VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage

Course Content: VMware vSphere (Install, Configure, Manage)

Module 1: Course Introduction
Lessons

• Introductions and course logistics
• Course objectives

Module 2: Introduction to vSphere and the Software-Defined Data Center
Lessons

• Describe how vSphere fits into the software-defined data center and the cloud infrastructure
• Explain how vSphere interacts with CPUs, memory, networks, and storage
• Use vSphere Client to access and manage your vCenter Server system and ESXi host
• Compare virtual machine hardware version 14 to other versions
• Identify the virtual network adapters, and describe the enhanced VMXNET3
• Compare the types of virtual disk provisioning
• Install and configure ESXi host settings
• Identify the advantages of ESXi Quick Boot
• Explain basic virtualization concepts
• Describe how vSphere fits into the software-defined data center and the cloud infrastructure
• Explain how vSphere interacts with CPUs, memory, networks, and storage
• Recognize the user interfaces for accessing the vCenter Server system and ESXi hosts
• Describe the ESXi host architecture
• Navigate the Direct Console User Interface (DCUI) 
to configure an ESXi host
• Recognize ESXi host user account best practices
• Install an ESXi host
• Use VMware Host ClientTM to configure ESXi host settings

Module 3: Virtual Machines
Lessons

• Create, provision, and remove a virtual machine
• Explain the importance of VMware Tools™
• Describe how to import a virtual appliance OVF template
• Install VMware Tools
• Identify the files that make up a VM
• Recognize the components of a VM
• Recognize virtual devices supported by a VM
• Describe the benefits and use cases for containers
• Identify the parts of a container system

Module 4: vCenter Server
Lessons

• Describe the vCenter Server architecture
• Discuss how ESXi hosts communicate with vCenter Server
• Access and configure vCenter Server Appliance
• Use vSphere Client to manage the vCenter Server inventory
• Add data center, organizational objects, and hosts to vCenter Server
• Create custom inventory tags
• Describe the rules for applying for permissions
• Create a custom role in vCenter Server
• Create a vCenter Server Appliance backup schedule
• Restore vCenter Server Appliance from a backup
• Monitor vCenter Server Appliance
• Describe the vCenter Server architecture
• Discuss how ESXi hosts communicate with vCenter Server
• Deploy and configure vCenter Server Appliance
• Use vSphere Client to manage the vCenter Server inventory
• Add data center, organizational objects, and hosts to vCenter Server
• Use roles and permissions to enable users to access objects in the vCenter Server inventory
• Back up vCenter Server Appliance
• Monitor vCenter Server tasks, events, and appliance health
• Use VMware vCenter Server® High Availability to protect a vCenter Server Appliance

Module 5: Configuring and Managing Virtual Networks
Lessons

• Create and manage standard switches
• Describe the virtual switch connection types
• Configure virtual switch security, traffic-shaping, and load-balancing policies
• Compare vSphere distributed switches and standard switches

Module 6: Configuring and Managing Virtual Storage
Lessons

• Identify storage protocols and storage device types
• Discuss ESXi hosts using iSCSI, NFS, and Fibre Channel storage
• Create and manage VMFS and NFS datastores
• Explain how multipathing works with iSCSI, NFS, and Fibre Channel storage
• Identify the advantages of VMware vSAN™ configuration

Module 7: Virtual Machine Management
Lessons

• Use templates and cloning to deploy new virtual machines
• Modify and manage virtual machines
• Create a content library and deploy virtual machines from templates in the library
• Use customization specification files to customize a new virtual machine
• Perform vSphere vMotion and vSphere Storage vMotion migrations
• Describe the Enhanced vMotion Compatibility feature
• Create and manage virtual machine snapshots
• Examine the features and functions of VMware vSphere® ReplicationTM
• Describe the benefits of VMware vSphere® Storage APIs – Data Protection

Module 8: Resource Management and Monitoring
Lessons

• Discuss CPU and memory concepts in a virtualized environment
• Describe what overcommitment of a resource means
• Describe methods for optimizing CPU and memory usage
• Use various tools to monitor resource usage
• Create and use alarms to report certain conditions or events

Module 9: vSphere Clusters
Lessons

• Explain the vSphere HA architecture
• Describe the functions of a vSphere DRS cluster
• Create a vSphere DRS cluster
• Monitor a vSphere cluster configuration
• Describe options for making a vSphere environment highly available
• Explain the vSphere HA architecture
• Configure and manage a vSphere HA cluster
• Examine the features and functions of VMware vSphere® Fault Tolerance

Module 10: vSphere Lifecycle Management
Lessons

• Recognize the importance of vCenter Server Update Planner
• Describe how VMware vSphere® Lifecycle ManagerTM works
• Describe how to update ESXi hosts using baselines
• Validate ESXi host compliance using a cluster image
• Describe how to upgrade VMware Tools and VM hardware