How to Install and Configure ESXi Server 5.1

ESXi Overview :

ESXi Provides a virtualization layer that abstract the processor,memory,storage and networking resources of the physical host into multiple virtual machines. ESXi is a bare-metal hypervisior that creates the foundation for a dynamic and automated data center.

In ESXi architecture , applications running in virtual machine access CPU ,memory,disk & network interfaces without direct access to the underlying hardware. The ESXi Hypervisor is called the VMKernel.

We can get a free version version of ESXi , called Vsphere Hypervisor, or we can purchased a licensed  version with vsphere..

Installation Steps:

 Step:1 Download the trail or licensed version of esxi  from “http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere-hypervisor/overview.html”

Now  Either burn or mount the ESXi 5.1 iso image to the DVD drive of the server and let the server boot from dvd.

 Step:2  We will get below screen

Step:3

Step:4 Press enter to continue at the Welcome to VMware ESXi 5.1 Installation screen.

Step:5  Press F11 to accept the End User License Agreement.

 Step:6 Select the hard drive you wish to install VMware ESXi 5.1 onto and press Enter.

Select your keyboard layout and press Enter.

Step:7 Just enter the root password and then Press Enter.

Step:8 Press F11 to begin installing ESXi 5.1

Step:9 Once the installation is complete you are required to reboot the server. Press enter.

Step:10 VMware ESXi is now installed. Do Basic setting like static ip address, dns, etc by pressing F2

Learn more at Suranka Technologies

Read More

VMware vSphere 5.5 Course Details

VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage [V5.5]

Objectives:

By the end of the course, you should understand vSphere 5.5 functions and features and be able to meet the following objectives: •  Deploy an ESXi host •  Deploy a vCenter Server instance •  Deploy a vCenter Server appliance •  Manage an ESXi host using vCenter Server •  Manage ESXi storage using vCenter Server •  Manage ESXi networking using vCenter Server •  Manage virtual machines using vCenter Server •  Deploy and manage thin-provisioned virtual machines •  Migrate virtual machines with VMware vSphere® vMotion® •  Manage vSphere infrastructure with VMware vSphere® Web Client and VMware vSphere® Client™ •  Migrate virtual machines using VMware vSphere® Storage vMotion® •  Manage access control using vCenter Server •  Monitor resource usage using vCenter Server •  Manage VMware vSphere® High Availability, VMware vSphere® Fault Tolerance, and VMware vSphere®     Data Protection™ using vCenter Server •  Apply patches using VMware vSphere®Update Manager Outline:    Course Introduction Introductions and course logistics Course objectives Virtualized Data Center Introduce components of the virtualized data center Describe where vSphere fits into the cloud architecture Install and use vSphere Client Creating Virtual Machines Introduce virtual machines, virtual machine hardware, and virtual machine files Deploy a single virtual machine VMware vCenter Server Introduce the vCenter Server architecture Introduce VMware® vCenter™ Single Sign-On™ Install and use vSphere Web Client Introduce VMware® vCenter™ Server Appliance™ Configure and manage vCenter Server Appliance Manage vCenter Server inventory objects and licenses Configuring and Managing Virtual Networks Describe, create, and manage a standard switch Describe and modify standard switch properties Configure virtual switch load-balancing algorithms Configuring and Managing Virtual Storage Introduce storage protocols and device names Configure ESXi with iSCSI, NFS, and Fibre Channel storage Create and manage vSphere datastores Deploy and manage VMware® Virtual SAN™ Virtual Machine Management Use templates and cloning to deploy virtual machines Modify and manage virtual machines Create and manage virtual machine snapshots Perform vSphere vMotion and vSphere Storage vMotion migrations Create a VMware vSphere® vApp™ Access and Authentication Control Control user access through roles and permissions Configure and manage the ESXi firewall Configure ESXi lockdown mode Integrate ESXi with Active Directory Resource Management and Monitoring Introduce virtual CPU and memory concepts Describe methods for optimizing CPU and memory usage Configure and manage resource pools Monitor resource usage using vCenter Server performance graphs and alarms High Availability and Fault Tolerance Introduce the new vSphere High Availability architecture Configure and manage a vSphere HA cluster Introduce vSphere Fault Tolerance Describe VMware vSphere® Replication Scalability Configure and manage a VMware vSphere® Distributed Resource Scheduler™ (DRS) cluster Configure Enhanced vMotion Compatibility Use vSphere HA and DRS together Patch Management Use vSphere Update Manager to manage ESXi patching Install vSphere Update Manager and the vSphere Update Manager plug-in Create patch baselines Scan and remediate hosts Installing VMware Components Introduce ESXi installation Describe boot-from-SAN requirements Introduce vCenter Server deployment options Describe vCenter Server hardware, software, and database requirements Install vCenter Server (Windows-based) View More Course details on Suranka Technologies

Read More

Minimum system requirements for installing ESXi/ESX

Minimum system requirements for installing ESXi/ESX 

ESXi 5.1

Supported server platformFor a list of supported platforms, see the VMware Compatibility Guide.

64-bit Processor

• ESXi 5.1 will install and run only on servers with 64-bit x86 CPUs.
• ESXi 5.1 requires a host machine with at least two cores.
• ESXi 5.1 supports only LAHF and SAHF CPU instructions.
• ESXi 5.1 requires the NX/XD bit to be enabled for the CPU in the BIOS.
• ESXi 5.1 supports a broad range of x64 multicore processors. For a complete list of supported processors, see the VMware Compatibility Guide.

RAM

• 2GB RAM minimum
• Provide at least 8GB of RAM to take full advantage of ESXi 5.1 features and run virtual machines in typical production environments.

Hardware Virtualization Support

• To support 64-bit virtual machines, support for hardware virtualization (Intel VT-x or AMD RVI) must be enabled on x64 CPUs.
• To determine whether your server has 64-bit VMware support, download the CPU Identification Utility from vmware.com.

Network Adapters

• One or more Gigabit or 10Gb Ethernet controllers. For a list of supported network adapter models, see the VMware Compatibility Guide.

SCSI Adapter, Fibre Channel Adapter or Internal RAID Controller

Any combination of one or more of the following controllers:

• Basic SCSI controllers. Adaptec Ultra-160 or Ultra-320, LSI Logic Fusion-MPT, or most NCR/Symbios SCSI.
• RAID controllers. Dell PERC (Adaptec RAID or LSI MegaRAID), HP Smart Array RAID, or IBM (Adaptec) ServeRAID controllers.

Installation and Storage

• SCSI disk or a local, non-network, RAID LUN with unpartitioned space for the virtual machines.
• For Serial ATA (SATA), a disk connected through supported SAS controllers or supported on-board SATA controllers. SATA disks will be considered remote, not local. These disks will not be used as a scratch partition by default because they are seen as remote. Note: You cannot connect a SATA CD-ROM device to a virtual machine on an ESXi 5.1 host. To use the SATA CD-ROM device, you must use IDE emulation mode.
• Supported storage system:  ESXi 5.1 supports installing on and booting from these storage systems:
  • SATA disk drives. SATA disk drives connected behind supported SAS controllers or supported on-board SATA controllers.
    • LSI1068E (LSISAS3442E)
    • LSI1068 (SAS 5)
    • IBM ServeRAID 8K SAS controller 
    • Smart Array P400/256 controller 
    • Dell PERC 5.0.1 controller

• SATA disk drives. Supported on-board SATA include:
  • Intel ICH9
  • NVIDIA MCP55
  • ServerWorks HT1000

Note: ESXi does not support using local, internal SATA drives on the host server to create VMFS datastores that are shared across multiple ESXi hosts.

• Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) disk drives supported for installing ESXi 5.1 and for storing virtual machines on VMFS partitions.
• Dedicated SAN disk on Fibre Channel or iSCSI
• For a list of USB devices supported for installing ESXi 5.1, see the VMware Compatibility Guide.
• You can install and boot ESXi from an FCoE LUN using VMware software FCoE adapters and network adapters with FCoE offload capabilities. See the vSphere Storage documentation for information about installing and booting ESXi with software FCoE.
• 
  

Read More