Building a virtual environment is one of the best ways to get more out of the server infrastructure you already own, and VMware ESX is one of the most popular ways to do it. Xen by Citrix and VMware’s ESX both perform the same core job: each acts as a hypervisor layer that deploys virtual servers, so each sits at the heart of a real virtual environment. This first part of our series focuses on ESX, with Xen covered in part 2. The hypervisor needs multiple cores and a decent amount of RAM so it can power every VM you want to run. ESX will technically work with 2 cores and 4 GB of RAM, but that is not much to work with, so plan on at least double each.
Getting Started with VMware ESX
Once the free version of ESX is installed, you can build virtual servers, also called virtual machines (VMs), three ways. Use the VMware vCenter Converter to transfer existing servers into VMs, build VMs from scratch by specifying the new virtual server’s specifications, or import a template from the VMware Solution Exchange. The free edition also caps created VMs at 8 vCPUs per virtual machine, so keep that restriction in mind. You will also need a client terminal with the vSphere client installed, not the hypervisor host, to access and manage the environment.
Managing Virtual Machines in vSphere
Once you log into the vSphere client through the web or your intranet, the existing VMs appear on the left side of the screen, with more detail available in the center of the browser. Drilling into a specific VM shows its assigned IPs and other specifications, its OS, and even a console you can launch for that server. A search function lets you look through the VM inventory and check whether any are out of date or need attention.
Creating Your First Virtual Machine
Of course, searching for VMs only works once a VM exists. To create your first VM, right-click one of the parent objects in the VM section, such as Datacenter, and select “Create a new virtual machine.” From there, a series of prompts determines the VM’s specifications, and once you finish, you can launch the machine. Beyond creating a VM, you can also clone it or convert it into a template for building identical machines.
Expanding VMware ESX for Your Cloud Environment
At a basic level, this covers the primary functions of the software: creating, launching, and managing VMs from a single pane of glass. VMware does much more once you bring in tools such as vShield for security, IT Business Management Suite for billing, and vCenter to expand what you can manage. Most of these are paid add-ons to the free ESX solution, so evaluate ESX first to confirm it is the hypervisor you want for your virtual or cloud environment. Many VMware products offer trials as well, so you can test before you commit.
An ESX hypervisor can easily become the heart of a private cloud offering, or even a public IaaS cloud offering. You can expand VMware at the hardware level by clustering physical servers and adding SAN storage to build a genuinely powerful cloud environment. Vault Networks can work with you to procure that hardware and collocate it in our data center, where you get our optimized network for the lowest possible latency and packet loss, plus our N+1 infrastructure built for maximum uptime. If you are interested in developing a virtual or cloud environment and want our data center behind your VMware ESX solution, reach out to us by calling (305) 735-8098 option 2 or by emailing sales@vaultnetworks.com.