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Table Of Contents
Data center folders form a hierarchy directly under the root vCenter Server
and allow users to group their data centers. Within each data center is one
hierarchy of folders with virtual machines and templates, one with hosts
and clusters, one with datastores, and one with networks.
Hosts The physical computer on which ESXi is installed. All virtual machines run
on hosts or clusters.
Networks A set of virtual network interface cards (virtual NICs), distributed switches
or vSphere Distributed Switches, and port groups or distributed port groups
that connect virtual machines to each other or to the physical network
outside of the virtual data center. All virtual machines that connect to the
same port group belong to the same network in the virtual environment,
even if they are on different physical servers. You can monitor networks
and set permissions and alarms on port groups and distributed port groups.
Resource pools Resource pools are used to compartmentalize the CPU and memory
resources of a host or cluster. Virtual machines run in, and draw their
resources from, resource pools. You can create multiple resource pools as
direct children of a standalone host or cluster and then delegate control
over each resource pool to other individuals or organizations.
If DRS is enabled, vCenter Server provides various options for monitoring
the status of the resources and adjusting or suggesting adjustments to the
virtual machines using the resources. You can monitor resources and set
alarms on them.
Templates A template is a master copy of a virtual machine that can be used to create
and provision new virtual machines. Templates can have a guest operating
system and application software installed. They can be customized during
deployment to ensure that the new virtual machine has a unique name and
network settings.
Virtual machines A virtualized computer environment in which a guest operating system and
associated application software can run. Multiple virtual machines can
operate on the same managed host machine concurrently.
vApps vSphere vApp is a format for packaging and managing applications. A vApp
can contain multiple virtual machines.
Optional vCenter Server Components
Optional vCenter Server components are packaged and installed with the base product, but might require
a separate license.
vCenter Server and Host Management
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