MCCCD Program Description

VMware vSphere: Optimize and Scale

Course: CIS198

First Term: 2016 Summer

Lec + Lab 3 Credit(s) 4 Period(s) 3.7 Load
Subject Type: Occupational
Load Formula: S- Standard

Description: VMware vSphere: Optimize and Scale is designed for experienced VMware vSphere users. It teaches advanced skills for configuring and maintaining a highly available and scalable virtual infrastructure. Through a mix of lecture and hands-on labs, you will configure and optimize the vSphere features that build a foundation for a truly scalable infrastructure and discuss when and where these features have the greatest effect. It enables you to understand vSphere at a deeper level and how to use advanced features and controls.

MCCCD Official Course Competencies
1. Harden the vSphere environment against security threats. (I) 2. Use VMware vSphere ESXi Shell and VMware vSphere Management Assistant to manage vSphere. (II) 3. Configure and manage ESXi networking and storage for a large and sophisticated enterprise. (III, IV) 4. Manage changes to the vSphere environment. (VI XI) 5. Optimize the performance of all vSphere components. (V,VII, VIII, IX, X) 6. Troubleshoot operational faults and identify their root causes. (V,VII, VIII, IX, X) 7. Use VMware vSphere Auto Deploy to provision ESXi hosts. (XI)
MCCCD Official Course Competencies must be coordinated with the content outline so that each major point in the outline serves one or more competencies. MCCCD faculty retains authority in determining the pedagogical approach, methodology, content sequencing, and assessment metrics for student work. Please see individual course syllabi for additional information, including specific course requirements.

MCCCD Official Course Outline
I. vSphere Security A. Describe the features and benefits of VMware Platform Services Controller B. Configure ESXi host access and authorization C. Secure ESXi, vCenter Server, and virtual machines D. Upgrade ESXi and vCenter Server instances II. VMware Management Resources A. Describe the purpose of VMware vSphere Command-Line Interface commands B. Discuss options for running vSphere Command Line Interface (CLI) commands C. Deploy and configure vSphere Management Assistant D. Use VMware-cmd for virtual machine operations III. Performance in a Virtualized Environment A. Review the vSphere performance troubleshooting methodology B. Explain software and hardware virtualization techniques and their effects on performance C. Use vSphere performance monitoring tools IV. Network Scalability A. Configure and manage vSphere distributed switches B. Migrate virtual machines from standard switches to distributed switches C. Explain distributed switch features such as port mirroring, Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP), Quality of Service (QoS) tagging, and NetFlow V. Network Optimization A. Explain the performance features of network adapters B. Explain the performance features of vSphere networking C. Monitor key network performance metrics D. Use vSphere Management Assistant to manage virtual network configurations E. Troubleshoot common network performance problems VI. Storage Scalability A. Explain vSphere storage APIs for array integration and storage awareness B. Configure and assign virtual machine storage policies C. Configure VMware vSphere Storage Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) and VMware vSphere Storage Input/Output (I/O) Control D. Create and use virtual volumes in vSphere VII. Storage Optimization A. Diagnose storage access problems B. Configure VMware vSphere Flash Read Cache C. Monitor key storage performance metrics D. Troubleshoot common storage performance problems VIII. CPU Optimization A. Explain the Central Processing Unit (CPU) scheduler operation, Non-uniform Memory Access (NUMA) support, and other features that affect CPU performance B. Monitor key CPU performance metrics C. Troubleshoot common CPU performance problems IX. Memory Optimization A. Explain ballooning, memory compression, and host swapping techniques for memory reclamation when memory is over committed B. Monitor key memory performance metrics C. Troubleshoot common memory performance problems X. Virtual Machine and Cluster Optimization A. Describe guidelines for optimizing virtual machine configuration B. Discuss how Graphic Processing Unit virtualization (vGPU) usage affects virtual machine performance C. Discuss guidelines for using resource allocation settings D. Discuss guidelines for using resource pools E. Discuss guidelines for using vSphere DRS clusters F. Troubleshoot common vSphere cluster problems XI. Host and Management Scalability A. Describe and use host profiles B. Define and use content libraries C. Use VMware vSphere PowerCLI D. Use Virtual Machine Converter E. Use VMware vSphere ESXi Image Builder CLI and vSphere Auto Deploy

MCCCD Governing Board Approval Date: May 17, 2016

All information published is subject to change without notice. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information presented, but based on the dynamic nature of the curricular process, course and program information is subject to change in order to reflect the most current information available.