A few days ago VMware released a nice vCenter Server Appliance 6.0 Reference Poster. I wanted to share this with our readers as it is a very good initiative from a fellow blogger Emad Younis who now is working for VMware. The poster gathers all the useful information for VCSA 6.0 into a single poster. In the past, VMware released other PDF posters where some of them are referenced in my Free Tools page.
The vCenter Server Appliance 6.0 reference poster has several sections in it and allows VMware users to be oriented towards the correct (supported) deployment architecture. Things have changed in the past for VCSA or vCenter server. Different topologies were recommended, and then got outdated, between 5.x and 5.5, and then between 5.5 and 6.0. So having the latest updated info in a single place is a must!
The poster has sections (most of them) where the links are clickable so you can go directly to get more info, where you need to, via an external link There are twelve sections in total. Here are some of the most important sections:
- Hardware Requirements
- Storage Requirements
- vSphere 6.0 SSO domain configuration maximums
- Command line interface
- Migration from deprecated to recommended topology
- Firewall requirements
- General information (Install types…)
- Services
- Logs locations (/var/log/vmware…)
- Knowledge base articles
- All Recommended topologies
vCenter Server Appliance 6.0 Reference Poster – Free Download
And here is a quote from VMware blog post article:
Firewall Requirements: the bottom section provides a grouping of ports needed between:
- PSC to PSC
- PSC to vCenter Server
- vCenter Server to vCenter Server
Migration from Deprecated to Recommended Topology: The left side of this section displays deprecated topologies. A deprecated topology is supported in vSphere 6.0 but will not be in the next vSphere release. The high-level steps are provided to get you from deprecated to recommended topology.
Command Line Interface: A few commands on both the appliance and bash shells to get you started.
Knowledge Base (KB) Articles: Featuring twenty of the most commonly referenced KB articles relating to vSphere 6.0. The KB titles are each interactive clickable links, while the header takes you directly to the main KB site. Concerning deployment, upgrades, but also references a configuration maximums, storage, firewall requirement as well as some important KB articles.
VCSA was always behind in terms of Windows based vCenter server. It seems that it was developed with a “Team B” only. As a result, most of the time clients were deploying Windows-based vCenter server as the VCSA did not have all features baked in. Some versions could not scale enough, or there wasn't vSphere Update manager (VUM).
But, with the latest 6.0 release, the vPostgres DB which was part of the release, baked in, satisfy small and medium customers without the need of setting up external SQL and paying additional $$$ to Microsoft….But things are changing. Surely VCSA is getting better in every release of vSphere.
Things are changing. Surely VCSA is getting better in every release of vSphere. Surely new tools coming in will be awesome. (look at some of those Flings) and once all featured (including VUM) integrated into the VCSA (currently, VUM needs Windows system), we should see more installation VCSA based without the need of Windows Server. Good times ahead!
The poster is available for download at the bottom of the source blog post. Get your copy!
Source: VMware Blog
