Wiley VMware Infrastructure 3 For Dummies 978-0-470-27793-5 Manual De Usuario
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978-0-470-27793-5
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Part I: Ready, Set, Go with VMware Infrastructure 3
reliable and stable a platform VMware Infrastructure 3 is. Being skeptical by
nature, I went slowly at first, but I quickly began to trust VMware the more I
worked with it.
nature, I went slowly at first, but I quickly began to trust VMware the more I
worked with it.
Virtual machines: The non-physical
workhorses
For all intents and purposes, virtual machines are just like physical machines.
You can log on to them; and they have BIOS, hard disks, memory, CPUs,
operating systems, and applications. In fact, if you connect remotely to a
machine, you’ll never know that it’s virtual unless someone tells you. Virtual
machines work and behave just like physical machines. Even the machines
themselves don’t even know they are virtual!
You can log on to them; and they have BIOS, hard disks, memory, CPUs,
operating systems, and applications. In fact, if you connect remotely to a
machine, you’ll never know that it’s virtual unless someone tells you. Virtual
machines work and behave just like physical machines. Even the machines
themselves don’t even know they are virtual!
Virtual machine pluses and minuses
Aside from all the general benefits of virtualization (covered in the
“Benefitting from VMware Infrastructure 3” section, later in this chapter),
here are the major pluses for using virtual machines:
“Benefitting from VMware Infrastructure 3” section, later in this chapter),
here are the major pluses for using virtual machines:
They can be rebooted much faster than physical machines. I was able
to reboot one server in 15 seconds!
to reboot one server in 15 seconds!
They are more simpler than their physical counterparts. For instance,
there are no array controllers to configure in the virtual machines.
there are no array controllers to configure in the virtual machines.
They are easy to back up and restore. The entire machine is stored in
a set of files.
a set of files.
Unfortunately, there are also downsides. However, you can easily minimize
the downsides:
the downsides:
Support can be a gray area. Some software vendors might tell you,
“Hey, it’s on a virtual machine. We don’t support that.” Pay for VMware
support and know your own operating systems to mitigate this risk.
“Hey, it’s on a virtual machine. We don’t support that.” Pay for VMware
support and know your own operating systems to mitigate this risk.
Troubleshooting can be a little tricky. People troubleshooting a prob-
lem on a virtual machine might incorrectly deduce the problem is
caused because the machine is virtual. As long as you hone your own
troubleshooting skills, this risk is minimized.
lem on a virtual machine might incorrectly deduce the problem is
caused because the machine is virtual. As long as you hone your own
troubleshooting skills, this risk is minimized.
I had a consultant tell me that the most likely problem with a report
running slowly and having connectivity issues was because the server
was virtual. I had to prove to her that it was the report — not the virtual
machine — before we could resolve the issue.
was virtual. I had to prove to her that it was the report — not the virtual
machine — before we could resolve the issue.
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