• Install and configure VMware ESXi 8 hosts.
• Deploy and manage vCenter Server.
• Create and manage virtual machines and templates.
• Configure vSphere networking and storage.
• Manage VM migrations using vMotion and Storage vMotion.
• Configure vSphere HA and DRS.
• Monitor and troubleshoot vSphere environments.
• Manage ESXi hosts and virtual infrastructure using vSphere Lifecycle Manager.

Course Introduction

• Introduction and course logistics
• Course objectives

vSphere and Virtualization Overview

• Explain basic virtualization concepts
• Describe how vSphere fits in the software-defined data center
  and the cloud infrastructure
• Recognize the user interfaces for accessing vSphere
• Explain how vSphere interacts with CPUs, memory,
  networks, storage, and GPUs

Installing and Configuring ESXi

• Install an ESXi host
• Recognize ESXi user account best practices
• Configure the ESXi host settings using the DCUI and
  VMware Host Client

Deploying and Configuring vCenter

• Recognize ESXi hosts communication with vCenter
• Deploy vCenter Server Appliance
• Configure vCenter settings
• Use the vSphere client to add and manage license keys

Configuring vSphere Networking

• Configure and view standard switch configurations
• Configure and view distributed switch configurations

Configuring vSphere Storage

• Recognize vSphere storage technologies
• Identify types of vSphere datastores
• Describe fibre channel components and addressing
• Describe iSCSI components and addressing

Deploying Virtual Machines

• Create and provision VMs
• Explain the importance of VMware tools
• Identify the files that make up a VM
• Recognize the components of a VM
• Navigate the vSphere Client and examine VM settings and
  options
• Modify VMs by dynamically increasing resources
• Create VM templates and deploy VMs from them

Configuring vSphere Networking

• Configure and view standard switch configurations
  Configure and view distributed switch configurations
• Recognize the difference between standard switches and
  distributed switches
• Explain how to set networking policies on standard and
  distributed switches

Configuring vSphere Storage

• Recognize vSphere storage technologies
• Identify types of vSphere datastores
• Describe fibre channel components and addressing
• Describe iSCSI components and addressing
• Configure iSCSI storage on ESXi
• Create and manage VMFS datastores
• Configure and manage NFS datastores

Deploying Virtual Machines

• Create and provision VMs
• Explain the importance of VMware tools
• Identify the files that make up a VM
• Recognize the components of a VM
• Navigate the vSphere Client and examine VM settings and
  options
• Modify VMs by dynamically increasing resources
• Create VM templates and deploy VMs from them
• Clone VMs
• Create customization specifications for guest operating
  systems
• Create local, published, and subscribed content libraries
• Deploy VMs from content libraries
• Manage multiple versions of VM templates in content
  libraries

Managing Virtual Machines

• Recognize the types of VM migrations that can be performed within a vCenter instance and across vCenter instances.
• Migrate VMs using vSphere vMotion.
• Describe the role of Enhanced vMotion Compatibility (EVC) in migrations.
• Migrate VMs using vSphere Storage vMotion.
• Take snapshots of VMs.
• Manage, consolidate, and delete snapshots.
• Describe CPU and memory concepts in a virtualized environment.
• Describe how VMs compete for resources.
• Define CPU and memory shares, reservations, and limits.

Deploying and Configuring vSphere Clusters

• Create a vSphere cluster enabled for vSphere DRS and vSphere High Availability (HA).
• View information about a vSphere cluster.
• Explain how vSphere DRS determines VM placement on hosts in the cluster.
• Recognize use cases for various vSphere DRS settings.
• Monitor a vSphere DRS cluster.
• Describe how vSphere HA responds to various types of failures.
• Identify options for configuring network redundancy in a vSphere HA cluster.
• Recognize vSphere HA design considerations.
• Recognize use cases for various vSphere HA settings.
• Configure a vSphere HA cluster.
• Recognize when to use vSphere Fault Tolerance (FT).

Managing the vSphere Lifecycle

• Enable vSphere Lifecycle Manager in a vSphere cluster.
• Describe the features of vCenter Update Planner.
• Run vCenter upgrade prechecks and interoperability reports.
• Recognize the features of vSphere Lifecycle Manager.
• Distinguish between managing hosts using baselines and managing hosts using images.
• Describe how to update hosts using baselines.
• Describe ESXi images.
• Validate ESXi host compliance against a cluster image and update ESXi hosts.
• Update ESXi hosts using vSphere Lifecycle Manager.
• Describe vSphere Lifecycle Manager automatic recommendations.
• Use vSphere Lifecycle Manager to upgrade VMware Tools and VM hardware.

5 days

• Installing and configuring ESXi 8.
• Deploying vCenter Server.
• Creating and configuring virtual machines.
• Setting up virtual switches and port groups.
• Configuring VMFS and NFS storage.
• Working with templates, clones, and content libraries.
• Performing vMotion and Storage vMotion.
• Configuring and testing vSphere HA.
• Configuring DRS and resource pools.
• Managing lifecycle updates.
• Monitoring and troubleshooting vSphere environments.

• Certification: VMware Certified Professional – Data Center Virtualization (VCP-DCV)
• Exam: Professional VMware vSphere 8.x
• Exam Code: 2V0-21.23
• Questions: 70
• Duration: 135 minutes
• Format: Single- and multiple-choice questions
• Delivery: Proctored examination

• System Administrators
• System Engineers
• VMware Administrators
• Virtualization Administrators
• Infrastructure Engineers
• Data Center Professionals
• Cloud and Infrastructure Professionals
• IT professionals preparing for VCP-DCV

• Basic knowledge of x86 architecture and operating systems.
• Familiarity with networking and storage concepts is recommended.
• System administration experience is helpful.
• Previous vSphere experience is beneficial, but not mandatory for learners with suitable IT infrastructure knowledge.