Features in VMware vSphere 6
VMware is a leader in server virtualization. The competition has grown over the years but VMware is still the leader.
Here are some of the features and improvements in vSphere 6.
Long Distance vMotion: In vSphere 6 the network is extended and vMotion is completed over 100MS latency links or less requiring 250MB of bandwidth per vMotion. VMs can be vMotioned between vCenter servers and vMotion is completed without shared storage. ESXi 6 hypervisor can handle up to 64 physical hosts per cluster and support up to 480 CPUs, 12TB RAMs and 1000 VMs. Each VM can be run with up to 128 CPUs.
vSphere Web Client: The first version of the vSphere Web Client was very slow. They made some improvements in vSphere 5.5 to the Web client but it was not enough. In vSphere 6 there are more improvements to the Web client. One of these improvements is the client integration tools that allow to access VM console. They are now available for more platforms like Mac OS. Another improvement is the context menus when right click. They are better now.
vCenter Server Improvements: In previous versions you can run Linux vCenter server appliance and manage ESXi hosts but some advanced features are not available. In vSphere 6 the appliance handle all tasks that windows installation can so if you prefer not to manage windows server you can run vCenter.
Virtual Volumes: vSphere 6 has a new storage integration concept called Virtual Volumes. They are designed to offload storage operations to compatible arrays. Policies can be created and applied to VMs through vCenter. VMware now includes vSphere Data Protection with vSphere Essentials. In previous versions this was known as vSphere Data Protection. vSphere Data Protection (VDP) is a backup and recovery solution based on the EMC Avamar deduplication backup and recovery software. VDP is deployed as a virtual appliance and managed using vSphere Web Client. VDP can back up and restore entire virtual machines. There is no need to install and manage a backup agent for every virtual machine as VDP utilizes vSphere APIs for Data Protection (VADP). VDP can also perform file level restores using a web browser. Backup data storage consumption is minimized using the same variable length segment deduplication algorithm found in Avamar.
To learn more about virtualizing your company’s server environment or are looking for Managed IT Services in Toronto make sure you contact VMware Partners like System Architects.
