6.5.1

The vSphere Web Client presents the organizational hierarchy of managed objects in inventory views.
Inventories are the hierarchal structure used by vCenter Server or the host to organize managed objects.
This hierarchy includes the monitored objects in vCenter Server.
In the vCenter Server hierarchy, a data center is the primary container of ESXi hosts, folders, clusters,
resource pools, vSphere vApps, virtual machines, and so on.
Datastores are virtual representations of underlying physical storage resources in the data center. A
datastore is the storage location (for example, a physical disk or LUN on a RAID, or a SAN) for virtual
machine files. Datastores hide the idiosyncrasies of the underlying physical storage and present a
uniform model for the storage resources required by virtual machines.
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 create and deploy virtual machines into your data center in several ways. 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 templates.
In the vSphere Web Client and the vSphere Client, you can use the New Virtual Machine wizards and the
Virtual Machine Properties editors to 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. But you can also choose to 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
that you manage in much the same way as you would manage a physical computer.
You install a guest operating system on a virtual machine the same way 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.
VMware Tools is a suite of utilities that enhances the performance of the virtual machine's guest operating
system and improves management of the virtual machine. With VMware Tools, you have more control
over the virtual machine interface.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration
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