New product releases are part of what makes being an administrator fun -- but they can also be a headache. In this guide, you'll find links on upgrading to VMware vSphere 4 that will:
- help you know for sure that upgrading right now is the right choice for your organization;
- outline the most important new changes and features in vSphere;
- provide an upgrade path from your current infrastructure, or assist you with a new installation;
- help you understand the new licensing levels; and
- provide valuable links to VMware's own vSphere resources.
I) Think Critically: Is vSphere Right For Your Organization?
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When you register, my team of editors will also send you alerts covering all areas of VMware, such as implementing VMware-related virtualization technologies for server consolidation, disaster recovery and backup strategies, management and performance, VM migration and more.
Cathleen A. Gagne, Senior Editorial Director
Should you
deploy VMware vSphere?By Scott Lowe for SearchVMware.com
Of course VMware wants you to upgrade to vSphere, but does it make sense for your business or organization? This article helps you evaluate the jump from both a business and a technical perspective.
Can
you afford vSphere?
By Eric Siebert for the SearchServerVirtualization Blog
VMware vSphere is a great release — if your hardware is supported and you have the money you may
need to pay for additional licensing and training. If you do, then by all means upgrade and check
out all the new features and functionality that is has to offer. If you don't, there are a few
issues you may want to seriously consider.
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Upgrading
to VMware vSphere: Five pros and five cons
By Eric Siebert for SearchVMware.com
Increased performance, scalability and new features top the list as to why you should upgrade to
vSphere, but proven product stability, third-party product and hardware compatibility are reasons
you may want to stay with VMware Infrastructure 3 for now.
II) Taking the Plunge: Upgrade How-Tos
Various methods
for upgrading to vSphere
By Jon Owings for SearchVMware.com
So you've made the commitment to take the plunge and upgrade your existing VMware infrastructure to
VMware vSphere. Here are the various options for doing so.
Upgrading
virtual machines for vSphere implementation
By Jason Kappel for SearchSystemsChannel.com
When implementing vSphere, it's essential that you upgrade VMware Tools and the virtual hardware as
well. Find out how you can do this manually or through the Upgrade Manager.
How to upgrade
to vSphere – and save cash in the process
By Rick Vanover for SearchVMware.com
When you upgrade to vSphere, surveying your current VMware Infrastructure 3 licensing structure and
service contracts can help you get the most bang for your buck out of newer server hardware and
vSphere licenses.
Upgrading
production servers to vSphere: When and why
By Eric Siebert for the Virtualization Pro blog
While some administrators indicated that they would be upgrading to vSphere immediately upon its
release, others said it'd be a year or more, with good cause.
VMware
vSphere upgrade path overview
By Sidney Smith for Virtualization with Sid Smith
There is no need to panic about upgrading to vSphere -- the upgrade path from ESX 2.x and 3.x is
very painless and fairly simple. A lot of you will remember all the issues you have had in the past
performing upgrades and scripting installs; VMware is quickly trying to make all of that a thing
from the past with new features available in vSphere.
FAQ:
VMware vSphere, ESX 4 and vCenter 4 installation
By the SearchSystemsChannel.com editors
In this Project FAQ, vSphere expert Jason Kappel answers frequently asked questions about
performing a fresh install instead of an upgrade and explains the step-by-step process for
installing vSphere, ESX 4 and vCenter 4.
III. Become a Know-It-All: Understanding Licensing and New Features
VMware
vSphere and vCenter licensing and pricing explained
By Alex Barrett for SearchServerVirtualization.com
In total, IT organizations can choose between six VMware vSphere editions, or bundles, and one free
product. The paid editions can be configured with a customer's choice of the full ESX hypervisor,
or the "light" ESXi. The free edition is available only with ESXi. Learn more about licensing and
pricing with this tutorial written by Alex Barrett, one of TechTarget's news directors.
Creating
a VMware vSphere guest OS: What's new
By Alex Barrett for SearchServerVirtualization.com
When you create a virtual machine in vSphere, you'll notice a number of changes and improvements to
the process. There are more OS options and more network adapter choices and you can create
thin-provisioned disks, for example. In this tip, you'll learn how the steps involved in creating a
new guest OS on a host VMware ESX server have changed, complete with screenshots.
Master's
guide to VMware Fault Tolerance
By Eric Siebert for the Virtualization Pro blog
VMware vSphere's new Fault Tolerance (FT) feature deserves its own guide if you really want to
understand it in detail. Here you'll find SearchVMware.com's articles on Fault Tolerance as well as
a lot otehr valuable information and illustrations.
VSphere
features explained: vStorage thin-provisioned disks and the Cisco Nexus vSwitch
By Gabrie van Zanten for the Virtualization Pro blog
Learn about two new vSphere features: vStorage thin-provisioned disks and the Cisco Nexus vSwitch.
VSphere features a great new feature called vStorage, which enables you to thin-provision your
disks in a few clicks. Cisco is the first to deliver a vSwitch that integrates with VMware vSphere.
This vSwitch will act just like a physical Cisco switch but with a number of features customized
for a virtual infrastructure.
IV. Knowledge is Power: The Best vSphere Resources from Around the Web
Every vSphere link you could ever need to get started with
vSphere
By Eric Siebert for vSphere-Land
Eric Siebert maintains a list of hundreds of vSphere links for the VMware administrator. While you
won't find summaries explaining what you'll find when you click on a certain link, the titles are
self-explanatory and organized by installation links, documentation links, important download
links, licensing links, hardware compatibility guide links, and release notes.
VMware's vSphere 4
product support page
By VMware, Inc.
Here you'll find all of VMware's best articles on vSphere 4 licensing, installation and
troubleshooting, including a "QuickStart Series" that outlines installation, configuration, using
vCenter Server to manage your virtual machines; setting up clusters; availability and load
balancing; and monitoring and backup.
VMware's vSphere 4 licensing troubleshooting guide
By VMware, Inc.
If your upgrade is going awry, VMware has provided a few links that explain how to obtain a new
product liense, modify licenses including upgrading, downgrading, combining and dividing licenses,
how to register or active licenses, how to assign license keys to vSphere 4, and how to locatey our
upgraded licenses from VMware Infrastructure 3 (VI3) to vSphere 4.
VMware KB Blog:
Let's get this vSphere party started right!
By "Knowledge Champion" for VMware KB Blog VMware isn't blind to the
fact that blogs are paramount in today's virtualization community. The VMware Knowledge Base (KB)
Blog published a blog with the vSphere launch that provides links to top KB articles, including
best practices for upgrades and installation, how to combine license keys on vSphere and more.
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Hannah Drake is the editor of SearchVMware.com, which she helped launch in 2007 while working on sister site SearchServerVirtualization.com. She has assigned and edited technical tips about virtualization and VMware since 2006. She spends her free time volunteering for animal rescue organizations, going hiking with her rescue pup Benji, staying active, reading novels and watching her favorite TV shows, currently Dexter and Grey's Anatomy. You can reach her at hdrake@techtarget.com. |
This was first published in January 2010