1) Are we able to add odd number virtual CPUs to our virtual machines, for example 3 or 5 VCPU as compared to VI3 version when virtual SMP only supports 2 or 4 VCPU per virtual machine ?
Yes, we can now add odd number VCPU to our virtual machines.
2) What is the limitation for configuring VMware Fault Tolerance for a virtual machine ?
Virtual machine selected for VMware FT must be provisioned with thick disk and not thin disk, if it was provisioned with thin disk, there will be a prompt to inflate the existing disk size.
3) What is the disadvantage of configuring VM direct path I/O for a virtual machine ?
If we configured VM direct path I/O, the virtual machine gains significant performance improvement as it is provided direct access through the adapter, however, it loses it's virtualization features and the adapter cannot be used by other virtual machines.
4) Does vSphere provide support for the currently version of VMware Site Recovery Manage version 1.0 ?
vSphere has does not support SRM version 1.0 at this present moment.
5) What is the benefit of using a Distributed vSwitch as compared to a Standard vSwitch ?
With a distributed virtual switch, the network statistics and policies of the virtual machine that has been vmotion to another ESX Server will migrate with the VM. This provides the ability for network vmotion and is useful for implementing inline intrusion detection systems and firewalls.
6) Does ESX 4 and ESXi 4 support jumbo frames and TSO ?
Yes, both ESX 4 and ESXi 4 provides support for jumbo frames as well as TSO, these can now be configured in the GUI as compared to VI3 where administrators could only do it via command lines.
7) What is the different between VMware Data Protection as compared to the traditional VMware Consolidated Backup ?
VMware Data Protection supports all storage architecture for backup and restore via LAN and SAN. It also supports full, incremental and differential file level backup options.
8) What is the key driving factor for users adopting VMware vCenter Data Recovery ?
It's an API that runs in a virtual machine within your vCenter, it provides agentless backup and can backup virtual machines even when they are being vmotion to a different host.
9) Can we perform Storage Vmotion now via the GUI inside vCenter ?
Yes, Storage Vmotion feature is now avaliable in the vSphere Client connected to vCenter Server. It provides full support for FC SAN and NFS.
10) When using vCenter Linked Mode feature, what are the functions that could be shared among the vCenters in this link ?
vCenter Linked Mode allows administrator to centrally manage all the vCenter within a single view, roles and licenses can be shared across the vCenters configured in a link.
11) Do I still require a Flexnet License Server if all my ESX Servers are ESX 4 and ESXi 4 ?
No, you no longer require a license server for the to manage the new ESX Servers. All licenses are managed within the vCenter Server.
12) If my customer has a hybrid environment where they still have ESX 3 and ESX 3.5, can vCenter communicate with the existing Flexnet License Server ?
Yes, vCenter can communicate with existing license servers so as to allow it to manage legacy ESX Servers. vCenter will pull the licenses for legacy hosts from the flexnet license server.
13) Why am I unable to hot add CPU and memory to virtual machine ?
You are required to enable this function under the virtual machine settings in order to use it. Therefore, it is advisable to enable it before you start your virtual machine for the very first time.
14) Is it true we can now use the new VMware Update Manager to upgrade our legacy ESX Servers (For example: ESX 3.5) to ESX 4.0 version ?
Yes, the new VUM has the ability to upgrade your legacy ESX Server hosts for you. However, if you are upgrading a standalone host, you will be required to power off all virtual machines running on that host.
15) How come we are unable to use our existing VI Client to manage our ESX 4 and vCenter 4 ?
No, the legacy VI Client is unable to manage newer ESX Server Hosts and vCenter. You will need to install vSphere Client to manage newer ESX Server Hosts and vCenter as well as legacy ESX Hosts.
16) In vSphere, can we configure bidirectional CHAP authentication for iSCSI ?
Yes, we can now configure bidirectional CHAP authenticaton for iSCSI software. It is fully supported. Previously, we could only configure unidirectional CHAP authentication.
17) Do we still need to configure a Service Console port for iSCSI initiator ?
No, we no longer need a Service Console for software iSCSI initator. The vmkiscsid no longer runs in the Service Console. There have been improvements made to the new iSCSI stack in the kernel and also with the use of TCP/IP2 which has multi threading capabilities.
18) What is the maximum number of CPU and maximum amount of memory a virtual machine can scale ?
In vSphere, a virtual machine can now be configure with a maximum of 8 virtual CPUs and 255 GB of memory.
19) What is the maximum amount of logical CPUs and memory per ESX Server 4 host can scale ?
ESX Server 4 now supports a maximum of 64 logical CPUs and 1 TB of memory.
20) What actions allow us to configure thin disk provisioning for a virtual machine ?
When we create a new virtual machine, clone an existing virtual machine, clone a template or perform Storage Vmotion on an existing virtual machine.
21) What is the benefit of configuring thin disk provisioning as compared to thick disk provisioning for a virtual machine ?
When we configure thin disk provisioning the virtual machine only uses the space that it requires and not the entire disk size, this allows the remaining unused space for other virtual machines. This enables us to do Storage Over-commitment and use the storage more efficiently.
22) Will my virtual machines still have connection if the virtual center that stores my Distributed vSwitch configuration goes down ?
Yes, this is because the Distributed vSwitch has an control plane which sits at the vCenter Server level and an I/O plane which are the form of hidden vSwitches sitting at the ESX level. Therefore, even if the vCenter goes down, virtual machines continue to have connectivity through the I/O plane at the ESX level.
23) What is the maximum number of ESX Hosts we can connect to a single distributed switch ?
We can connect up to 64 ESX hosts per distributed switch and vCenter 4 can support up a maximum of 16 distributed switches. Which means we can have up to 1024 hosts on these 16 distributed switches. Refer to "Configure Maximums" for more details.
24) What is the version of the 64 bit Service Console running in ESX 4 ?
The Service Console is a 2.6 linux kernel compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.2 or CentOS 5.2 version.
25) What is the maximum number of uplinks or ports per ESX 4 or ESXi 4 Host ?
The maximum number of uplinks per ESX 4 or ESXi 4 Host is 32 uplinks. Refer to "Configure Maximums" for more details.
Yes, we can now add odd number VCPU to our virtual machines.
2) What is the limitation for configuring VMware Fault Tolerance for a virtual machine ?
Virtual machine selected for VMware FT must be provisioned with thick disk and not thin disk, if it was provisioned with thin disk, there will be a prompt to inflate the existing disk size.
3) What is the disadvantage of configuring VM direct path I/O for a virtual machine ?
If we configured VM direct path I/O, the virtual machine gains significant performance improvement as it is provided direct access through the adapter, however, it loses it's virtualization features and the adapter cannot be used by other virtual machines.
4) Does vSphere provide support for the currently version of VMware Site Recovery Manage version 1.0 ?
vSphere has does not support SRM version 1.0 at this present moment.
5) What is the benefit of using a Distributed vSwitch as compared to a Standard vSwitch ?
With a distributed virtual switch, the network statistics and policies of the virtual machine that has been vmotion to another ESX Server will migrate with the VM. This provides the ability for network vmotion and is useful for implementing inline intrusion detection systems and firewalls.
6) Does ESX 4 and ESXi 4 support jumbo frames and TSO ?
Yes, both ESX 4 and ESXi 4 provides support for jumbo frames as well as TSO, these can now be configured in the GUI as compared to VI3 where administrators could only do it via command lines.
7) What is the different between VMware Data Protection as compared to the traditional VMware Consolidated Backup ?
VMware Data Protection supports all storage architecture for backup and restore via LAN and SAN. It also supports full, incremental and differential file level backup options.
8) What is the key driving factor for users adopting VMware vCenter Data Recovery ?
It's an API that runs in a virtual machine within your vCenter, it provides agentless backup and can backup virtual machines even when they are being vmotion to a different host.
9) Can we perform Storage Vmotion now via the GUI inside vCenter ?
Yes, Storage Vmotion feature is now avaliable in the vSphere Client connected to vCenter Server. It provides full support for FC SAN and NFS.
10) When using vCenter Linked Mode feature, what are the functions that could be shared among the vCenters in this link ?
vCenter Linked Mode allows administrator to centrally manage all the vCenter within a single view, roles and licenses can be shared across the vCenters configured in a link.
11) Do I still require a Flexnet License Server if all my ESX Servers are ESX 4 and ESXi 4 ?
No, you no longer require a license server for the to manage the new ESX Servers. All licenses are managed within the vCenter Server.
12) If my customer has a hybrid environment where they still have ESX 3 and ESX 3.5, can vCenter communicate with the existing Flexnet License Server ?
Yes, vCenter can communicate with existing license servers so as to allow it to manage legacy ESX Servers. vCenter will pull the licenses for legacy hosts from the flexnet license server.
13) Why am I unable to hot add CPU and memory to virtual machine ?
You are required to enable this function under the virtual machine settings in order to use it. Therefore, it is advisable to enable it before you start your virtual machine for the very first time.
14) Is it true we can now use the new VMware Update Manager to upgrade our legacy ESX Servers (For example: ESX 3.5) to ESX 4.0 version ?
Yes, the new VUM has the ability to upgrade your legacy ESX Server hosts for you. However, if you are upgrading a standalone host, you will be required to power off all virtual machines running on that host.
15) How come we are unable to use our existing VI Client to manage our ESX 4 and vCenter 4 ?
No, the legacy VI Client is unable to manage newer ESX Server Hosts and vCenter. You will need to install vSphere Client to manage newer ESX Server Hosts and vCenter as well as legacy ESX Hosts.
16) In vSphere, can we configure bidirectional CHAP authentication for iSCSI ?
Yes, we can now configure bidirectional CHAP authenticaton for iSCSI software. It is fully supported. Previously, we could only configure unidirectional CHAP authentication.
17) Do we still need to configure a Service Console port for iSCSI initiator ?
No, we no longer need a Service Console for software iSCSI initator. The vmkiscsid no longer runs in the Service Console. There have been improvements made to the new iSCSI stack in the kernel and also with the use of TCP/IP2 which has multi threading capabilities.
18) What is the maximum number of CPU and maximum amount of memory a virtual machine can scale ?
In vSphere, a virtual machine can now be configure with a maximum of 8 virtual CPUs and 255 GB of memory.
19) What is the maximum amount of logical CPUs and memory per ESX Server 4 host can scale ?
ESX Server 4 now supports a maximum of 64 logical CPUs and 1 TB of memory.
20) What actions allow us to configure thin disk provisioning for a virtual machine ?
When we create a new virtual machine, clone an existing virtual machine, clone a template or perform Storage Vmotion on an existing virtual machine.
21) What is the benefit of configuring thin disk provisioning as compared to thick disk provisioning for a virtual machine ?
When we configure thin disk provisioning the virtual machine only uses the space that it requires and not the entire disk size, this allows the remaining unused space for other virtual machines. This enables us to do Storage Over-commitment and use the storage more efficiently.
22) Will my virtual machines still have connection if the virtual center that stores my Distributed vSwitch configuration goes down ?
Yes, this is because the Distributed vSwitch has an control plane which sits at the vCenter Server level and an I/O plane which are the form of hidden vSwitches sitting at the ESX level. Therefore, even if the vCenter goes down, virtual machines continue to have connectivity through the I/O plane at the ESX level.
23) What is the maximum number of ESX Hosts we can connect to a single distributed switch ?
We can connect up to 64 ESX hosts per distributed switch and vCenter 4 can support up a maximum of 16 distributed switches. Which means we can have up to 1024 hosts on these 16 distributed switches. Refer to "Configure Maximums" for more details.
24) What is the version of the 64 bit Service Console running in ESX 4 ?
The Service Console is a 2.6 linux kernel compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.2 or CentOS 5.2 version.
25) What is the maximum number of uplinks or ports per ESX 4 or ESXi 4 Host ?
The maximum number of uplinks per ESX 4 or ESXi 4 Host is 32 uplinks. Refer to "Configure Maximums" for more details.
Comments