Specifications

Figure 3. vSphere Components
vCenter Server Installation
Install vCenter Server to manage multiple hosts.
To get started with vCenter Server quickly and manage the host you set up, you can install vCenter Server on
a desktop or laptop. You must install vCenter Server on a Windows machine that has network access to the
ESXi host. For production use, VMware recommends that you install vCenter Server on a dedicated server
system.
To get started with vCenter Server quickly and manage the host you set up, you can installed vCenter Server
on a desktop or laptop. You must install vCenter Server on a Windows machine that has network access to the
ESX host. For production use, VMware recommends that you install vCenter Server on a dedicated server
system.
Before you install vCenter Server, make sure your system meets the minimum hardware and software
requirements. vCenter Server requires a database. vCenter Server uses Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express for
small deployments with up to 5 hosts and 50 virtual machines. For larger deployments, VMware supports
several Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server databases. Refer to the vSphere Compatibility Matrixes for the list of
supported databases.
vCenter Server and vSphere Client Hardware Requirements
The vCenter Server system is a physical machine or virtual machine with access to a supported database. The
vCenter Server system and the vSphere Client machines must meet specific requirements.
Minimum Requirements for vCenter Server
n
CPU – 2 CPUs
n
Processor – 2.0GHz or faster Intel or AMD processor. Processor requirements might be higher if the
database runs on the same machine.
n
Memory – 3GB RAM. Memory requirements might be higher if the database runs on the same machine.
Getting Started with ESXi InstallableESXi EmbeddedESX
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