Specifications

VMware, Inc. 25
Chapter 1 VMware Infrastructure Components
 VMwareDRS–Afeaturethathelpsimproveresourceallocationandpower
consumptionacrossallhostsandresourcepools.VMwareDRScollectsresource
usageinformationforallhostsandvirtualmachinesintheclusterandgives
recommendations(ormigratesvirtualmachines)inoneoftwosituations:
 Initialplacement–Whenyoufirstpoweronavirtualmachineinthecluster,
DRSeitherplacesthevirtualmachineormakesarecommendation.
 Loadbalancing–DRStriestoimproveresourceutilizationacrossthecluster
byperformingautomaticmigrationsofvirtualmachines(VMotion)orby
providingarecommendationforvirtualmachinemigrations.
VMwareDRSincludesexperimentaldistributedpowermanagement(DPM)
capabilities.WhenDPMisenabled,thesystemcomparescluster‐andhost‐level
capacityto
thedemandsofvirtualmachinesrunninginthecluster.Basedonthe
resultsofthecomparison,DPMrecommends(orautomaticallyimplements)
actionsthatcanreducethepowerconsumptionofthecluster.
 VMwareInfrastructureSDKpackage–APIsformanagingvirtualinfrastructure
anddocumentationdescribingthoseAPIs.TheSDKalsoincludesthe
VirtualCenterWebServiceinterface,WebServicesDescriptionLanguage(WSDL),
andexamplefiles.Thisisavailablethroughanexternallink.TodownloadtheSDK
package,seehttp://www.vmware.com/support/developer.
VirtualCenter Modules
VirtualCentermodulesextendthecapabilitiesofVirtualCenterbyprovidingadditional
featuresandfunctionality.Somemodulesarepackagedseparatelyfromthebase
productandrequireseparateinstallation.Modulesandthebaseproductcanbe
upgradedindependentlyofeachother.VMwaremodulesinclude:
 VMwareUpdateManager–Enablesadministratorstoapplyupdatesandpatches
acrossESXServerhostsandallmanagedvirtualmachines.Thismoduleprovides
theabilitytocreateuser‐definedsecuritybaselineswhichrepresentasetofsecurity
standards.Securityadministratorscancomparehostsandvirtualmachines
againstthesebaselinestoidentify
andremediatesystemsthatarenotin
compliance.
 VMwareConverterEnterpriseforVirtualCenter–Enablesuserstoconvert
physicalmachines,andvirtualmachinesinavarietyofformats,toESXServer
virtualmachines.ConvertedsystemscanbeimportedintotheVirtualCenter
inventory.