Users Guide

Introduction
This document helps you to deploy VMware ESXi 6.5.x on Dell EMC PowerEdge servers, and provides specific information about
recommended configurations, best practices, and additional resources.
NOTE: Before deploying the system, it is recommended that you see the VMware vSphere 6.5.x on Dell EMC PowerEdge
Servers Release Notes at Dell.com/virtualizationsolutions.
NOTE: vSphere Essentials Plus is an all-inclusive package that includes licenses for three physical systems, each system
with up to two processors. It also includes VMware vCenter Server to centrally manage the systems. vSphere Essentials
Plus edition is supported only on two-socket systems. More licenses must still be deployed on approved systems for Dell
EMC support.
NOTE: With the release of vSphere 6.7, all Partner Activation Codes that are shipped with current systems are for
vSphere 6.7 licensing. If you have an active vSphere subscription, you can downgrade or upgrade vSphere, as you
choose. To get your downgrade keys, register your Partner Activation Code and login to vmware.com/accounts. Go to
Manage Product Licenses > vSphere 6.7 on the license administration portal.
NOTE: VMware vSAN is licensed independently per socket, per server. To use VMware vSAN, the server requires a
vSphere license (per socket, per server) and a vCenter Server license.
Topics:
• vSphere 6.5.x architecture
• Overview of ESXi architecture
vSphere 6.5.x architecture
vSphere infrastructure consists of the following components:
ESXi
Allows multiple operating systems to run simultaneously on a single system.
vCenter server Monitors and manages the management application of VMs and copies of ESXi. With a vCenter server, you can
create, start, stop, and migrate VMs across the entire physical data center. vCenter server is optional, but it is
required for advanced management capabilities such as VMware vMotion, Distributed Resource Scheduling
(DRS), and High Availability (HA).
vCenter server
database
Stores all the configuration data about a VMware infrastructure environment. Dell EMC recommends that you use
a production database such as Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle for the vCenter Server database.
vSphere Web
Client
Shares the functionality of the core administrative interface starting from ESXi 5.1, with the vSphere client.
vSphere client can be launched from Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox, without requiring a specific client
installation.
VMware Host
Client
The embedded VMware Host Client is an HTML5-based client that has a similar interface to the vSphere Web
Client but is only used to manage single ESXi hosts. You use the VMware Host Client to conduct emergency
management when vCenter Server is temporarily unavailable.
Virtual Machine
datastore
Stores VM configuration and virtual disk files. The VM storage can either be internal local storage to the ESXi or
external storage. Multiple ESXi systems share the VM storage. Advanced features such as HA and DRS require
that the hard disk drive and configuration files are stored on the external shared storage.
The following figure shows the different components of vSphere.
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