Certified Virtualization Engineer

This 5 day fast paced, high energy, hands-on course provides not only the foundation needed for a top performing software defined datacenter, it also provides the latest in virtualization and cloud technologies which gives the engineer or administrator the knowledge and skills needed to design and manage the datacenter for tomorrow’s needs. This course will cover everything from design, installation, configuration, best practices, performance monitoring, and just about everything in between!

You will learn:

• Latest technologies in virtualization and cloud infrastructures
• Foundational concepts in virtualization and cloud technologies
• Designing your infrastructure for today and tomorrow
• How to install ESXi
• How to configure the virtual network with performance and security in mind
• How to configure storage with performance and security in mind
• How vCLI and PowerCLI can help do the job faster
• When to make use of advanced features such as DRS, DPM, Distributed Switches, Fault Tolerance and other key features
• How Multipathing to storage devices works and when it should be used
• How vMotion and SvMotion functions
• How to perform backups and what 3rd party tools work best
• How vVols can make a difference in your datacenter

Upon Completion Students Will:

• Have learned the pros, cons, best practices, and skills of virtualization.
• Be able to design, secure, deploy, and manage virtual machines.
• Be ready to sit for the C)VE exam.

Chapter 1 – Software Defined Datacenter

1. Overview of Virtualization
2. Overview of Public and Private Cloud
3. How it all fits together
a. Designing the Datacenter for today and tomorrow
b. Key technologies for a virtual and private cloud datacenter

Chapter 2 – Installing and Managing ESXi

1. Planning for the Installation

a. Installation Options
b. Auto Deploy

2. Installing ESXi (Hands On Lab (HOL))

a. Using the DCUI (HOL)
b. ESXi Configuration Settings (HOL)

i. Hostname Resolution (HOL)
ii. NTP (HOL)
iii. IP Address (HOL)
iv. Syslog (HOL)

3. Accessing ESXi

a. vSphere Client (HOL)

i. !! THE NEW ONE !!
ii. Configuration Settings

b. Management User Interface (MUI) (HOL)
c. SSH Access (HOL)

4. Managing ESXi

a. esxcli and its many uses
b. Controlling User Access (HOL)
c. Active Directory Integration (HOL)
d. Managing the Firewall (HOL)
e. Troubleshooting

Chapter 3 – Installing and Managing vCenter

1. vSphere/vCloud Licensing
2. vCenter Requirements

a. Minimum Specifications
b. Database Requirements

3. vCenter Architecture
4. Planning vCenter Installation (HOL)

a. Embedded Platform Services Controller
b. External Platform Services Controller

5. vCenter Single Sign-On (HOL)
6. vSphere Web Client (HOL)
7. Certificate Authority (HOL)

a. Certificate Store

8. vCenter Overview of Capabilities (HOL)

a. Inventories

i. Inventory Lists
ii. Hosts and Clusters
iii. VMs and Templates

1. VM Templates in Folders

iv. Storage
v. Networking
vi. Hybrid Cloud
vii. vCenter Orchestrator

b. Monitoring

i. Task Console
ii. Event Console
iii. vCenter Operations Manager
iv. Host Profiles
v. VM Storage Policies
vi. Customization Specification Manager
vii. VM Placement Policies

c. Administration

i. Roles
ii. System Configuration
iii. Licensing

d. Policies and Profiles
e. Virtual Datacenters
f. Content Libraries

9. Managing vCenter related to general tasks (HOL)
10. Troubleshooting vCenter Server and Database
11. vCenter Appliance (HOL)

a. Migrating to the vCenter Appliance
b. Requirements
c. New Features

Chapter 4 – Configuring and Managing a vSwitch

1. Virtual Switch Types, Connections and Identification
2. Physical NIC configuration
3. vSwitch Features (HOL)

a. Port Types (HOL)
b. Cisco Discovery Protocol
c. VLAN’s (HOL)
d. Security Settings (HOL)
e. Traffic Shaping
f. NIC Teaming (HOL)
g. Load Balancing Best Practices

4. Physical Switch Configuration
5. Using the CLI to create and manage vSwitches (HOL)

Chapter 5 – Configuring and Managing Storage

1. Storage Overview

a. iSCSI, Fiber Channel and NAS

2. vStorage API’s
3. Storage Multipathing (HOL)
4. Storage Configuration

a. iSCSI, FC and NAS (HOL)

5. Monitoring Storage (HOL)
6. Storage CLI Commands (HOL)
7. Troubleshooting Software iSCSI
8. Virtual Machine File System (HOL)
9. vVols
10. Raw Device Mapping (HOL)
11. Solid State Disks
12. Storage Views (HOL)

Chapter 6 – Configuring and Managing Virtual Machines

1. Overview of VM Hardware

a. VMware® Tools (HOL)

2. Creating a VM (HOL)
3. Clones (HOL)
4. Templates (HOL)
5. Virtual Appliances (HOL)
6. VMware® Converter (HOL)
7. Managing the VM (HOL)
8. Snapshots (HOL)
9. Troubleshooting the VM

Chapter 7 – Configuring and Managing Distributed Switches

1. DvSwitch Design Concepts
2. Physical Switch Configuration
3. DvSwitch Features

a. Standard features (HOL)

i. Port Types
ii. Port Groups (HOL)

1. Port Binding

iii. Discovery Protocols (HOL)
iv. VLAN’s (HOL)
v. Security Settings (HOL)
vi. Traffic Shaping
vii. NIC Teaming (HOL)
viii. Load Balancing

b. Advanced features

i. Network I/O Control (HOL)
ii. Port Mirroring
iii. NetFlow
iv. LACP Support
v. Private VLANs (HOL)
vi. Traffic Filtering and Tagging (HOL)

c. Uplink Settings

4. Migrating from vSwitch’s to a DvSwitch (HOL)
5. Using the CLI to create and manage a DvSwitch

Chapter 8 – vSphere Management

1. vMotion (HOL)
2. Storage vMotion (HOL)
3. vCenter Host Cluster (HOL)

a. Covers all Cluster Features

4. Distributed Resource Scheduler (HOL)
5. Using vApps (HOL)

Chapter 9 – Backup and Disaster Recovery Implementation and Management

1. High Availability (HOL)

a. Fault Domain Manager

2. Virtual Machine Fault Tolerance
3. Microsoft Clustering

a. How it works
b. Its uses in a vSphere Infrastructure

4. Backup Solutions

a. vSphere Data Protection (HOL)
b. Third Party Solutions

5. Disaster Recovery Solutions

a. vCenter Site Recovery Manager
b. Third Party Solutions

Chapter 10 – vSphere Upgrading and Patch Management

1. Why do we worry about patching and upgrading?
2. Patching the ESXi host (HOL)

a. Stand Alone
b. Using Update Manager (HOL)

3. Patching Virtual Appliances
4. Patching Virtual Machines
5. Planning the Upgrade
6. Performing the Upgrade

Chapter 11 – vSphere Monitoring and Performance (Availability Constraints)

1. Configuring ESXi resources for best performance (HOL)

a. Understanding the resources such as CPU, Memory and Disk

2. Configuring the VM for best performance (HOL)
3. Monitoring the vSphere and vCloud Infrastructure (HOL)

a. vCenter Performance Tab (HOL)
b. esxtop (HOL)

4. Configuring Alarms (HOL)
5. Using Resource Pools properly (HOL)
6. Troubleshooting performance issues
7. vSphere Logs (HOL)

Chapter 12 – vSphere Native Security for Admins

1. ESXi Native Controls

a. Active Directory Integration (HOL)
b. Managing the Firewall (HOL)
c. Logging
d. Lock Down Mode
e. Acceptance Level

2. vCenter Native Controls

a. Encrypted vMotion

3. VM Native Controls

a. Security out of the Box

• Network+ Certification or Equivalent Knowledge
• Two Years’ Experience with Microsoft or Linux Servers
• Basic Virtualization/Cloud Knowledge

• Virtualization and Cloud Administrators and Engineers
• Virtualization and Cloud Security Engineers
• Systems Administrators and Engineers