6.5.1

With vSphere 6.0 and later, you can give your vSphere domain a unique name. To prevent authentication
conflicts, use a name that is not used by OpenLDAP, Microsoft Active Directory, and other directory
services.
Note You cannot change the domain to which a Platform Services Controller or vCenter Server instance
belongs.
If you are upgrading from vSphere 5.5, your vSphere domain name remains the default (vsphere.local).
For all versions of vSphere, you cannot change the name of a domain.
After you specify the name of your domain, you can add users and groups. It usually makes more sense
to add an Active Directory or LDAP identity source and allow the users and groups in that identity source
to authenticate. You can also add vCenter Server or Platform Services Controller instances, or other
VMware products, such as vRealize Operations, to the domain.
Platform Services Controller Sites
You can organize Platform Services Controller domains into logical sites. A site in the VMware Directory
Service is a logical container for grouping Platform Services Controller instances within a vCenter Single
Sign-On domain.
You are prompted for the site name when you install or upgrade a Platform Services Controller. See the
vSphere Installation and Setup documentation.
Deployment Topologies with External
Platform Services Controller Instances and High
Availability
To ensure Platform Services Controller high availability in external deployments, you must install or
deploy at least two joined Platform Services Controller instances in your vCenter Single Sign-On domain.
When you use a third-party load balancer, you can ensure an automatic failover without downtime.
Platform Services Controller with a Load Balancer
Figure 1‑6. Example of a Load Balanced Pair of Platform Services Controller Instances
Load Balancer
vCenter Server
Platform Services
Controller
Virtual Machine or
Physical Server
Virtual Machine or
Physical Server
vCenter Server
Platform Services
Controller
Virtual Machine or
Physical Server
Virtual Machine or
Physical Server
vSphere Installation and Setup
VMware, Inc. 18