Vmware Infrastructure 3

I have just recently returned from Vmware Infrastructure 3 training in Denver, I'm seriously considering spending a little time studying for the VCP exam.

Then again, I've lately been viewing certification as an exercise in running a study/test treadmill. (It's a single test though, and doesn't ever expire.)

Although our shop has been using Vmware since 1.5 and I've been heavily involved with it since 2.5, this was the first official training class for Vmware I've attended. The class was one of the better training classes I've ever attended. It's pretty refreshing to have a class where all the product labs "just work".

DRS and HA were unique features, representing the ability for Vmware to automatically load balance across multiple ESX hosts and failover VM's when one or more ESX hosts fail. Some of the things I learned that I never knew where that Virtual Center automatically imports members of the local administrators group on the Host running Virtual Center into the Virtual Center Administrators group. (Which is something I confirmed in class. We had no Active Directory or I would test for nested groups, but I suspect they don't import.) Another item is that performance of Raw Device mappings, is supposedly slightly worse than using a vmdk file. The official position is that RDM's should only really be used if software needs raw access to a SAN (such as SAN management software) or if you are doing clustering between vm's or between vm and a physical server.

One point that made me smile, was that neither the instructor or any other students thought it was possible to extend a system disk (such as the C: drive) on a Windows server. Something one of my former colleagues had come up with long ago, by attaching the vmdk to another "helper" vm and using it to extend the disk.

Some of the useful information I found that wasn't part of the course ware material included:

List of Maximums in Vmware

Memory overhead associated with running a Virtual Machine (Page 129.)

If pursuing the VCP, the Blueprint covers the test objectives. (Although attendance in a Vmware class is required for the VCP, no one class covers all the material.)