re&resents the a!tual .onolithi! disk file will e4ist 'ut will 'e hidden fro. the vS&here #lient.E .nvra. " non,volatile .e.ory D91FSE .vsw& " swa& file used 'y ESXBESXi &er ( to over!o..it .e.ory* i.e. use .ore .e.ory than &hysi!ally availa'le. )his is !reated 'y the host auto.ati!ally when &owering on a ( and deleted Ddefault 'ehaviorE when &owering off a (. Swa& files !an re.ain and take u& s&a!e if a host failed &rior to shutting down a ( &ro&erly. 3or.ally the swa& file is stored in the lo!ation where the ( !onfiguration files are ke&tR however the lo!ation !an 'e o&tionally lo!ated elsewherefor e4a.&le*

lo!ally for &erfor.an!e reasons and if using 32SB3@S* lo!al swa& should 'e used. .v.ss " sus&end file Dif &la!ed into ..vv.ssdn "" fsonra &snshao&ts hfiolet .anage.ent sus&end &ower .odeE /1. 5ost 6rofiles What li!ensing is reKuired for 5ost 6rofiles? 2vaila'le with vS&here Enter&rise 6lus edition. /2 #an 5ost 6rofiles work with ESXBESXi $.4 hosts? 3o. Fnly starting with ESXBESXi 4.0. /$ #an 5ost 6rofiles 'e used with a !luster running 'oth ESX and ESXi hosts? Hes* 'ut re.e.'er to use an ESX host and not an ESXi host to !reate a &rofile for use. 1n theory* 5ost 6rofiles should work with .i4ed host !lusters* as it translates ESX to ESXi* 'ut 'e !areful as there are enough differen!es 'etween ESX and ESXi that !an lead you to .ake self,infli!ted errors when a&&lying 5ost 6rofiles. )he easiest .ethod is to !reate !lusters that are ho.ogeneous and .aintain two different &rofiles for these two ty&es of !lusters. /4 #an 5ost 6rofiles work when using the #is!o 3e4us 1000v? 3o* 'e!ause 5ost 6rofiles was designed with the generi! v3etwork 0istri'uted Swit!h. )he #is!o 3e4us 1000v swit!h gives ad.inistrators finer,grained !ontrol of the networking 'eyond what 5ost 6rofiles !an a&&ly. //. What are host &rofiles? 2 set of 'est &ra!ti!ed !onfiguration rules* whi!h are !an 'e a&&lied to entire !luster or to an individual host. So that all the hosts in syn! with ea!h other* this will avoid v.otion* drs and ha &ro'le.s. /+. #ould not &ower on (? no swa& file (y ESXi $./ .a!hine runs :,10 (s DWin2k$ and WinX6E nor.ally. 2t the .o.ent* / of the. are !o.&laining that they !annot 6ower Fn. )hey see. to start and then !o.&lain L#ould not &ower on (? (wareO1nterviewOGuestions..do! htt&s?BBdo!s.google.!o.Bdo!u.entB&u'?id-14&i2(g$iiQ$1KkhF6/9wi<... 8 of 10 2B$B2012 8?1$ 2( no swa& fileL. 1 had a look with the data 'rowser. 1tIs a s.all installation* so the vsw& files ought to 'e in the sa.e dire!tory as the v.4 file D1 did not inttionally &ut the. anywhere elseE. Ff !ourse 1 donIt see a vsw& file there 'e!ause the .a!hine is not running. 1 donIt know enough a'out the v.4 file stru!ture to identify if anything is wrong in the s&e!ifi!ations. 1 have downloaded one of the v.4 files and atta!hed it here. 6lease either tell .e what to !hange in that v.4 file* or suggest another a&&roa!h to get the .a!hines to start. /8. What are the availa'le Storage o&tions for virtual .a!hines ? %aw devi!e .a&&ings*

(@S htt&?BBsear!hv.ware.te!htarget.!o.Bti&B0*2:;4:$*sid18;Og!i1$1:88+O.e.1*00.ht.l /: .What are the differen!es 'etween irtual and 6hysi!al !o.&ati'ility .odes when .a&&ing the %aw 0evi!es to virtual .a!hines? Hou !an !onfigure %0( in two ways? irtual !o.&ati'ility .odethis .ode fully virtualiAes the .a&&ed devi!e* whi!h a&&ears to the guest o&erating syste. as a virtual disk file on a (@S volu.e. irtual .ode &rovides su!h 'enefits of (@S as advan!ed file lo!king for data &rote!tion and use of sna&shots. 6hysi!al !o.&ati'ility .odethis .ode &rovides a!!ess to .ost hardware !hara!teristi!s of the .a&&ed devi!e. (kernel &asses all S#S1 !o..ands to the devi!e* with one e4!e&tion* there'y e4&osing all the &hysi!al !hara!teristi!s of the underlying hardware. 1n this .ode* the .a&&ing is done as follows* when we !reate a .a&&ing* the !onfiguration stored in a file and that file is stored with the v. files in datastore. )his file &oints to the raw devi!e and .akes it a!!essi'le to the v.. /; .What are %0( Ci.itations? %0( li.itations )here are two ty&es of %0(s? virtual !o.&ati'ility .ode %0(s and &hysi!al !o.&ati'ility .ode %0(s. 6hysi!al .ode %0(s* in &arti!ular* have so.e fairly signifi!ant li.itations? 3o (ware sna&shots 3o #9 su&&ort* 'e!ause #9 reKuires (ware sna&shots 3o !loning (s that use &hysi!al .ode %0(s 3o !onverting (s that use &hysi!al .ode %0(s into te.&lates 3o .igrating (s with &hysi!al .ode %0(s if the .igration involves !o&ying the disk 3o (otion with &hysi!al .ode %0(s irtual .ode %0(s address so.e of these issues* allowing raw C73s to 'e treated very .u!h like virtual disks and ena'ling fun!tionality like (otion* sna&shotting* and !loning. irtual .ode %0(s are a!!e&ta'le in .ost !ases where %0(s are reKuired. @or e4a.&le* virtual .ode %0(s !an 'e used in virtual,to,virtual !luster a!ross &hysi!al hosts. 3ote that &hysi!al,to,virtual !lusters a!ross 'o4es* though* reKuire &hysi!al .ode %0(s. While virtual disks will work for the large .aJority of a&&li!ations and workloads in a 1 environ.ent* the use of %0(s,,either virtual .ode %0(s or &hysi!al .ode %0(s,,!an hel& eli.inate &otential !o.&ati'ility issues or allow a&&li!ations to run virtualiAed without any loss of fun!tionality.

1 &reviously &osted so.e Kuestions related to (ware already. 2nd the &ost has very good res&onse. Hou !an read it here , htt&?BBwww2.isu&&ortyou.netB2010B0+Bv.ware,interviewKuestions, ti&s.ht.l Fther links on .y 'log. 5ow to a!!ess ESX Server in 0ifferent ways? What are the .aJor differen!es in these? (wareO1nterviewOGuestions..do! htt&s?BBdo!s.google.!o.Bdo!u.entB&u'?id-14&i2(g$iiQ$1KkhF6/9wi<... : of 10 2B$B2012 8?1$ 2( irtual #enter ? #entraliAed 2d.inistration of irtual 1nfrastru!ture (Ware 1nterview Guestions & )i&s " 6art ,1 5ow to fi4 52 errors in (ware ESX Server? 5ow to install irtual #enter 2./B v#enter 4.0 in a si.&le ste&s? 7na'le to &ower on the irtual (a!hine* 5ow to fi4 it? What is v(otion? 5ow it 5a&&ens? What is (ware #onsolidated 9a!ku& and 5ow it is used ? irtualiAation ? 9asi!s (ware " irtual 3etworking (ware ESX Server ? irtualiAation E4&ert irtual (a!hine ? 6rovisioning 5ow to a!!ess ESX Server in 0ifferent ways? What are the .aJor differen!es in these? irtual #enter ? #entraliAed 2d.inistration of irtual 1nfrastru!ture (ware Workstation ? 2 irtual @riend 5ow to Setu& (ware 1nfrastru!ture using (ware Workstation? (wareO1nterviewOGuestions..do! htt&s?BBdo!s.google.!o.Bdo!u.entB&u'?id-14&i2(g$iiQ$1KkhF6/9wi<... ; of 10 2B$B2012 8?1$ 2( (ware Storage ? 2 6la!e to store (>s (@S ? irtual (a!hine @ile Syste. (ware Storage ? 5ow to !onfigure 0atastoreIs using @# S23? Guestion ? ESX installation inside (ware workstation &ro'le.s. F&enfiler ? F&ensour!e iS#S1 S23 Server

(ware Storage #onfiguration 7sing iS#S1 S23 (ware Storage ? %0(? %aw 0evi!e (a&&ings vS&here ? #o.&leteness of irtualiAation vS&here ? 6ower#C1 <etting Started (ware Storage ? 3@S 0atastoreIs 6u'lished 'y <oogle 0o!s " %e&ort 2'use " 7&dated auto.ati!ally every / .inutes (wareO1nterviewOGuestions..do! htt&s?BBdo!s.google.!o.Bdo!u.entB&u'?id-14&i2(g$iiQ$1KkhF6/9wi<... 10 of 10 2B$B2012 8?1$ 2(

6lease !o.e to .y 'log to a!ess the sa.e.....htt&?BBwww2.isu&&ortyou.net So.e 1.&ortant 6oints 2'out (Ware 1. (Ware =ernel is a 6ro&riotory =enral and is not 'ased on any of the 731X o&e rating syste.s* itIs a kernel develo&ed 'y (Ware #o.&any 2. )he (=ernel !anIt 'oot it 'y itself* so that it takes the hel& of the $rd &a rty o&erating syste.. 1n (Ware !ase the kernel is 'ooted 'y %ed5at Cinu4 o&erat ing syste. whi!h is known as servi!e !onsole. $. )he servi!e !onsole is develo&ed 'ased u& on %edhat Cinu4 F&erating syste.* i t is used to .anage the (=ernel 4. )o restart we'a!!ess servi!e on v.ware servi!e v.ware,we'a!!ess restart /. )o restart ssh servi!e on v.ware servi!e sshd restart +. )o restart host agent on v.ware es4 server servi!e v.ware,hostd restart 8. 6ath for the struts,!onfig.4.l BusrBli'Bv.wareBwe'2!!essBto.!atBa&a!he,to.!at,/./.18Bwe'a&&sBuiBWE9,13@ :. )o start the s!ri&ted install the !o..and is es4 ks-nfs?111.222.$$$.444?BdataB=S.!onfig ksdevi!e-eth0 lo!ation devi!e na.e ;. irtual 3etwork in Si.&le irtual 3i!DsE on irtual (a!hineDsE ,,,,,W 6hysi!al 3i! on the ESX Server D

irtual Swit!h , /+ 6ortsE ,,,,,,W 6hysi!al Swit!h 6ort with 0ifferent C23S should 'e tr unked with all the C23S to whi!h the (Is need a!!ess 2ll the ESX servers should 'e !onfigured with Sa.e nu.'er of 6hysi!al 3i!s Dv Swit!hesE and #onne!tivity also should 'e sa.e* So that v(otion su!!eeds 2ll the irtual (a!hines are !onne!ted to one vSwit!h with 0ifferent C23S* t his .eans the 6hysi!al 3i!DvSwit!hE needs to 'e trunked with the sa.e C23S on t he 6hysi!al Swit!h 6ort 10 What are the three &ort grou&s &resent in ESX server networking 1. irtual (a!hine 6ort <rou& , 7sed for irtual (a!hine 3Etwork 2. Servi!e #onsole 6ort <rou& , 7sed for Servi!e #onsole #o..uni!ations $. (=ernel 6ort <rou& , 7sed for (otion* iS#S1* 3@S #o..uni!ations 11. What is the use of a 6ort <rou& )he &ort grou& segregates the ty&e of !o..uni!ation. 12. What are the ty&e of !o..uni!ations whi!h reKuires an 16 address for sure ? Servi!e #onsole and (=ernel D (otion and iS#S1E* these !o..uni!ations does n ot ha&&en without an i& address DWhether it is a single or dedi!atedE 1$. 1n the ESX Server li!ensing features (otion Ci!ense is showing as 3ot used* why? Even though the li!ense 'o4 is sele!ted* it shows as LCi!ense 3ot 7sedL unti l* you ena'le the (otion o&tion for s&e!ifi! vSwit!h 14. 5ow the irtual (a!hine 6ort grou& !o..uni!ation works ? 2ll the v.Is whi!h are !onfigured in ( 6ort <rou& are a'le to !onne!t to t he &hysi!al .a!hines on the network. So this &ort grou& ena'les !o..uni!ation 'e tween vSwit!h and &Swit!h to !onne!t v.Is to &.Is 1/. What is a C23 ? 2 C23 is a logi!al !onfiguration on the swit!h &ort to seg.ent the 16 )raf fi!. @or this to ha&&en* the &ort .ust 'e trunked with the !orre!t C23 10. 1+. 0oes the vSwit!hes su&&ort C23 )agging? Why? Hes* )he vSwit!hes su&&ort C23 )agging* otherwise if the virtual .a!hines

in an es4 host are !onne!ted to different C23S* we need to install a se&arate & hysi!al ni! DvSwit!hE for every C23. )hat is the reason v.ware in!luded the C2 3 tagging for vSwit!hes. So every vSwit!h su&&orts u&to 101+ &orts* and 9 )W they !an su&&ort 101+ C23S if needed. 18. What is 6ro.is!uous (ode on vSwit!h ? What ha&&ens if it sets to 2!!e&t? 1f the &ro.is!uous .ode set to 2!!e&t* all the !o..uni!ation is visi'le to all the virtual .a!hines* in other words all the &a!kets are sent to all the &or ts on vSwit!h 1f the &ro.is!uous .ode set to %eJe!t* the &a!kets are sent to inteded &ort * so that the intended virtual .a!hine was a'le to see the !o..uni!ation. 1:. What is (2# address #hanges ? What ha&&ens if it is set to 2!!e&t ? When we !reate a virtual .a!hine the !onfiguration wiArd generates a (2# ad dress for that .a!hine* you !an see it in the .v.4 D ( #onfigE file. 1f it doesn It .at!hes with the (2# address in the FS this setting does not allow in!o.ing traffi! to the (. So 'y setting %eJe!t F&tion 'oth (2# addresses will 'e re .ains sa.e* and the in!o.ing traffi! will 'e allowed to the (. 1;. What is @orged )ran.its ? What ha&&ens if it is set to 2!!e&t ? When we !reate a virtual .a!hine the !onfiguration wiArd generates a (2# ad dress for that .a!hine* you !an see it in the .v.4 D ( #onfigE file. 1f it doesn It .at!hes with the (2# address in the FS this setting does not allow outgoing traffi! fro. the (. So 'y setting %eJe!t F&tion 'oth (2# addresses w ill 'e re.ains sa.e* and the outgoing traffi! will 'e allowed fro. the (. 20. What are the !ore servi!es of # ? ( &rovisioing * )ask S!heduling and Event Cogging 21. #an we do v(otion 'etween two data!enters ? 1f &ossi'le how it will 'e? Hes we !an do v(otion 'etween two data!enters* 'ut the .andatory reKuire.en t is the ( should 'e &owerd off. 22. What is # agent? and what servi!e it is !orres&onded to? What are the .ini. u. reKIs for # agent installation ? # agent is an agent installed on ESX server whi!h ena'les !o..uni!ation 'e tween # and ESX server.

)he dae.on asso!iated with it is !alled v.ware,hostd * and the servi!e whi !h !orres&onds to it is !alled as .g.t,v.ware* in the event of # agent failure Just restart the servi!e 'y ty&ing the following !o..and at the servi!e !onsole L servi!e .g.t,v.ware restart L # agent installed on the ESX server when we add it to the #* so at the ti .e of installtion if you are getting an error like L # 2gent servi!e failed to install L* !he!k the BF&t siAe whether it is suffi!ient or not. 2$. 5ow !an you edit 1 #lient Settings and # Server Settings ? #li!k Edit (enu on # and Sele!t #lient Settings to !hange 1 settings #li!k 2d.inistration (enu on # and Sele!t # (anage.ent Server #onfigurati on to #hange # Settings 24. What are the files that .ake a irtual (a!hine ? .v.4 , irtual (a!hine #onfiguration @ile .nvra. , irtual (a!hine 91FS .v.dk , irtual (a!hine 0isk file .vsw& , irtual (a!hine Swa& @ile .v.sd , irtual (2!hine Sna&shot 0ata'ase .v.sn , irtual (a!hine Sna&shot file .v.ss , irtual (a!hine Sus&ended State file .v.ware.log , #urrent Cog @ile .v.ware,M.log , Fld Cog file 2/. What are the devi!es that !an 'e added while the virtual (a!hine running Fnly 5ard0isk 2+. 5ow to set the ti.e delay for 91FS s!reen for a irtual (a!hine? %B# on (* sele!t edit settings* !hoose o&tions ta' and sele!t 'oot o&tion* set the delay how .u!h you want. 28. What is a te.&late ? We !an !onvert a . into )e.&late* and it !annot 'e &owered on on!e its !ha nged to te.&late. )his is used to Kui!k &rovisioning of (Is. 2$. What to do to !usto.iAe the windows virtual .a!hine !lone*? !o&y the sys&re& files to irtual !enter dire!tory on the server* so that t

he wiArd will take the advantage of it. 24. What to do to !usto.iAe the linu4Buni4 virtual .a!hine !lone*? # itself in!ludes the !usto.iAation tools* as these o&erating syste.s are avaial'le as o&ensour!e. 2/. 0oes !loning fro. te.&late ha&&ens 'etween two data!enters ? Hes.. it !an* if the te.&late in one data!enter* we !an de&loy the v. fro. that te.&late in another data!enter without any &ro'le.. 2+. What are the !o..on issues with sna&shots? What sto&s fro. taking a sna&shot and how to fi4 it ? 1f you !onfigure the ( with (a&&ed C73Is* then the sna&shot failed. 1f it is .a&&ed as virtual then we !an take a sna&shot of it. 1f you !onfigure the ( with (a&&ed C73Is as &hysi!al* you need to re.ove i t to take a sna&shot. 28. What are the settings that are taken into to !onsideration when we initiate a sna&shot ? irtual (a!hine #onfiguration DWhat hardware is atta!hed to itE State of the irtual (a!hine 5ard 0isk file D )o revert 'a!k if neededE State of the irtual (a!hine (e.ory Dif it is &owered onE 2:. What are the reKuire.ents for #onverting a 6hysi!al .a!hine to ( ? 2n agent needs to 'e installed on the 6hysi!al .a!hine 1 !lient needs to 'e installed with #onverter 6lugin 2 server to i.&ortBe4&ort virtual .a!hines 2;. What is (Ware !onsolidated 'a!ku& ? 1t is a 'a!ku& fra.ework* that su&&orts $rd &arty utilities to take 'a!ku&s of ESX servers and irtual (a!hines. 1ts not a 'a!ku& servi!e. $0. )o o&en the guided !onsolidation tool* what are the user reKuire.ents ? )he user .ust 'e .e.'er of ad.inistator )he user should have LCogon as servi!eL &revilages , )o give a user these & revilages* o&en lo!al se! &oli!y* sele!t Cogon as servi!e &oli!y and add the use r )he user should have read a!!ess to 20 to send Kueries

$1. 5ow to restart firewall on ESX server ? servi!e firewall restart $2. What are the &re,reKuisites for (Ware 7&date (anager ? 2llow the 7&date (anager #lent in the @irewall 1f you get .etadata &at!h is .issing error* go to 7&date(anager dire!tory o n # drive find the su',dire!tories for the u&dates are !reated or not. )o fi4 th is #li!k on &lugins .enu* Sele!t 7&date .anager and then S!hedule 7&date 0ownloa d. this will download the u&dates to the dire!tories. 2dd a 9aseline to ESX server or irtual (a!hine dete!t the u&dates. 6ut the host in .aintanan!e .ode to install the u&dates* it is .andatory fo r ESX server. $$. What is the .andatory reK for 52 to work &ro&erly? 03S should 'e setu& &ro&erly to ena'le !o..uni!ation 'etween hosts in a !lu ster. $4. 5ow to set ESX 5ost into .aintenan!e .ode fro. Servi!e !onsole 6osted 'y 6reeta. Qare on 2ugust 24* 2008 9elow is the !o..and whi!h you will have to e4e!ute fro. S # #onsole to enter ho st into .aintenan!e .ode vi.sh ,n ,e Bhostsv!B.aintenan!eO.odeOenter )o e4it .aintenan!e .ode vi.sh ,n ,e Bhostsv!B.aintenan!eO.odeOe4it 3ow ne4t Kuestion is how 1 !he!k whether host is in .aintenan!e .ode.5ere is itX vi.sh ,n ,e Bhostsv!Brunti.einfo X gre& in(aintenan!e(ode X awk XY&rint Z$[X htt&?BBwww.v.ad.in.!o.ukBv.wareB$/,es4serverB/4,virtualswit!hes!.d (Ware )o& 1nterview Guestions with 2nswers 1E E4&lain a'out your &rodu!tion environ.ent? 5ow .any !luster>s* ESX* 0ata #enters* 5Bw et! ? 2E 5ow does (otion works? What>s the &ort nu.'er used for it? 23S,,W )#6 &ort :000 $E 6rereKuisites for (otion? 2ns,,W 1EESX Servers .ust 'e !onfigured with (kenerl &orts ena'led for v.otion and on the sa.e

network seg.ent 2EESX Servers .ust 'e .anaged 'y the sa.e irtual #enter server $EESX (ust have !o.&ati'le #67s 4EESX Servers .u!t have !onsisten 3etworks and 3Etwroks la'els /E)he (s .ust 'e stored on shared storage , iS#S1 or @# S23 or 32SB3@S +E)he (s !an not use lo!al!dBflo&&y or internal only vrtual swit!hes on the ESX server #he!k out htt&?BBwww.v.ware.!o.B&dfBvi$O$/Bes4O$Br$/u2Bvi$O$/O2/Ou2Oad.inOguide.&df for .ore infor.ation 4E 5ow does 52 works? 6ort nu.'er? 5ow .any host failure allowed and why? 23S,,W (a4i.u. allowed host failures within a 52 !luster is 4. What ha&&ens if 4 hosts have failed and a /th one also fails. 1 have still enough free resour!es to start u& the virtual .a!hines on the re.aining hosts. Will 52 start these virtual .a!hines fro. the /th failed host on the re.aining hosts? 23SE )hat de&ends. 1f you have ad.ission !ontrol ena'led* if there are any resour!e !onstraints so.e (Is .ay not restart. 1f you have ad.ission !ontrol disa'led* the (Is will get restarted on any host left in the !luster. 5owever* that doesnIt .ean they will 'e fun!tional. (ake sure you have enough &ort grou&s !onfigured on your vSwit!h for your irtual (a!hine &ort grou& to a!!o..odate 5ost @irewalls. Fn ESXBESXi hosts* (ware 52 needs and auto.ati!ally o&ens the following firewall &orts. 1n!o.ing &ort? )#6B706 :042,:04/ Futgoing &ort? )#6B706 20/0,22/0 /E What are a!tive host B &ri.ary host in 52? E4&lain it? 23S,,W When you add a host to a (ware 52 !luster* an agent is u&loaded to the host and !onfigured to !o..uni!ate with other agents in the !luster. )he first five hosts added to the !luster are designated as &ri.ary hosts* and all su'seKuent hosts are designated as se!ondary hosts. )he &ri.ary hosts .aintain and re&li!ate all !luster state and are used to initiate failover a!tions. 1f a &ri.ary host is re.oved fro. the !luster*

(ware 52 &ro.otes another host to &ri.ary status. 2ny host that Joins the !luster .ust !o..uni!ate with an e4isting &ri.ary host to !o.&lete its !onfiguration De4!e&t when you are adding the first host to the !lusterE. 2t least one &ri.ary host .ust 'e fun!tional for (ware 52 to o&erate !orre!tly. 1f all &ri.ary hosts are unavaila'le Dnot res&ondingE* no hosts !an 'e su!!essfully !onfigured for (ware 52. Fne of the &ri.ary hosts is also designated as the a!tive &ri.ary host and its res&onsi'ilities in!lude? n 0e!iding where to restart virtual .a!hines. n =ee&ing tra!k of failed restart atte.&ts. n 0eter.ining when it is a&&ro&riate to kee& trying to restart a virtual .a!hine. 1f the a!tive &ri.ary host fails* another &ri.ary host re&la!es it. +E 6rereKuisites for 52 ? @irst* for !lusters ena'led for (ware 52* all virtual .a!hines and their !onfiguration files .ust reside on shared storage D@i're #hannel S23* iS#S1 S23* or S23 iS#1 32SE* 'e!ause you need to 'e a'le to &ower on the virtual .a!hine on any host in the !luster. Se!ond* (ware 52 .onitors heart'eat 'etween hosts on the !onsole network for failure dete!tion. So* to have relia'le failure dete!tion for 52 !lusters* the !onsole network should have redundant network &aths. )hat way* if a hostIs first network !onne!tion fails* the se!ond !onne!tion !an 'road!ast heart'eats to other hosts. Cast* if you want to use 0%S with 52 for load 'alan!ing* the hosts in your !luster .ust 'e &art of a (otion network. 1f the hosts are not in the (otion network* however* 0%S !an still .ake initial &la!e.ent re!o..endations. 8E 5ow do 0%S works? Whi!h te!hnology used? What are the &riority !ounts to .igrate the (>s? :E 5ow does sna& shot>s works? ;E What are the files will 'e !reated while !reating a ( and after &owering on the (? 10E 1f the (0= header file !orru&t what will ha&&en? 5ow do you trou'leshoot? 11E 6rereKuisites #* 7&date .anager?

12E 5ave you ever &at!hed the ESX host? What are the ste&s involved in that? 1$E 5ave you ever installed an ESX host? What are the &re and &ost !onversion ste&s involved in that? What would 'e the &ortions listed? What would 'e the .a4 siAe of it? 14E 1 turned on (aintenan!e .ode in an ESX host* all the (>s has 'een .igrated to another host* 'ut only one ( failed to .igrate? What are the &ossi'le reasons? 1/E 5ow will you turn start B sto& a ( through !o..and &ro.&t? 1+E 1 have u&graded a ( fro. 4 to : <9 %2(R it>s getting failed at ;0\ of &owering on? 5ow do you trou'leshoot? 18E Storage tea. &rovided the new C73 10 to you? 5ow will you !onfigure the C73 in #? What would 'e the 'lo!k siAe Dsay for /00 <9 volu.e siAeE? 1:E 1 want to add a new C23 to the &rodu!tion network? What are the ste&s involved in that? 2nd how do you ena'le it? 1;E E4&lain a'out #9? What it the .ini.u. &riority DSE to !onsolidate a .a!hine? 20E 5ow 0% works? 21E What>s the differen!e 'etween )o& and ESX)F6 !o..and? 22E 5ow will you !he!k the network 'andwidth utiliAation in an ESXS host through !o..and &ro.&t? 2$E 5ow will you generate a re&ort for list of ESX* (>s* %2( and #67 used in your s&here environ.ent? 24E What the differen!e 'etween !onne!ting the ESX host through # and s&here? What are the servi!es involved in that? What are the &ort nu.'ers>s used? 2/E 5ow does @) works? 6rereKuisites? 6ort used? 2+E #an 1 (otion 'etween 2 different data !enters? Why? 28E #an 1 de&loy a ( 'y te.&late in different data !enters ? 2:E 1 want to in!rease the syste. &artition siAe Dwindows 200$ server, <uest FSE of a (? 5ow will you do it without any interru&tion to the end user? 2;E Whi!h &ort nu.'er used while 2 ESX transfer the data in 'etween? $0E 7na'le to !onne!t to a # through s&here !lient? What !ould 'e the reason? 5ow do you trou'leshoot? $1E 5ave you ever u&graded the ESX $./ to 4.0? 5ow did you do it? $2E What are the s&here 4.0* # 4.0* ESX 4.0* ( 8.0 s&e!ial features?

$$E What is 22(? Where is it used? 5ow do you start or sto& through !o..and &ro.&t? 23SE (ware,aa. - 52. (ware &ur!hased the 52 te!hnology fro. Cegato* who originally !oined it as L2uto.ated 2vaila'ility (anagerL. $4E 5ave you ever !alled (Ware su&&ort? Et! $/E E4&lain a'out s&here Ci!ensing? Ci!ense server? $+E 5ow will you !hange the servi!e !onsole 16? 3ote? ESX 4.0 7&date 2 introdu!es a new tool that si.&lifies the &ro!ess of !reating or restoring networking in the ESX servi!e !onsole. @or .ore infor.ation* see #onfiguring or restoring networking fro. the ESX servi!e !onsole using !onsole,setu& D102208:E. #hanging settings fro. the &hysi!al or re.ote !onsole !onne!tion #hanging the 16 for the Servi!e #onsole .ust 'e done fro. the &hysi!al !onsole or through a re.ote !onsole session. 1f you .ake !hanges through a network !onne!tion su!h as SS5* network !onne!tivity to the Servi!e #onsole dis!onne!ts 'e!ause the Servi!e #onsoleIs network interfa!e !hanges. 1.%un this !o..and to set the 16 address? ]rootPserver root^M es4!fg,vswif ,i ,n vswif0 where is the 16 address and is the su'net .ask. 3ote? 1n this e4a.&le* vswif0 is the Servi!e #onsole ada&ter that is the interfa!e to whi!h you are a&&lying the 16 address !hange. 2.F&en the Bet!Bhosts file with a te4t editor and .odify it so that it refle!ts the !orre!t 16 address and hostna.e. $.)o !hange the default gateway address and the hostna.e* edit the Bet!Bsys!onfigBnetwork file and !hange the <2)EW2H and 5FS)32(E &ara.eters to the &ro&er values. 4.@or the !hanges to take &la!e* restart the network servi!e with the !o..and? ]rootPserver root^M servi!e network restart 3ote? 1f you are reKuired to edit the hostna.e* then you .ust re'oot the host. 3ote? )his !o..and 'reaks any !urrent network !onne!tions to the Servi!e #onsole* 'ut virtual .a!hines !ontinue to have network !onne!tion. 1f the ESX host is .anaged 'y irtual#enter or v#enter Server* you .ay have to re.ove and re,add the host to the inventory. @or .ore infor.ation* see ESX not working &ro&erly in irtual#enter after 16 address !hange D100/+$$E.

3ote? (aking !hanges to 16 and 03S server settings !an have a negative i.&a!t on the nor.al o&eration of ESXBESXi* &arti!ularly in 52 !lustered environ.ents. @or .ore infor.ation* see 1dentifying issues with and setting u& na.e resolution on ESXBESXi Server D100$8$/E. 3ote? 1f the !hanged 16 does not &ersist a!ross a re'oot* try deleting and re!reating the Servi!e #onsole vswif .anage.ent interfa!e. @or .ore infor.ation* see %e!reating Servi!e #onsole networking fro. the !o..and line D10002++E. #hanging the hostna.e without re'ooting )o dyna.i!ally !hange the hostna.e* run the !o..and? ]rootPserver root^M hostna.e newna.e 3ote? )his !o..and !reates a te.&orary hostna.e !hange. )his !hange is lost when the syste. is re'ooted. #hanging the 03S server settings )o !hange the 03S server settings* u&date the na.eserver 16s and sear!h do.ain in the Bet!Bresolv.!onf file. #hanging settings in (ware vS&here or 1nfrastru!ture #lient )o !hange the hostna.e* do.ain* 03S servers* and default gateway in (ware vS&here or 1nfrastru!ture #lient? 1.5ighlight the ESX host and !li!k the #onfiguration ta'. 2.#li!k 03S and %outing. $.#li!k 6ro&erties. 4.)o !hange the hostna.e* do.ain* and 03S servers* !li!k the 03S #onfiguration ta' and enter the a&&ro&riate values. 3ote? 0isa'le (ware 5igh 2vaila'ility if you do not want virtual .a!hines to failover during the hostna.e 16 !hange. /.)o !hange the default gateway* !li!k the %outing ta' and enter the a&&ro&riate value. +.%e'oot the ESX host for the !hanges to take effe!t . 8.%e!onne!t the ESX host to v#enter Server with the new 16 address. <enerating new !ertifi!ates for the ESX host )he ESX host generates !ertifi!ates the first ti.e the syste. is started. 7nder !ertain !ir!u.stan!es* it .ight 'e reKuired to for!e the host to generate new !ertifi!ates. )y&i!ally new !ertifi!ates only need to 'e generated if the hostna.e has 'een !hanged or the !ertifi!ates have

'een deleted a!!identally. Ea!h ti.e you restart the v.ware,hostd &ro!ess* the .g.t,v.ware s!ri&t sear!hes for e4isting !ertifi!ate files D rui.!rt and rui.keyE. 1f the files !annot 'e found* new !ertifi!ate files are generated. )o generate new !ertifi!ates? 1.6ut the host into (aintenan!e (ode. 2.1n the dire!tory Bet!Bv.wareBssl* 'a!k u& any e4isting !ertifi!ates 'y rena.ing the. with these !o..ands? ]rootPserver root^M .v Bet!Bv.wareBsslBrui.!rt Bet!Bv.wareBsslBorig.rui.!rt ]rootPserver root^M .v Bet!Bv.wareBsslBrui.key Bet!Bv.wareBsslBorig.rui.key 3ote? 1f you are regenerating !ertifi!ates 'e!ause you a!!identally deleted the.* you do not have to rena.e the.. $.%e'oot your host to allow it to 'egin using the new !ertifi!ate* or restart the host servi!es? a.%estart hostd* using this !o..and? servi!e .g.t,v.ware restart '.%estart v.kauthd* using this !o..and? servi!e v.ware,v.kauthd restart 4.E4it (aintenan!e (ode. /.#onfir. that the ESX host su!!essfully generated new !ertifi!ates 'y running this !o..and and !o.&aring the ti.e sta.&s of the new !ertifi!ate files with orig.rui.!rt and orig.rui.key? ]rootPserver root^M ls ,la Bet!Bv.wareBsslBruiS 3otes? _0isa'le (ware 5igh 2vaila'ility if you do not want virtual .a!hines to failover during the hostna.e 16 !hange. 1f you are using vS&here 4.4 you !an Just disa'le host .onitoring in the 52 settings. _@or related infor.ation* see erifying ESX Server host networking !onfiguration on the servi!e !onsole D100$8;+E. _Hou .ay 'e reKuired to regenerate your SSC !ertifi!ate. @or .ore infor.ation* see %e&la!ing or %egenerating an SSC #ertifi!ate for the (anage.ent 1nterfa!e D1:4$E. _Hou are reKuired to edit files on an ESX host. @or .ore infor.ation* see Editing files on an ESX host using vi or nano D1020$02E.

_@or infor.ation on re&la!ing irtual#enter Server !eritifi!ates* see? ?%e&la!ing irtual#enter Server #ertifi!ates in irtual 1nfrastru!ture $ ?%e&la!ing irtual#enter Server #ertifi!ates in vS&here 4 _)he iS#S1 Gualified 3a.e used for iS#S1 storage !onfiguration is 'ased on the hostna.e of the ESX host. 1f you !hange the hostna.e of the ESX host* ensure to review your iS#S1 software initiator !onfiguration. @or .ore infor.ation on iS#S1 trou'leshooting* see #onfiguring and trou'leshooting 'asi! software iS#S1 setu& D100:0:$E. _@or .ore infor.ation on !hanging the hostna.e* see #hanging the na.e of an ESX host D1010:21E. $8E What>s the differen!e 'etween ESX and ESXi? $:E What>s the differen!e 'etween ESX $./ and ESX 4.0? $;E 62 6rt 3u.'er and Cog file lo!ation? )#6B16 6orts %eKuired 'y (ware #onverter )a'le lists the &orts #onverter uses in the !onversion &ro!ess. 1f your irtual#enter Servers or ESX Servers are !onfigured to listen on &ort ;0/* you will have to .ake adJust.ents a!!ordingly. #o..uni!ation 6aths ` 6ort #onverter a&&li!ation to re.ote &hysi!al .a!hine ` 44/ and 1$; #onverter a&&li!ation to irtual#enter Server ` ;02 #onverter a&&li!ation to ESX Server $.4 ` ;02 6hysi!al .a!hine to irtual#enter Server ` ;02 6hysi!al .a!hine to ESX Server $.4 ` ;02 Cog @ile Co!ations? 7@20 logs? \W1301%\N)e.&Nv.ware,te.&Nv.ware,!onverterS \W1301%\Nv.ware,te.&Nv.ware,!onverterS Din Windows 3)E #lient logs? \)E(6\Nv.ware,te.&Nv.ware,!lientS Send these in to su&&ort using @ile W E4&ort Cogs. @or #onverter 9oot #0* .a& a network drive using the

network !onfiguration tool Dsee #ha&ter /* a7sing the #onverter 9oot #0 for Co!al #old #loning*b on &age $8E and use @ile W E4&ort Cogs. 40E (i!ro v(otion 41E ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, G? 5ow is (ware .ore sta'le than* say* a new &hysi!al server? 2? )he idealiAed hardware &rovided 'y (ware &rovides a !onsistent virtual hardware environ.ent that in!reases that sta'ility of your virtual .a!hines inde&endent of the underlying &hysi!al hardware. G? 1s any installation .ethod 'etter than any other? 2? 3o. Whi!hever installation .ethod youIre !o.forta'le with and that &rodu!es a good 'uild is the one for you. G? 1I. having &ro'le.s with .y installation. What should 1 do? 2? Ensure that the hardware youIre loading ESX Server on is su&&orted. )he sa.e goes for the !onfiguration. 1f you are !ertain the hardware and !onfiguration are su&&orted* then run the v.su&&ort s!ri&t .entioned &reviously. G? Why does this !ha&ter in!lude only the gra&hi!al installer .ethod? 2? 1tIs the re!o..ended installation .ethod fro. (ware and one that .any in the 4:+,world are the .ost !o.forta'le with. 1f you wish to try it another way* (ware offers a very !o.&lete installation do!u.ent !overing the various installation .ethodologies. G? When 1 !o&y .y virtual .a!hine and try to run it on .y network* 1 get hostna.e already e4ists and 16 address already e4ists errors. 1 thought 1 !ould si.&ly !o&y .y virtual .a!hine. What is the &ro'le.? 2? Hou !an !o&y your virtual .a!hine* whi!h is why youIre running into this &ro'le.. )he !o&y is an e4a!t !o&y. )hus* you need to !hange the hostna.e* 16 address* and even the !o.&uterIs S10 Dif it has oneE. G? #an 1 .ove .y <old (aster to .y other ESX Servers? 2? Hes* itIs a re!o..ended ti.e,saver. 1f your ESX Servers share a C73* that too is a way to a!!ess your <old (aster or your (li'rary for that .atter.

G? 2re there any li.itations to the nu.'er of virtual .a!hines 1 !an run on .y ESX Server? 2? Hes. Ea!h ESX Server allows for only :0 virtual #67s and 200 registered virtual .a!hines. G? #an 1 take a virtual .a!hine running on (ware Workstation or <SX and run it in ESX? 2? 1t de&ends. )he &ro!ess is not as si.&le as !utting and &asting. )here is a s&e!ifi! i.&ort &ro!ess reKuired for .igrating virtual .a!hines fro. either Workstation or <SX into ESX. 2!!ess the following link for the e4a!t instru!tions? htt&?BBwww.v.ware.!o.B&dfB.o'ilityOguide.&df. G? 0o you need to tweak the settings of your virtual .a!hines after youIve 'uilt the.? 2? 3o. (ware has !onfigured the defaults of your 'uild to suit .ost server loads. 5owever* de&ending on the &rofile of your server and the resour!e intensiveness of the servi!e itIs &roviding* you .ay want to !onsider tweaking so.e of the default settings to 'etter ensure servi!e sta'ility and relia'ility. G? 2re there .ore advan!ed features than the ones detailed in this !ha&ter? 2? Hesc a lot .ore. G? 1s !lustering .ore sta'le in (ware? 2? We find that the idealiAed hardware* in !o.'ination with (wareIs i.&rove.ents in !lustering su&&ort* has .ade virtual !lustering very sta'le. G? #an you .otion a !luster? 2? )hat de&ends on the !luster ty&e and how it is !onfigured. #lusters using %aw 0evi!e (a&&ing in virtual .ode !an 'e .oved with .otion a!!ording to (ware do!u.entation. G? 0oes (ware su&&ort 31# tea.ing? 2? Hes* and itIs a very good idea to !onfigure your ESX Server* es&e!ially if itIs for &rodu!tion* with tea.ed 31#s. )his will &rovide hardware fault toleran!e in !ase one 31# fails. G? 5ow .any &hysi!al 31#s do 1 need on .y ESX Server? 2? )hat de&ends on the nu.'er of virtual .a!hines and the network traffi! they &rodu!e. Hou should have a .ini.u. of two? one for your Servi!e #onsole and one dedi!ated to your virtual .a!hines. G? 1f 1I. 'uilding a !luster using (i!rosoft #lustering Servi!e* whatIs the 'est !onfiguration for .y heart'eat 31#? 2?@or a #luster in a 9o4* !reate a (net that your nodes of your !luster !an atta!h their heart'eat 31#s. G? #an you atta!h virtual .a!hines on any ESX Server to a (net?

2? 3o. Fnly virtual .a!hines on the ESX Server that the (net resides !an atta!h to it. G? Why should you &ay for a &,to,v toll when there are a nu.'er of ways to do it for free? 2? 1f you donIt have the ti.e or in!lination to learn the .anual &ro!ess or need the assuran!e of a vendor for your &hysi!al,to,virtual .igrations* then a tool that !o.es with su&&ort is a very reasona'le o&tion. G? What takes the longest in the &,to,v &ro!ess? 2? )ransferring the data of the &hysi!al server into either an i.age file or the virtual server itself. )hatIs why tweaking your network settings for o&ti.al through&ut is essential when &,to,vIing a server. G? #an you !reate !o.&lete 'a!ku&s of your &hysi!al servers and then re!over the. into virtuals? 2? 1Ive used 3)9a!ku& to 'a!k u& Windows 2000 6rofessional and Windows X6* and !reated virtuals out of .'kf files. 1t works 'ut thereIs a 'it of futAing around with the virtual on!e it is running. )ry it. G? WhatIs the .ost essential &art of !reating a s.ooth .igration &lan? 2? 6ra!ti!e. 3o .atter what the tool or &ro!ess* &ra!ti!e it and learn its got!has and the workarounds. 3o .atter what .ethod you use* there will 'e ti.es when it wonIt go as &lanned. 6ra!ti!ing your &,to,v &ro!ess on a nu.'er of &hysi!al &latfor.s and disk !onfigurations allows you to 'e!o.e .ore ade&t on!e youIre doing it for real. G? Will .y software vendor su&&ort .y a&&li!ation in a (ware environ.ent? 2? HouIll need to !onta!t your s&e!ifi! software or a&&li!ations vendor to find outR however* an in!reasing nu.'er of software vendors su&&ort virtualiAed environ.ents. Fn!e youIve .igrated your a&&li!ation fro. a &hysi!al to virtual environ.ent itIs very easy to .igrate 'a!k to a &hysi!al environ.ent for vendor su&&ort. 2n e4!ellent do!u.ent &rovided 'y (ware !an 'e found at the following link? www.v.ware.!o.B&dfB.sOsu&&ortOstate.ent.&df. G? What are the 'est ena'lers to hel& ensure our server !onsolidation is a su!!ess? 2? Engaging with the lines of 'usiness and a&&li!ation owners not only assists in attaining an a!tiona'le s!hedule* 'ut also develo&s a highly !olla'orative environ.ent that fa!ilitates 'uy,in and su&&ort for your &roJe!t. 1n addition it will 'e diffi!ult to in!or&orate rationaliAation into your &roJe!t unless you are working dire!tly with the 'usiness or a&&li!ation owners. G? What tools do you re!o..end for a server !onsolidation or virtualiAation &roJe!t? 2? 1tIs i.&erative to have a ro'ust and !o.&rehensive tool for !a&a!ity &lanning* in!luding

histori!al data. )his tool !an 'e utiliAed in every &hase of your &roJe!t. Fther tools to su&&ort the &roJe!t in!lude .odeling tools used in test !onsolidation s!enarios. @inally* youIll need to evaluate and do!u.ent tools and &ro!esses for ea!h te!hnology you wish to !onsolidate. )he .igration tools will need to su&&ort all the &latfor.s you wish to use in your .igration s!enarios. G? What is the (li'rary? 2? )he (li'rary DBv.li'E is si.&ly a dire!tory on your ESX Server that lets you organiAe the tools and files you need to .anage and .aintain your virtual infrastru!ture* G? #an 1SFs 'e shared 'etween ESX Servers? 2? 1f you &la!e your (li'rary on a C73 thatIs shared a.ongst your ESX Servers* you !an share your 1SF i.ages or anything else you &la!e in your (li'rary. G? Why is .otion so !ool? 2? )ry itcand then i.agine the &ossi'ilities and a&&li!ations. HouIll 'e a !onvert soon enough. G? Hou .entioned that additional 1S s were !reating .anage.ent !a&a'ilities for virtual infrastru!tures in their &rodu!ts. Whi!h ones? 2? Cook at 56 1nsight (anager* 0ell F&en(anage* 19( 0ire!tor* 9(#Is 6atrol &rodu!t line* #o.&uter 2sso!iatesI 7ni!enter* and .any others. G? 1 !anIt add a new virtual hard drive to .y virtual .a!hine. What should 1 do? 2? Hou .ay not have the a&&ro&riate &er.issions to add virtual hardware to the (* or the ( .ay 'e &owered on and wonIt allow the addition of virtual hardware while &owered on. G? 1 Just !reated a new virtual .a!hine and atta!hed to an e4isting disk. Every ti.e 1 &ower on the (* 1 get a 'lue s!reen. What !ould the &ro'le. 'e? 2? (ake sure the FS ty&e that you sele!ted when you !reated the ( .at!hes the FS ty&e installed on the virtual disk. @or e4a.&le* if you sele!ted Windows 200$ Standard for the ( when you !reated it* 'ut the e4isting virtual disk has Windows 2000 Standard installed* youIll &ro'a'ly en!ounter issues. G? 1 followed the dire!tions for 2!tive 0ire!tory authenti!ation* and 1 still !anIt log in using an a!!ount and &assword in 20. What should 1 do? 2? #he!k the ti.e on your ESX Server and 2!tive 0ire!tory and .ake sure theyIre syn!ed u&. =er'eros is very sensitive to 'eing out of syn! and !ould reJe!t !redentials if the ti.e is not within s&e!ifi! li.its. Hou !an also review the Syste. event logs for !lues. G? What is the .ost i.&ortant as&e!t of de&loying ESX Server and virtual .a!hines?

2? )he a'ility to &rovide servi!e at least as good as that whi!h you had with &hysi!al servers. With adheren!e to 'est &ra!ti!es* you should easily 'e a'le to &rovide this and e4!eed it 'y a &heno.enal degree. G? 1SFs have 'een .entioned in several of the !ha&ters. Why are they so i.&ortant? 2? <ood ad.inistrators strive to never leave their !hairs* !u'es* or offi!es. 1f they do* they .ay Just run into a user DweIre kidding* of !ourseE. 5aving a li'rary of 1SFs !an hel& you in this endeavor. 1n addition* they run a lot faster than regular #0s. G? What will ha&&en if 1 de&loy syste.s .anage.ent software on the ESX Server itself? 2? 1f youIre going to do this* .ake sure you allo!ate enough .e.ory so that the a&&li!ation doesnIt i.&a!t the &erfor.an!e of your ESX Server and thus your virtual .a!hines. 2lso* use a syste. .anage.ent &a!kage that is su&&orted and test your installation on your ESX Server thoroughly. 1f you noti!e a degradation of &erfor.an!e* !onta!t the syste.s .anage.ent software vendor. )he .aJor vendors have instru!tions and 'est &ra!ti!es for de&loying their &rodu!ts onto ESX Server. G? What is the .ost i.&ortant 'est &ra!ti!e to follow? 2? )he one that ensures your s.ooth evolution into a virtual infrastru!ture edu!ation. Cearn every as&e!t of a virtual environ.ent to the 'est of your a'ility. 9e &assionate a'out it and youIll rea& the rewards. See the re!o..ended reading list* troll the (ware We' site regularly* as well as other We' sites dedi!ated to virtualiAation su!h as &2v.net* v.guru.!o.* and virtualstrategy. !o.. G? Whi!h version of (ware ESX Server su&&orts 9oot fro. S23? 2? ESX Server 2./ su&&orts 9oot fro. S23 'ut has the following li.itations? ESX server had to 'e installed in 'oot fro. S23 .ode* the 592 !an only 'e used 'y the Servi!e #onsole* C73 .asking should 'e used to restri!t other ESX servers fro. the 'oot C73* the 592 of the 'oot C73 .ust 'e a GCogi! 592* and the 'oot C73 .ust 'e the lowest nu.'ered C73 !ontrolled 'y the storage &ro!essor. G? Where are log files for (ware ESX Server written to? 2? BvarBlogsBv.ware G? What do you do if you forget the root &assword of the Servi!e #onsole? 2? Hou will need to 'oot into single,user .ode fro. the Servi!e #onsole 'y sele!ting linu4 fro. the C1CF 'oot .enu and a&&ending ,s to your 'oot !hoi!e. )his will 'oot the !onsole into singleuser .ode and will allow you to use the &asswd !o..and to !hange the root user &assword.

G? Why do 1 still see &ro!esses for .y virtual .a!hine when running the &s !o..and on the Servi!e #onsole even though .y virtual .a!hine is &owered down? 2? 1f there is still a virtual !onsole session running for your (* you will still see &ro!esses asso!iated with it for .ouse* key'oard* and s!reen D(=SE even though it is &owered off. G? 1 a!!idently un.ounted the (@S volu.e on .y ESX Server. 5ow !an 1 re,.ount the volu.e without re,'ooting 2? Hou !an ty&e .ount t v.fs v.fs Bv.fs G? What software is Kualified for use with (ware 2./.1? 2? 6lease see htt&?BBv.ware.!o.B&dfBes4O'a!ku&Oguide.&df for an u&,to,date list of software thatIs !o.&ati'le with ESX. G? What S23s are !o.&ati'le with ESX Server? 2? 6lease see htt&?BBv.ware.!o.B&dfBes4OS23Oguide.&df for details on ESX,to,S23 server !o.&ati'ility. G? What are the !ertified 'a!ku& tools for ESX? 2? 6lease see htt&?BBv.ware.!o.Bsu&&ortBes42/Bdo!B'a!ku&OtoolsOlinks.ht.l. G? #an 1 'a!k u& .y entire virtual .a!hine fro. the Servi!e #onsole? 2? Hes* 'ut it is not advised. )he !onsole servi!es should 'e left alone to .anage the entire virtual .a!hine infrastru!ture. 1tIs 'est that 'a!ku&s 'e &erfor.ed 'y se&arating the a&&li!ations and data fro. the o&erating syste.s 'e!ause 'a!ku&s !an 'e!o.e Kuite large very Kui!kly. Hou should !onsider a 'a!ku& of the environ.ents that !hange freKuently Ddata and a&&li!ationsE with an agent s&e!ifi!ally designed to &erfor. this fun!tion. 2 'a!ku& of those virtual disks that !hange infreKuently and need (@S for.ats should 'e 'a!ked u& fro. the Servi!e #onsole. )hese !onsole,'ased 'a!ku&s should 'e &erfor.ed in a &owered,down or sus&ended a&&roa!h D&referredE* or a sus&ended environ.ent using redo logs as an alternative. 2ll 'a!ku&s &erfor.ed fro. a syste.s !onsole .ode .ust 'e restored in an all,or,nothing a&&roa!h. %e!overy for a single file or dire!tory !an only 'e a!!o.&lished via a 'a!ku& agent or fro. a 'a!ku& to a S23 environ.ent using a variety of different re!overyBrestoral te!hniKues. G? 1I. not a'le to !onne!t to the Servi!e #onsole over the network. What !ould the issue 'e? 2? Hou .ay have allo!ated the Servi!e #onsole 31# to the (kernel. 7se v.k&!idivyi to reassign the 31# to the Servi!e #onsole. G? 1 have a virtual .a!hine that did not start u& !orre!tly* 'ut now 1 !anIt &ower it down fro. the

(71 or irtual #enter. 5ow !an 1 get this ( to shut down? 2? Hou !an use the v.ware,!.d utility to for!e a hard &ower down. )he following synta4 should work? v.ware,!.d B&ath,to,v.Bv.,dire!toryBv..v.4 sto& hard G? 1 find using !o..ands to 'e very diffi!ult. Why !anIt 1 use X Windows on the Servi!e #onsole? 2? Hou a!tually !ould run the X Windows syste. on the Servi!e #onsole* 'ut it will eat u& valua'le resour!es that are needed 'y the syste. to .anage all the &ro!esses related to irtualiAation. (ware s&e!ifi!ally says not to run X Windows on the Servi!e #onsole. So* itIs 'est to Just 'u!k u& and deal with it. G? 1s there a way to .ount the v.fs volu.es if they a!!identally get un.ounted without having to re'oot? 2? Hes. Hou !an run .ountt v.fs v.fs Bv.fs. G? 5ow do 1 !he!k the s&eed and du&le4 setting of the Servi!e #onsole 31#? 2lso* how do 1 !hange it if needed? 2? HouIll need to !at out the eth0.info file for your ty&e of ada&ter. )his file !an 'e found at B&ro!BnetBty&e,of,ni!Beth0.info. )o give you an e4a.&le* our server has an 1ntel 6ro 100 3i! for the Servi!e #onsole* so for us to find the s&eed and du&le4 infor.ation we would ty&e? !at B&ro!BnetB6%FOC23O2da&tersBeth0.info. G? 5ow long has Xen 'een around? 2? Sin!e 2004* and theyIre lo!ated in 6alo 2lto* #alifornia. 5..cwhat other virtualiAation !o.&any is in 6alo 2lto? G? What is a hy&ervisor? 2? 1n (ware &arlan!e* itIs the virtualiAation layer. G? Why did (ware li.it its 'eta of ESX Server $.0 to so few? 2? <ood KuestioncWe donIt know* and we ho&e that (wareIs future 'eta &rogra.s are o&ened u& to a larger audien!e. G? 1f 1 !anIt get a S23* will lo!al storage with a %210 devi!e 'e suffi!ient? 2? 2'solutely. Hou wonIt get so.e of the !ooler tools like (otion* 'ut 'eing virtual on lo!al storage is 'etter than re.aining &hysi!al.