• ESX 3.5 server installation and configuration
• explore the esx 3.5 Service Console, a RedHat Linux CLI with "esxcfg" custom commands integrated into the shell;
• perform advanced hardware management and security lockdown, and dive into the esx kernel's capabilities;


• VM deployment and management
• deploy a virtual datacenter, configure virtual internetworking, and perform optimization testing;


• VMotion, Load Management & Resource Pools
• migrate virtual machines manually & proactively, across different esx servers, without affecting service;


• DRS / HA
• configure multiple esx servers in "resource pools" and implement DRS (Distributed Resource Scheduler) to balance virtual machine load across esx hosts in a cluster;
• configure HA (High Availability), simulate the crash of an esx host, and recover from failure;


• VC Backup
  
• implement VMware's new VC Backup (Virtual Consolidated Backup) strategy, the latest solution to backing up large numbers of production virtual machines efficiently
  

Pre-requisites

Hands-on intensive labs expose the student to the advanced capabilities of esx server, using both the "VIC (Virtual Infrastructure Client)" - a windows-based GUI installed on a workstation, and the "Service Console" - a Red-Hat Linux CLI. Prior exposure to Linux is a plus, but the skills necessary for the labs will be taught during the boot camp. The course is written to modern-day IT professionals, with a basic understanding of TCP/IP networking, Windows 2003 server management, and x86 hardware fundamentals, but assumes no previous experience in the field of virtualization.

Efficiency

Unitek is combining two different week-long vmware courses into a single 5-day bootcamp, taking students from an introduction to virtualization, to comprehensive hand-on experience configuring and managing vmware's latest advanced networking features; we start with the GUI client interface and move down into the Linux CLI as well, for advanced troubleshooting techniques. And we've gathered up the latest 'Best Practices' for an implementation boot camp designed to catapult your expertise in the exploding field of virtualization.

Classroom setup:

Each student in the class will install and configure "vmware esx 3.5" on an individual Dell PowerEdge 1850 server, with dual Xeon 3.2 GHz processors, and 70GB of internal SCSI storage. Esx hosts will then be clustered, and configured to use an iSCSI shared storage array, for the VMFS datastore to support VMotion, HA, and DRS.

Day-to-Day Schedule

Day 1	Module 1 – esx server installation and configuration
	disk partition management
	service console networking configuration
	post install configuration – the “VIC”
	host based licensing & license servers
	esx server management using the service console
	updating and patching esx
	ntp time configuration
	creating virtual switches and building the virtual network
	advanced CLI virtual network configuration
Day 2	Module 2 – storage management
	fibre channel SAN
	iSCSI
	VMFS
	NAS & NFS
	RDM (Raw Device Maping)
	Module 3 – Virtual Center installation and configuration
	virtual enterprise architecture
	managing the virtual center with the VIC
	database management and backup
Day 3	Module 4 – virtual machine deployment
	virtual machine components
	virtual hardware
	vm builds and customization
	deploying multiple vm's using a template
	vmware converter
	cold migration - vm's powered off
	extending vmdk's
	vm snapshots
Day 4	Module 5 – Security
	access to storage
	virtual switch security
	service console security
	roles & privileges in the VIC
	esx host authentication management
	esx host firewall management
	CLI security management tools
	sudo and the wheel group
	tcp wrappers
Day 5	Module 6 – advanced resource management
	resource pool configuration
	vmotion (hot migration - vm's powered on)
	distributed resource scheduler
	vmware high availability failover of esx hosts
	Module 7 – backup strategies
	vc backup (vmware consolidated backup)
	restoring vm's
	Module 8 – monitoring and optimization
	virtual cpu management
	vmkernel hardware management
	alarm configuration in virtual center
Unitek's independent (non-authorized) VMware offering allows our virtualization guru to pack in a wide range of extra topics and value-added technologies. The result? The knowledge transfer you need to successfully plan, deploy, and take control of your VMware environment! VMware and VMotion are registered trademarks of VMware, Inc.