Hi All,

This is my first sessions in VMware vSphere 7 Training, we will be looking at How Virtualization all started and how VMware helps us achieve this.

Agenda :

What is Virtualization?

Overview Type 1 and Type 2

What is Virtualization?

Virtualization is the process of creating a software-based, or virtual, representation of something, such as

• Virtual applications
• Servers
• Storage
• Networks

It is the single most effective way to reduce IT expenses while boosting efficiency and agility for all size businesses.

Ref: https://www.vmware.com/in/solutions/virtualization.html

Different Types of Server virtualization

• Server Virtualization
• Network Virtualization
• Storage Virtualization
• Desktop Virtualizaiton

Server Virtualization

Enables multiple operating systems to run on a single physical server as highly efficient virtual machines. 
Greater IT efficiencies
Reduced operating costs
Faster workload deployment
Increased application performance
Higher server availability
Eliminated server sprawl and complexity

Network Virtualization
Network Virtualization is achieved by reproducing a physical network, network virtualization allows applications to run on a virtual network as if they were running on a physical network — but with greater operational benefits and all the hardware independencies of virtualization. Network virtualization presents logical networking devices and services

 logical ports, switches, routers, firewalls, load balancers, VPNs and more — to connected workloads.

Note the VMware product that helps in Network virtualization is called NSX-T, The Previous version was NSX-V ( My course will not cover this topic as its a different tract of certification called VCP -NV.)

Storage Virtualization

This is achieved by virtualization the storage using storage. the Physical disk is now virtual disk in the VMware the Hard disk is a file that has the os and the user data within. usually, the storage is used by EMC, NetAPP. etc.

VMware has there Hyper Converted solution called vSAN.

Desktop Virtualizaiton

These days we have a great need of working from home so Desktop virtualization has become increasingly popular. we have different solutions for this Xen Desktop from Citrix and VMware Horizon View Desktop from VMware.

This is basically streaming the desktop to the end-user using protocols like RDP, PCOVIP, and a new protocol from VMware called Blast.

VMware has a certification path for this if you are interested in Desktop mobility.

Overview of Hypervisor Type 1 and Type 2

Type 1 Hypervisor:

This hypervisor is installed directly on the bare-metal hardware. The hypervisor is a very lightweight small software which takes care of all the IO and cpu and memory instructions, it is similar to the Kernal in our Operating systems like Windows or Linux.

Type 2 Hypervisor:

This is installed on your os like Windows or Linux, hence this is also referred to a hosted hypervisor.

The performance is better with Type 1 hypervisor as it has direct access to the CPU, memory and IOS of the physical server. In Type 2 the resources are fist used with the host Operating system then left at disposal for the type two hypervisor. an example is virtual box, VMware Player and VMware Workstation for Linux VMware Fusion

Ref:https://www.vmware.com/in/solutions/virtualization.html

I will  be disscussing VMware and Hyper-V Technologies and theire benifites over one and outher in detail in my next post.

 www.f5.com/solutions/resources/white-papers/

• Hypervisor contains the Virtual Machine Monitor (VMM)
• Guest OS unchanged, Host can be any kind of hardware
• Guest uses generic device drivers

Hardware Virtualization (a.k.a. Hardware Assisted)

• VMM moved to hardware
• Requires VT hardware
• Guest OS unchanged, uses generic device drivers

Paravirtualization

• Guest OS requires paravirtualized drivers
• Thin layer for hypervisor, guest has access to Host hardware
• Host any kind of hardware

in gernal we have two famous methods of Virtualizaiton : Hosted Virtualization ( installing the virtualization software VMM on a host server ie. Windows Server 2008 or Linux etc. Bare Metal Virtualization ( installing the virtualization software on physical machine directly which gives super performance eg. VMware vSphear) aka Hardware emulation Further we can classify the virtualization in three important categories Storage Virtualization: This is achieved by consolidating all the storage in a single location which makes the network admins to easily manage the storage resource. Network Virtualization This is accomplished by combining all the network bandwidth and then splitting it into channels for users. this allows the Administrator allow resources as and when they require. This allows each user to access all of the network resources, which can be files and folders on the computer, printers or hard drives etc. This streamlined approach makes the life of the network administrator much easier. Server Virtualization This is the most popular virtualization method used today to consolidate multiple virtual machines on a single high spec physical server, This will save processing power , space in DC and more importantly cost.

1.  Virtualization of old physical servers to a virtual server  also known as P2V (Physical to Virtual)
2. Setup new servers only on virtual infrastructure (unless there is a mandatory requirement of having a physical server )

Although there are a lot of products available in the market to achieve this the ones that are hugely popular is VMware and Hyper –V. both of the software does the job although there is always a big debate on which is better one. I have always been a big supporter of VMware products, with their new range of products complementing one and other. I will dig these two deeper on my next post … Thanks for reading.

Sources : VMware: https://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/VMware_paravirtualization.pdf

Dell: https://www.dell.com/downloads/global/power/ps3q05-20050191-Abels.pdf

Microsoft: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/hyper-v-server/benefits.aspx]]>

1. Open VCenter  and select Convert Mechine

VCenter

 2. Specify Source: On the new screen you we will need to select source which will be the system you want to virtulize.

Specify Source

3. Specify Destination: On this screen you will need to specify the destination and destination type i.e. if you want the virtual machine to be a workstation or a vmware Infrastructure guest machine.

Specify Destination

View and Edit VMware

6.Networks: this section is to choose how you want the vm to connect to the network.

We have 3 options: •Bridge that allows you to connect directly to the physical network. •NAT (Network Address Translation) Used to share the host IP address. (recommended) •Host-only that setup a private network share with the host machine. 

 7.Services: always make sure you disable all the services which are specific to the hardware as you will not need them once the system is virtualized. an example is Apple Mobile device for iPhone.

8.  Ready to Complete: Summery of all the selections you have made just go through it to be sure that you have selection is correct. If you wish to change something you can still hit on the back button and get it changed.

Physical to Virtual Conversion by VmWare Vcenter

   After the P2V is completed, I used the VM ware Player to open the .vmdk file this understands that it’s a virtual machine and starts the system. Just by chose the option that says open an existing VM machine. And browse to the .vmdx file, you should be ready to play the vm.