John A. Davis, now an independent contractor and senior integration architect at MEJEER, LLC, became a VMware Certified Instructor (VCI) and VMware Certified Professional (VCP) in 2004. Since then, all of his work has focused on Vmwarebased technologies. He has experience in teaching official VMware curriculum in five countries and delivering VMware professional services throughout the United States. Recently, his work has involved designing and implementing solutions for hybrid clouds, cloud automation, disaster recovery, and virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). He has authored several white papers and co-authored VCP-DCV for vSphere 7.x Cert Guide, VCP6-DCV Cert Guide, and VCAP5-DCA Cert Guide (VMware Press). He holds several advanced certifications, including VCAP-DCV 2021, VCP-NV 202, and VCP-DTM 2020. He has been a vExpert since 2014. He is the author of the vLoreBlog.com and can be found on Twitter @johnnyadavis.  Steve Baca, VCAP, VCI, VCP, and NCDA, has been in the computer industry for more than 20 years. Originally a computer programmer and a system administrator working on Unix and Windows systems, he migrated over to technical training and wrote a course for Sun Microsystems. After teaching various courses for Sun, he eventually transitioned to VMware about 10 years ago, to do technical training. Currently he is a badged employee for VMware and lives in Omaha, Nebraska. He thoroughly enjoys teaching and writing and believes that the constant evolution of the computer industry requires continuously learning to stay ahead. Steve can be found on Twitter @scbaca1.

• Introduction xxviPart I: vSphere Architecture, Integration, and RequirementsChapter 1 vSphere Overview, Components, and Requirements 3“Do I Know This Already?” Quiz 3Foundation Topics 6vSphere Components and Editions 6vCenter Server Topology 10Infrastructure Requirements 13Other Requirements 23VMware Cloud vs. VMware Virtualization 26Exam Preparation Tasks 28Review All the Key Topics 28Complete Tables and Lists from Memory 28Define Key Terms 28Answer Review Questions 29Chapter 2 Storage Infrastructure 31“Do I Know This Already?” Quiz 31Foundation Topics 34Storage Models and Datastore Types 34vSAN Concepts 47vSphere Storage Integration 69Storage Multipathing and Failover 75Storage Policies 80Storage DRS (SDRS) 83Exam Preparation Tasks 87Review All Key Topics 87Complete Tables and Lists from Memory 87Define Key Terms 87Review Questions 88Chapter 3 Network Infrastructure 91“Do I Know This Already?” Quiz 91Foundation Topics 94Networking Terms and Concepts 94vSphere Standard Switch (vSS) 98vSphere Distributed Switch (vDS) 104vDS Settings and Features 112Other vSphere Networking Features 120Exam Preparation Tasks 127Review All Key Topics 127Complete Tables and Lists from Memory 127Define Key Terms 127Review Questions 128Chapter 4 Clusters and High Availability 131“Do I Know This Already?” Quiz 131Foundation Topics 134Cluster Concepts and Overview 134Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) 139vSphere High Availability (HA) 148Other Resource Management and Availability Features 156Exam Preparation Tasks 162Review All Key Topics 162Complete Tables and Lists from Memory 162Define Key Terms 162Review Questions 163Chapter 5 vCenter Server Features and Virtual Machines 167“Do I Know This Already?” Quiz 167Foundation Topics 171vCenter Server and vSphere 171Virtual Machine File Structure 178Virtual Machine Snapshots 180Virtual Machine Settings 185Virtual Machine Migration 190Virtual Machine Cloning 199Exam Preparation Tasks 202Review All Key Topics 202Complete Tables and Lists from Memory 202Define Key Terms 202Review Questions 203Chapter 6 VMware Product Integration 205“Do I Know This Already?” Quiz 205Foundation Topics 208vSphere Add-ons 208Aria Suite 216Desktop and Application Virtualization 222Replication and Disaster Recovery 224Private, Public, and Hybrid Clouds 227Networking and Security 232Exam Preparation Tasks 234Review All Key Topics 234Complete Tables and Lists from Memory 234Define Key Terms 234Review Questions 235Chapter 7 vSphere Security 237“Do I Know This Already?” Quiz 237Foundation Topics 240vSphere Certificates 240vSphere Permissions 246ESXi and vCenter Server Security 257vSphere Network Security 266Virtual Machine Security 269Available Add-on Security 279Exam Preparation Tasks 282Review All the Key Topics 282Complete Tables and Lists from Memory 282Define Key Terms 283Review Questions 283Part II: vSphere Installation/ConfigurationChapter 8 vSphere Installation 287“Do I Know This Already?” Quiz 287Foundation Topics 290Installing ESXi Hosts 290Deploying vCenter Server Components 301Configuring Single Sign-On (SSO) 309Initial vSphere Configuration 318Exam Preparation Tasks 327Review All the Key Topics 327Complete Tables and Lists from Memory 327Define Key Terms 327Review Questions 328Chapter 9 Configuring and Managing Virtual Networks 331“Do I Know This Already?” Quiz 331Foundation Topics 334vSphere Standard Switches (vSS) 334vSphere Distributed Switches (vDS) 338VMkernel Networking 342Managing Host Networking with vDS 354Exam Preparation Tasks 361Review All the Key Topics 361Complete Tables and Lists from Memory 361Define Key Terms 361Review Questions 362Part III: vSphere Management and OptimizationChapter 10 Managing and Monitoring Clusters and Resources 365“Do I Know This Already?” Quiz 365Foundation Topics 368Creating and Configuring a vSphere Cluster 368Creating and Configuring a vSphere DRS Cluster 372Creating and Configuring a vSphere HA Cluster 374Monitoring and Managing vSphere Resources 377vCenter Server Management 399Events, Alarms, and Automated Actions 400Logging in vSphere 405Exam Preparation Tasks 412Review All the Key Topics 412Complete Tables and Lists from Memory 412Define Key Terms 412Review Questions 413Chapter 11 Managing Storage 415“Do I Know This Already?” Quiz 415Foundation Topics 418Configuring and Managing vSAN 418Managing Datastores 441Storage DRS and SIOC 449iSCSI, iSER, NVMe, and PMem 454Multipathing, Storage Policies, and vVols 459Exam Preparation Tasks 468Review All the Key Topics 468Complete Tables and Lists from Memory 468Define Key Terms 468Review Questions 469Chapter 12 Managing vSphere Security 471“Do I Know This Already?” Quiz 471Foundation Topics 474Configuring and Managing Authentication and Authorization 474Configuring and Managing vSphere Certificates 479General ESXi Security Recommendations 483Configuring and Managing ESXi Security 494Additional Security Management 503Exam Preparation Tasks 510Review All the Key Topics 510Complete Tables and Lists from Memory 510Define Key Terms 510Review Questions 511Chapter 13 Managing vSphere and vCenter Server 515“Do I Know This Already?” Quiz 515Foundation Topics 518vCenter Server Backup 518Upgrading to vSphere 8.0 523Using vSphere Lifecycle Manager 532Managing ESXi Hosts 547Exam Preparation Tasks 569Review All the Key Topics 569Complete Tables and Lists from Memory 569Define Key Terms 570Review Questions 570Chapter 14 Managing Virtual Machines 573“Do I Know This Already?” Quiz 573Foundation Topics 576Creating and Configuring Virtual Machines 576Advanced Virtual Machine Management 598Content Libraries 604Exam Preparation Tasks 610Review All the Key Topics 610Complete Tables and Lists from Memory 610Define Key Terms 610Review Questions 611Chapter 15 Final Preparation 613Getting Ready 613Taking the Exam 614Appendix A Answers to the “Do I Know This Already?” Quizzes and ReviewQuestions 617Glossary 637  Online Elements:Appendix B Memory TablesAppendix C Memory Table AnswersAppendix D Study Planner  9780138169886, TOC, 10/11/2023