6.7

In the vCenter Server hierarchy that you see in the vSphere Client, a data center is the top-level container
of ESXi hosts, folders, clusters, resource pools, vSphere vApps, virtual machines, and so on.
Datastores are virtual representations of underlying physical storage resources. Datastores hide the
idiosyncrasies of the underlying physical storage and present a uniform model for the storage resources
required by virtual machines. A datastore is the storage location (for example, a physical disk or LUN on a
RAID, or a SAN) for virtual machine files.
For some resources, options, or hardware to be available to virtual machines, the host must have the
appropriate vSphere license. Licensing in vSphere is applicable to ESXi hosts, vCenter Server, and
solutions. Licensing can be based on different criteria, depending on the specifics of each product. For
details about vSphere licensing, see the vCenter Server and Host Management documentation.
Virtual Machine Lifecycle
You have many choices for creating and deploying virtual machines. You can create a single virtual
machine and install a guest operating system and VMware Tools on it. You can clone or create a template
from an existing virtual machine, or deploy OVF or OVA templates.
The vSphere Client New Virtual Machine wizard and the Edit Settings dialog let you add, configure, or
remove most of the virtual machine's hardware, options, and resources. You monitor CPU, memory, disk,
network, and storage metrics using the performance charts in the vSphere Client. Snapshots let you
capture the state of the virtual machine, including the virtual machine memory, settings, and virtual disks.
You can roll back to the previous virtual machine state when needed.
With vSphere vApps, you can manage multitiered applications. You use vSphere Update Manager to
perform orchestrated upgrades to upgrade the virtual hardware and VMware Tools of virtual machines in
the inventory at the same time.
When a virtual machine is no longer needed, you can remove it from the inventory without deleting it from
the datastore, or you can delete the virtual machine and all its files.
Virtual Machine Components
Virtual machines typically have an operating system, VMware Tools, and virtual resources and hardware.
You manage these components just like the components of a physical computer.
Operating System You install a guest operating system on a virtual machine just as you install
an operating system on a physical computer. You must have a CD/DVD-
ROM or ISO image containing the installation files from an operating
system vendor.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration
VMware, Inc. 9