Course Description

Course Name:	Production Level Server Virtualization Techniques, with emphasis on VMware’s ESX3+ and vSphere 4
Time & Date:	Mondays, 6:15-9:30PM, Nov 15, 22, 29, Dec 6, 13
Location:	Holiday Inn Select Hotel, 15 Middlesex Canal Park Rd., Woburn, MA
Speaker:	Jeffrey Goldberg, Qualware Instructional Services
Text:	Mastering VMware vSphere 4By Scott Lowe (Author) List Price: $59.99, Publisher: Sybex

Course Summary:

Over the last five years, Virtualization has become the number one discussed topic and the leading component in the deployment of IT services from data centers across the country.

From storage virtualization—think SAN, where multiple storage devices are pooled into what appears as a single storage resource for easier management, to desktop virtualization—think Citrix, which allows applications to be installed and managed on a centralized server while appearing to run from the local desktop machine, virtualization is everywhere.

When people talk about virtualization, they’re usually referring to server virtualization, which means partitioning one physical server into several virtual servers, commonly referred to as virtual machines (VMs). Different virtual machines may run different operating systems and different applications while sharing the resources of a single physical computer. Special software, called the Hypervisor, makes it possible to isolate virtual machines, insuring that if one virtual server crashes, it has no effect on the others. Hypervisors come in many implementations, each providing slightly different facilities and imposing different restrictions in what can and cannot be accomplished.

This course will first contrast the different Hypervisors currently available, talk about the many benefits of using virtualization, including savings in datacenter space, energy, time, and server availability, as well as decoupling company applications from operating system versions and updates. We will then proceed to discuss the details of configuring and using VMware’s product set (VI3/ESX3.5/vSphere4), the undisputed leader in Enterprise level virtualization. The topics will include discussion of various implementation architectures, tips and best practices for managing production level deployments, as well as a discussion of the latest concepts of “IT as a Service” and “Cloud Computing”.

So if you are opposed to data center server sprawl and escalating IT cost; want to be free from the shackles of the “one server, one application” of the past that ties you to specific hardware and/or obsolete or unmaintainable environments; wish to experience a significant cost savings in switching older apps to newer, more consolidated and more efficient equipment while reducing administrative and facilities expenses; or simply do not want to build a computer environment from scratch every time something goes wrong, then treat yourself to the benefits that will become available to you once you have knowledge of virtualization.

Targeted for:

This course is designed for individuals looking for an overview of the current state of virtualization from the ground up, using VMware’s implementation for a discussion of the details. Although beneficial to individuals needing to test and run multiple OS on their personal PC, this course is ideal for IT professionals wanting to strengthen their knowledge of building and managing a virtual infrastructure on top of the world’s most versatile and reliable production level virtualization platform, VMware Infrastructure 3.5 and vSphere4.

The class is structured to be as interactive as possible by making use of live demonstrations that review some of the concepts taught in the class. Suggestions for optional homework assignments will be given to those that have access to VMware ESX3.x and/or vSphere4. For those that want the additional challenge but do not have access to the hardware necessary to load VMware’s product set, over the Internet access can be made available on the instructor’s network for a modest lab fee (see instructor on first day of class).

OUTLINE

Session 1:

Introduction to Virtualization, Hypervisor, Technology and Terminology.

Contrasting Xen, Solaris Zones/Containers (and possibly Ldoms),

Microsoft’s Hyper V, with VMware’s VI3/4 Architectures.

Introducing VMware Infrastructure Product Suite.

Creating, and Deploying and Managing Virtual Machines.

Session 2:

Managing and Modifying Virtual Machines Hardware Config.

Learning how to use VI/vSphere Client to control and configure ESX

servers as well as communicate and manage the hosted virtual machines.

Understanding Core Decisions that Govern Architectures and Features.

Creating and Managing Virtual Networks:

ESX Virtual Networking Architecture.

ESX Virtual Switches and Port Groups.

Creating and Managing NIC Teams, Load Balancing and Failover.

Understanding, Configuring and Managing VI3/vSphere4 Storage Options:

Understanding Storage Area Network (SAN).

Creating and Managing LUNs.

Benefits and use of Fibre Channel Storage, iSCSI Network Storage,

and NAS/NFS in server virtualization and disaster recovery.

Creating and Managing VMFS Datastores.

Session 3:

Using VMware Client connected to V[irtual]Center:

Managing Inventory using vCenter.

Understanding ESX Server Editions / Licensing Strategies

Managing and Monitoring VM Resources:

Allocating physical memory and CPU (reservations, limits and shares).

Using Resource Pools and Properties.

VMotion Migration Requirements.

Free Virtualized Solutions and other resources:

VMware Server (GSX), Workstation, Player.

Virtualized Applications ready to go.

Monitoring Virtual Infrastructure Performance and Resource Usage

consisting of CPU, memory, network and disk usage

of guest virtual machine and host.

Session 4:

Introduction to ESXi and vSphere4:

Understanding the ESXi architecture.

Deploy ESXi Embedded.

Configuring and Managing ESXi.

Overview of newest product, vSphere4, and its new components.

Possibly touch upon Distributed Resource Scheduler,

High Availability, Fault Tolerance, Update Manager, etc.

Securing a Virtual Infrastructure:

Managing user access to VirtualCenter and ESX Server.

Managing and Configuring the Service Console Firewall.

Using templates and deploying virtual machines.

Overview of Configuring and Managing Virtual Infrastructure:

Migrating and Importing Virtual Machines (hot and cold migrations)

Physical-to-Virtual Migrations and optional discussion of V to P.

Session 5:

Technical wrap up.

Real life suggestions for managing production level resources.

Discussion of IT as a service, Cloud computing.

Create your own Cloud resource.

Pros and Cons of using other company’s cloud.

Questions and Answers

Lecturer’s biography:

An honor graduate of Tufts University, Jeffrey M. Goldberg has served the engineering and academic community in various roles from principal design engineer / project leader to senior consultant and educator at companies such as HP, Siemens, Picturetel, 3Com, IBM, Openwave, EMC, Harvard/MIT.Mr. Goldberg is a long-time innovative user of UNIX and networked services.He currently provides IT solution consulting (largely to 24x7 data centers that are attempting to simplify maintenance and virtualize their servers) and delivers public seminars and on-site professional training classes, flexibly scheduled to avoid project disruption, on cutting-edge technologies, IT operations and programming languages. Specialties include Perl and Shell Scripting, Linux/Solaris/UNIX System Administration, TCP/IP Networking, Web Technologies such as Visual Basic, Delphi, JavaScript, PHP Apache, C/C++, Java/JSP and SQL Database Access, Computer and Network Security. For more information, please visit http://www.qualware.com/training or contact Jeff Goldberg at 781-229-1530 x2.

copywrite 2010 Qualware Instructional Services and Jeff Goldberg.

Decision (Run/Cancel) Date for this Courses is Thursday, November 4, 2010

FEES

Payment received by November 1: IEEE Members $375

Payment received by November 1: Non-members $395

Payment received after November 1: IEEE Members $395

Payment received after November 1: Non-members $415