What is the rationale behind utilizing virtual machines instead of original hardware?

Answer: Purchasing additional pieces of hardware such as computer systems shoots up

the budget of a company. Buying a new unit also necessitates allocating funds separately
for their maintenance. Virtualization address these needs by providing reliable solutions
to companies. Among other things, it reduces the requirement to invest in additional units
by splitting up a physical server into multiple servers.

Q. 3 – Is there any specific requirement for running ESXi in the BIOS of the server?

Answer: Yes, one needs to activate the NX/XD bit in order to ensure the smooth installation
of the software programs that are necessary to run ESXi in the server.

Q. 4 – Can the .nvram be recovered after accidental deletion from a virtual machine?

Answer: .nvram helps a virtual machine to store its BIOS component. If it gets deleted for
some reason, it can be again recovered after powering on the virtual machine using a
battery.

Q. 5 – What are the four core elements of VMkernel networking layer?

Answer: VMkernel networking are the constructs that are tailor-made to facilitate vSphere
to interact with the outside world. Its four core elements include the following:

 Virtual SAN
 Fault Tolerance
 Science storage
 vMotion

Q. 6 – What ports are needed if an administrator wants to connect vSphere net

consumer with ESXi directly?

Answer: It may be necessary to use multiple ports for connecting vSphere net consumer
with ESXi. These include 443 TCP, 902 TCP and UDP, and 903 TCP ports. An administrator
and open these ports for operation from security profile.

Q. 7 – What valid identity supply is necessary for the configuration of vCenter SSO?

Answer: It is important to ensure the supply of a valid identity for configuring vCenter SSO
without any issue. The valid identity supply necessary for the configuration of vCenter SSO
is OpenLDAP.
Q. 8 – How does vCenter differ from vSphere?

Answer: vCenter is installed on a server that either runs on UNIX or Windows. This can
either be a desktop or a laptop. On the other hand, vSphere is an application management
system that can be managed in a centralized manner. It controls virtual machines
centrally.

Q. 9 – What is Vlockstep Technology?

Answer: It is a technology that is used to transfer data from a primary virtual machine to a
secondary virtual machine. The data includes events, movements, and inputs. The
technology helps capture these elements on a primary server and sends them to the
secondary server.

Q. 10 – What is FT Logging?

Answer: FT Logging stands for Fault Tolerance Logging. At the time of the configuration of
FT, two ESXi hosts interact or communicate with one another. This communication is
called FT logging.

Q. 11 – Does FT work if the vCenter server goes down?

Answer: Yes, FT can work even as vCenter goes down. All a user needs to do is run fault
tolerance (FT) on a virtual server. One of the downsides of vCenter going down is that it
leads to a failover between primary and secondary machines.

What Are The Different Kinds of Virtualization?

Answer: VMware manages different kinds of virtualization that used for the different
purpose in the industry. Below are the kinds of virtualization that offer VMware:

1. Server Virtualization
2. Network Virtualization
3. Application Virtualization
4. Presentation Virtualization
5. Storage Virtualization
What is Server Virtualization?

Answer: It allows the different operating system to run on a single server that highly
efficient for the virtual machine. It provides ideal benefits to the industry.

 It improves the efficiency of IT business operation

 It minimizes the cost of operation
 It is suitable for quick workload deployment
 It is better to improve the performance of the application
 It reduces server damage and complexity

What is Network Virtualization?

Answer: It lets application to run on a virtual server if application runs on the physical
network. It gives greater operational benefit to the industry. This one is used for different
purposes like:

 Running protocol analyzer

 Logical Ports
 Switches
 Load Balancer
 VPNs
 Firewalls and others

Q. 16 – What is Application Virtualization?

Answer: Application runs on the host and installed in different forms. This could be
accomplished by application streaming, VDI, or desktop virtualization. It is suitable for
increasing mobility of different applications and permits migration of VM from the host. It
minimizes downtimes of application.

Q. 17 – What is Presentation Virtualization?

Answer: From this virtualization, ICA protocol and Microsoft terminal services are
developed. Any application can run on the host and allows the client to view in the screen
and gains details of running the place.

Q. 18 – What is Storage Virtualization?

Answer: The disk storage of data is combined and maintained by the virtual storage
system. It offers abstraction layer that ideal for physical storage to maintain and optimize
in virtual deployment.
Q. 19 – What Are The Solutions Offered by VMware?

Answer: VMware is considered to be the best standard for virtualization. It provides the
widest range of solution that better for the business to improve the growth in a simple
way. Here are the popular solution offered by VMware like

(i) VMware Vcenter Site Recovery Manager:

This is very useful to keep the system running in case any failure occurs in hardware
components. Whether the physical server is damaged, all the data and files automatically
shift to another server. It provides constant system availability and never minimizes
uptime when waiting for any resource to fix the issues in the crashed server.

(ii) VMware Vcenter Server:

The solution helps you to minimize a number of the physical server that business needs to
have. With the virtualization of different servers, this will reduce the need of service and
decrease storage space in server. It is better to lower the energy bill.

(iii) VMware Vcenter Lab Manager:

It lets anyone to test different things like system configuration, software, and updates
without compromising time and effort to change workstation.

(iv) VMware View:

It is a simple solution that maintains desktop workstation and also creates a workstation
virtual. Updates and software installations are handled at a single place. This will help you
to save and money. It is simply and easy to manage, support and provides complete
control of workstation.

Q. 20 – What is Hypervisor?

Answer: It acts as a virtualization layer that accommodates various operating systems to

share single hardware. Each and every operating system manages the physical
components like CPU, memory, storage and lot more. There are different kinds of
hypervisors such as
• Hosted hypervisor
• Bare metal hypervisor

Q. 21 – Define VMKernal and why is it important?

Answer: VMKernal acts as a virtualization interface between a Virtual Machine and the ESXi
host that is responsible for storing VMs. All the available resources of ESXi host such as
memory, CPU, storage, etc. are allocated to VMs by VMKernal. VMKernal is also responsible
for controlling special services like vMotion, Fault Tolerance, NFS, traffic management and
iSCSI. It is impossible for hosted VMs to communicate with ESXi server without the help of
VMKernel.
Q. 22 – What is VMware Fault Tolerance (FT) how many vCPUs can be used for a VM in
FT?

Answer: Fault Tolerance or FT is an important element of VMware vSphere. Its work is to

provide continuous availability for VMs at the time of an ESXi host failure. Fault Tolerance
is bandwidth intensive and requires 10GB NIC to configure it. FT is useful in creating a
complete copy of an entire VM, such as storage, compute and memory. In VMware vSphere
6.0 version, FT can support up to 4 vCPUs and 64 GB RAM/Memory.

Q. 23 – What is the difference between a clone and a template?

Answer: The copied version of a virtual machine is called a clone. If a VM is cloned, time is
saved when multiple VMs with the same configurations are required to be configured.
Whereas, the master copy of an image created from a VM is known as a template that can
be used to create numerous clones in the future. Once a VM is converted to a template, it
cannot be powered-on or edited.

Q. 24 – What is the purpose of VM Tools?

Answer: VMware Tools is a house of utilities that are aimed to enhance the Virtual
Machine’s performance of guest operating system and to improve Virtual Machone’s
management. Following issues are either improved or eliminated after installing VMware
Tools, which are-

 Low video resolution

 Incorrect display of network speed
 Inability to copy and paste and drag & drop files
 Synchronization of time in the guest operating system with the time on the
host, and more.

Q. 25 – What does VMware DRS mean?

Answer: Distributed Resource Scheduler or DRS is a tool that dynamically balances

available resources across various hosts with the help of Cluster or resource pool. VMware
DRS permits users to formulate the rules and policies that are going to fix the manner in
which VMs will be sharing the resources and how these resources are prioritized among
multiple VMs.

Q. 26 – What does VMware DPM mean?

Answer: Distributed Power Management or DPM of VMware DRS that is used to monitor
required resources in a cluster. At times when resources gets decreased due to low usage,
VMware DPM merges workloads and shut down the hosts that are unused, and when the
resources are increased, it automatically power on the unused hosts.
Q. 27 – What does VMware HA mean?

Answer: VMware HA or High Availability works on the host level and configured on the
Cluster. In case of any host level failure, a Cluster configured with HA will automatically
migrate and restart all the VMs running under any of the host to another hoat below the
identical Cluster. ALL ESX Server hosts in a cluster are monitored by VMware HA and they
also detect failures.

Q. 28 – If the vCenterserver goes down with a situation that it was pre-configured

with vSphere HA and DRS, so after power failure will HA and DRS perform their task?

Answer: vSphereHA is independent of vCenterserver for its operations because when HA is

configured, an agent is installed into each host who performs its part of function
independent of vCenterserver. In any case of host failure, HA does not use vMotion, as it
just starts VMs into another host.
Whereas, vSphere DRS is dependent on vCenterserver since it uses vMotion for its
activities of live migration of VMs between multiple hosts. So, if vCenterserver goes down,
then the vMotion would also stop working leading to DRS failure.

Q. 29 – What happens if vCenterserver is offline when a failover event occurs?

Answer: It is not necessary for vCenterserver to be online for Fault Tolerance (FT) to work
when FT is configured for a Virtual Machine. Failover would take place from the Primary to
the Secondary Virtual Machine, even when vCenterserver is offline. In addition to this,
spawning of a new Secondary Virtual Machine also take place in the absence of
vCenterserver.

Q. 30 – Define promiscuous mode in VMware?

Answer: Promiscuous mode in VMware is a security policy, which are describable at the
virtual switch or port group level. Use of promiscuous mode in a virtual machine, Service
Console or VMKernel network interface in a port group helps it to see all network traffic
traversing the virtual switch. If the promiscuous mode is set to reject, the packets are sent
to the intended port so that the targeted virtual machine will only be able to see the
communication.

Q. 31 – Define VMware vMotion?

Answer: VMware VMotion helps in live migration of running virtual machines from one
physical server to another with zero downtime. The entire pool of resources is
automatically optimized and allocated by VMotion to get maximum hardware utilization
and to perform hardware maintenance function without any scheduled downtime. It
proactively migrate virtual machines away from failing or underperforming servers.
Q. 32 – How does VMware HA differ from vMotion?

Answer: When any of the hosts inside a cluster fails, then all the virtual machines running
under it are restarted on different host under the same cluster with the help of VMware
HA. For this migration of VMs to different host, VMware HA is completely dependent on
vMotion. So the only use of vMotion is to assist in the migration process between multiple
hosts. vMotion is laos capable enough to migrate any VM to any of the host inside the
cluster without interrupting its state.

Q. 33 – In a cluster of more than 3 hosts, can a person tell Fault Tolerance where to
put the Fault Tolerance virtual machine or does it chooses on its own?

Answer: A person can only place the original or the Primary virtual machine. He has full
control with DRS or vMotion to assign it to any node. When Secondary virtual machine is
created, it is placed automatically on the basis of the available hosts. But at the time of
creation and placement of Secondary VM, the person can vMotion it to the preferred host.

What does a snapshot mean?

Answer:A “point in time image” of a virtual operating system (VM) is known as snapshot.
This snapshot contains an image of the VMs disk, RAM, and devices at a time when they
were taken. With the help of this snapshot, a person can return the VM to that point in
time, whenever you choose. The snapshot functionality can be used for features, such as
performing image level backups of VMs without the need of shutting them down.

Q. 36 – Differentiate between VMware HA and FT?

Answer: The main difference between VMware HA and FT is that- VMware HA is enabled
per cluster and VMware FT is enabled per VM. In case of VMware HA, when a host failure
occurs, the VMs restarts and is powered on another host under the same cluster. Whereas,
in VMware there is no downtime since the second copy is activated automatically in case
of host failure.

Q. 37 – What are the three port groups that are configured in ESXi networking?

Answer: The three port groups that are configured in ESXi networking are as follows-

 Virtual Machine Port Group: This is used for Virtual Machine Network
 Service Console Port Group: This is used for Service Console
Communications
 VMKernel Port Group: This is used for VMotion, iSCSI, NFS Communications
Q. 38 – What are the main components of vCenterserver architecture?

Answer: vCenterserver architecture has three main components, which are as follows-

 vSphere Client and Web Client: Which is a user interface

 vCenter Server Database: SQL server or embedded PostgreSQL to store
inventory, security roles, resource pools, etc.
 SSO: Which is a security domain in a virtual environment

Q. 39 – How many disk types are there in VMware?

Answer: There are three types of disks in VMware that are as follows-
1.) Thick Provision Lazy Zeros: In this disk format, every virtual disk is created by default.
2.) Thick Provision Eager Zeros: This type of disk is used in VMware Fault Tolerance.
3.) Thin Provision: This disk type provides an on demand allocation of disk space to a VM.

Q. 40 – How many licensing options are there for vSphere 6.0?

Answer: vSphere 6.0 has three licensing options, which are explained below-
1.) Standard Edition: This license contains 1 vCenter Server Standard license, up to 2
vCPUs for FT, vMotion, Storage vMotion, HA, VVols, etc.
2.) Enterprise Edition: It is the same as Standard Edition license with only an additional
feature of APIs for Array Integration and Multipathing, DRS, and DPM.
3.) Enterprise Plus: This license includes all the features of Standard and Enterprise
Edition with only an additional feature of Fault Tolerance up to 4 vCPUs and 64 GB of RAM.
It also comprises of Distributed vSwitch and is the most expensive licensing option of
vSphere 6.0.

Q. 41 – What is VMware and what is its purpose?

Answer: VMware is a software service provider that specializes in providing services

relating to cloud computing and virtualization. As a part of its virtualization service, it
installs a physical server through which one can run several virtual machines without the
need for an additional server.

Q. 42 – What do you mean by a VMware server?

Answer: A VMware server can be considered as one of the products of virtualization that
divides a physical server into several virtual machines. It supports numerous software
programs and operating systems.
Q. 43 – Is VMware available on the cloud?

Answer: Yes, it is available on the cloud due to its advantages and high demand. It works
in conjunction with AWS to provide the important features of cloud services to its users.

Q. 44 – What are some undeniable advantages of virtualization?

Answer: Virtualization creates a win-win situation for a company in the following ways:

 It minimizes the cost of production by assuaging diminishing resources. If a

company has less than forty computer units for about 1000 staff members,
virtualization may be the only option to meet the challenge.
 It boosts production by preventing frequent breakdowns.
 It plays an important part in resolving the code licensing issues.
 It creates opportunities for additional economic operations.

Q. 45 – What are some ways in which ESXI proves to be a useful resource?

Answer: ESXI – a type-1 hypervisor developed by VMware manages virtual computers. Its
compatibility with numerous operating systems enables it to replace Service Console of
VMware infrastructure effortlessly and without any hassle.

Q. 46 – Define ESXi Shell?

Answer: ESXi Shell is a command-line interface which is mainly responsible for ruining
diagnostics and repairing of ESXi hosts. It can be accessed via SSH, vCenter Server
enable/disable and DCUI.

Q. 47 – What are the method of monitoring used in vSphere HA?

Answer: Two monitoring methods are used in vSphere HA

1. Datastore Heartbeat
2. Network Heartbeat

Q. 48 – Write the methods of convert a physical machine into a VM?

Answer: Basically 3 steps are essential for converting a physical machine to a VM:
• There should be an installed agent on the Physical machine.
• VI client should be installed along with Converter Plug-in
• A server should be there to export/import virtual machines
VMware Definition Interview Questions

Q. 49 – What do you mean by Template?

Answer: At the time of converting a VM into a format which is basically used for building a
VM with pre-defined settings is known as a template.

Q. 50 . What do you mean by alarms?

Answer: An alarm is a kind of notification which seems when any event happens. For
inventory objects, default alarms exit

Q. 51 – Why we use alarms?

Answer: We use alarms because it can be easily modified and created with the help if
Alarms can be created vSphere Web Client.

Q. 52 – Define share?

Answer: Share is a value which postulates the relative priority or requirement of a VM

access to the specified resource

Q. 53 – Define limit?

Answer: Consumption of a host physical memory or CPU cycle which is not able to cross
the defined value is known as Limit.

Q. 54 – What do you mean by reservation?

Answer: This value describes in the form of memory or CPU. Its presence is mandatory to
be available to start a VM.

Q. 55 – What are iSCSI naming conventions?

Answer: There are 2 ways of formatting iSCSI names which are mentioned below:

 Extended unique identifier (EUI)

 The iSCSI qualified name (IQN)
Q. 56 – Mention different types of server software do VMware provides?

Answer: VMware provides three different types of server software:

 VMware ESX Server

 VMware ESXi Server
 VMware Server

Q. 57 – What is the purpose of using Virtual Machine Port Group?

Answer: Virtual Machine port group helps for Virtual machine communication.

Q. 58 – What monitoring method is used in vSphere HA?

Answer:

 Data store Heartbeat

 Network Heartbeat

Q. 59 – What is the format of iSCSI addressing?

Answer: It uses TCP/IP to configure.

Q. 60 – How much Maximum RAM can support vSphere 6.0?

Answer: Upto 12TB of RAM.

11. You decided not to run the vCenter appliance.

What’s the minimum hardware requirements for a
vCenter 5.x/6.x server?
Answer: It depends on whether other vSphere services such as single sign-on,
inventory service, and the database will be running on the same hardware
with vCenter.
12. You’re going to upgrade vCenter, and the old
vCenter is running on Windows Server 2003. What
Windows Operating System is required for vCenter
5.x/6.x?
Answer: Windows 2008 SP2
13. You’re creating a list of ports you need the
network admin to open the firewall. What is port
902 used for on vCenter?
Answer: Port 902 is the default port vCenter uses to send data to hosts
managed by vCenter.
14. The old vCenter was running MS SQL Express, but
you are building 10 ESXi hosts. What’s the
difference between using MS SQL Server Express
and MS SQL Server for vCenter?
Answer: MS SQL Server Express is for vSphere installations with up to 5
ESXi hosts and 50 virtual servers.
15. Your new boss doesn’t like MS SQL and asked you
to use Oracle. Does vCenter support Oracle 11c or
12c?
Answer: Yes, but the JDBC driver must be installed manually.
17. VMware vSphere gives you options. What are the 4
typical ways storage can be added to a vSphere?
Answer: Storage can be added via iSCSI, FC, NFS and local disk (including
DAS).
18. When setting up a new datastore how many VMFS
file systems should be created per LUN?
Answer: The best practice is to only create 1 VMFS file system per LUN.
19. What is the best plan for a storage failure that
impacts multiple datastores?
Answer: Always have a backup of the VMs on a separate storage environment
that can be used to restore the lost virtual servers.
20. Your host is a beast, dual socket with 8 core CPUs
and 192 GB of memory. How many virtual servers
can be added to a 1TB datastore?
Answer: It depends on the size of the VMs and the performance of the
storage. Higher performing storage can be filled to capacity, but space should
be left for data growth and snapshots. A datastore should never be allowed to
fill up 100%.