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VMware vSphere includes the following components:
• Virtual machine—A virtual machine is a software-based computer capable of running an
operating system such as Microsoft® Windows® or GNU/Linux as if the operating system is
installed on a physical machine.
• Host—A host is a physical machine running platform virtualization software such as ESXi.
Hosts provide processor, memory, storage, and network resources for one or more virtual
machines.
• vCenter Server—vCenter Server continuously monitors your virtual infrastructure, automates
system administration tasks, and centralizes remote management sessions. It coordinates the
resources and activities of individual hosts to efficiently distribute virtual machines and tolerate
hardware downtime across a data center.
• vSphere Client—vSphere Client is the primary interface for interacting with hosts and virtual
machines. vSphere Client can manage a standalone host by connecting directly to the host,
or manage multiple hosts by connecting to a vCenter Server machine.
Additional HP components that complete your virtualization infrastructure:
• Management network—A management network enables the server administrator to manage
discrete physical servers without relying on a general purpose communications network. This
dedicated network enables a reliable connection to the hardware in the event of a network
failure.
• HP Insight Control for VMware vCenter Server—The HP Insight Control extension for VMware
vCenter Server delivers powerful HP server host management capabilities to virtualization
administrators, enabling comprehensive monitoring, remote control, and power optimization
directly from the vCenter console. For more information, see the HP website (http://
www.hp.com/go/icvcenter).
• Virtual machine communication network—A virtual machine communication network is built
on the traditional, general purpose communication network. As with physical servers, virtual
machine traffic is brokered through a general purpose network if the virtual machines are on
discrete servers. Virtual machine communication on the same physical server is handled by a
virtual switch within the server.
• HP storage network—A storage network enables virtual machines to access Storage Area
Network (SAN) devices similarly to physical servers. The medium for a storage network can
be Fibre Channel or Ethernet. HP recommends HP StorageWorks SAN solutions.
• Virtual SAN Appliance—HP P4000 Virtual SAN Applicance Software (VSA) provides another
way to implement a virtual server high availability solution without the need for separate
external shared-storage devices. For more information, see the HP website (http://
www.hp.com/go/vsa).
6 Overview