VMware is a leading provider of virtualization software, with products like VMware vSphere at the core of many enterprise data centers. As such, knowledge of VMware and its products is in high demand among IT professionals. If you are preparing for an interview, these VMware interview questions and answers will help you to familiarize yourself with a wide range of topics related to VMware vSphere.
In this article, we’ll provide a list of 50 VMware interview questions and answers that you might encounter in a VMware interview in 2023, with a focus on VMware vSphere 8 and its configuration maximums.
If you’re interested in vSphere certification, check out this Clear and Simple vSphere 8 Professional – VMware VCP DCV course, it will help you pass the exam.
Top 50 VMware Interview Questions and Answers of 2023
The followings are the top 50 VMware interview questions and answers that can help you to crack the interview:
1. What is VMware vSphere?
VMware vSphere is a virtualization platform that allows you to run multiple virtual machines (VMs) on a single physical server. It provides several features, including the ability to create and manage virtual machines, allocate resources to virtual machines, and perform live migrations of virtual machines.
2. What are the main components of VMware vSphere?
The main components of VMware vSphere are the ESXi hypervisor, vCenter Server, and vSphere Client.
ESXi: The ESXi hypervisor is a lightweight operating system that runs on physical servers and enables the creation and management of virtual machines.
vCenter Server: vCenter Server is a central management platform that allows you to manage multiple ESXi hosts and virtual machines from a single interface.
vSphere Client: The vSphere Client is a graphical user interface (GUI) that allows you to connect to the vCenter Server and manage your VMware vSphere environment.
3. What is a virtual machine?
A virtual machine (VM) is a software-based simulation of a physical computer. It allows you to run multiple operating systems and applications on a single physical server as if each operating system and application were running on its physical machine.
4. What are the different types of virtualization?
There are several different types of virtualization, including:
Server Virtualization
Server virtualization involves creating virtual machines on a single physical server, allowing multiple operating systems and applications to run on the same hardware.
Desktop Virtualization
This type of virtualization involves creating virtual desktops that users can access remotely, allowing them to work from anywhere and on any device.
Network Virtualization
Network virtualization involves creating virtual networks that can be used to segment traffic, isolate applications, and simplify network management.
Storage Virtualization
Storage virtualization involves creating virtual storage devices that can be used to pool and manage physical storage resources.
Application Virtualization
This type of virtualization involves creating virtual versions of applications that can be run on any device, without the need for installation.
5. How many types of hypervisors are used?
There are several different types of hypervisors, including:
Type 1 (native or bare-metal) hypervisors: These hypervisors run directly on the physical hardware, allowing multiple operating systems to be installed and run on the same physical server. Examples of Type 1 hypervisors include VMware ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V, and Xen.
Type 2 (hosted) hypervisors: These hypervisors run on top of a host operating system, allowing multiple virtual machines to be created and run on the same physical server. Examples of Type 2 hypervisors include VMware Workstation, Oracle VirtualBox, and Parallels Desktop.
There could be two other hypervisors:
Container-based hypervisors: These hypervisors use container technology to allow multiple applications to be run on the same physical server, while still providing isolation between the applications. Examples of container-based hypervisors include Docker and Kubernetes.
Cloud hypervisors: These hypervisors are used to create and manage virtual machines in a cloud computing environment. Examples of cloud hypervisors include Amazon EC2, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Compute.
6. What is the purpose of the VMware vCenter Server?
vCenter Server is the central management platform for VMware vSphere. It allows you to manage multiple ESXi hosts and VMs from a single interface and provides several features such as clustering, resource pooling, monitoring, and automation.
7. What is the difference between vSphere and vCenter Server?
vSphere is a virtualization platform that allows you to run multiple virtual machines on a single physical server, while vCenter Server is the central management platform for VMware vSphere. vSphere provides the underlying virtualization infrastructure, while vCenter Server provides a centralized interface for managing and configuring vSphere environments.
8. What is VMware vCenter Enhanced Linked Mode and How Does It Work?
VMware vCenter Enhanced Linked Mode is a feature of VMware vCenter that allows you to manage multiple vCenter Servers and their associated vSphere environments from a single interface. With Enhanced Linked Mode, you can view and manage all of your vSphere environments as if they were a single entity, making it easier to perform tasks such as migrating VMs or managing resources across multiple environments.
To use Enhanced Linked Mode, you must have at least two vCenter Servers that are connected to the same single sign-on (SSO) domain. Once connected, you can use the vCenter Client to access and manage all of the vCenter Servers and their associated vSphere environments from a single interface.
Enhanced Linked Mode also allows you to view and manage the inventory and resources of multiple vCenter Servers from a single location, making it easier to perform tasks such as:
- Migrating VMs between vCenter Servers
- Viewing and managing resource utilization across multiple vSphere environments
- Creating and managing alarms and events for multiple vCenter Servers
- Performing searches across multiple vCenter Servers
Overall, Enhanced Linked Mode can be a useful feature for simplifying the management of large and complex vSphere environments.
9. What is a virtual machine template?
A virtual machine template is a pre-configured virtual machine that can be used as a starting point for creating new VMs. Templates can save time and reduce errors by providing a consistent base configuration for new VMs.
10. Why are virtual machines used instead of the original hardware in some cases?
There are several reasons why virtual machines are used instead of the original hardware in some cases:
Cost savings
Virtualization can help reduce hardware costs by allowing multiple VMs to run on a single physical server, reducing the need for multiple physical servers.
Resource utilization
Virtualization can help improve resource utilization by allowing multiple VMs to share the same hardware resources, resulting in more efficient use of hardware resources.
Flexibility
Virtualization allows VMs to be easily created, deleted, or moved between physical servers, making it easier to scale up or down as needed.
Compatibility
Virtualization allows VMs to run on different hardware platforms, making it easier to run applications that may not be compatible with a specific hardware configuration.
Disaster recovery
Virtualization can help with disaster recovery by allowing VMs to be quickly restored or moved to a different location in the event of a hardware failure.
Also Read: Virtuozzo Cloud Platform for VMware Cloud Infrastructure
11. What is a resource pool?
A resource pool is a logical grouping of resources, such as CPU, memory, and storage, that can be allocated to virtual machines. Resource pools allow you to allocate resources to VMs flexibly and granularly, and can be used to prioritize resources for different VMs or workloads.
12. What is a vApp?
A vApp is a container that can hold one or more virtual machines and associated resources, such as networks and storage. vApps allow you to package and deploy complex application environments as a single entity, making it easier to manage and migrate them between environments.
13. What is VMware vMotion?
VMware vMotion is a feature of VMware vSphere that allows you to perform live migrations of running virtual machines from one physical host to another without any downtime. This can be useful for maintenance or load balancing purposes, as it allows you to move VMs to different hosts without disrupting the service they provide.
14. What is VMware DRS?
VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) is a feature of VMware vSphere that automates the placement and allocation of resources to VMs based on predefined rules. DRS can help ensure that VMs receive the resources they need to function optimally, and can also help balance workloads across multiple hosts to improve resource utilization.
15. What is VMware HA?
VMware High Availability (HA) is a feature of VMware vSphere that provides automatic failover protection for virtual machines. If a host fails, HA will automatically restart the affected VMs on other hosts in the cluster, minimizing downtime and ensuring that your applications remain available.
16. What is a Cluster in VMware vSphere?
A cluster in VMware vSphere is a group of hosts that are managed as a single entity. Clusters allow you to pool resources and provide high availability and load balancing for VMs.
17. What is a Host in VMware vSphere?
A host in VMware vSphere is a physical server that is running the ESXi hypervisor and is managed by the vCenter Server. Hosts provide the physical resources (such as CPU, memory, and storage) that are used by the VMs running on them.
18. What is a datastore in VMware vSphere?
A datastore in VMware vSphere is a logical container that stores virtual machine files and other data. Datastores can be located on local storage, shared storage, or external storage, and can be used to store virtual machine disks, templates, and other files.
19. Explain iSCSI storage
iSCSI (Internet Small Computer System Interface) is a storage protocol that allows a computer to access and manage storage devices over a network. iSCSI uses standard Ethernet networks and TCP/IP protocols to transmit data between the computer and the storage device, making it easy to connect and use storage devices over a network.
iSCSI is often used to create shared storage environments, such as storage area networks (SANs), where multiple computers can access and use the same storage devices. iSCSI can also be used to connect storage devices to virtualization environments, allowing VMs to access shared storage resources over a network.
One of the key advantages of iSCSI is that it allows storage devices to be accessed and managed over a network, making it easy to connect and use storage resources remotely.
20. Explain NFS and VMFS
NFS
NFS (Network File System) is a network file system protocol that allows a computer to access files over a network. NFS allows a client to mount a remote file system and access it as if it were a local file system, making it easy to share files between computers. NFS supports file locking, which allows multiple clients to access and modify files simultaneously and can scale to larger storage configurations.
VMFS
VMFS (Virtual Machine File System) is a proprietary file system used by VMware to store virtual machine files and other data in a vSphere environment. VMFS allows multiple ESXi hosts to access and share the same datastore and supports file locking at the block level, which allows multiple VMs to access and modify files simultaneously. VMFS is generally faster than NFS due to its block-level locking and other design features but is limited to a maximum of 64 TB per datastore.
21. What are the cold and hot migrations?
old migrations and hot migrations refer to the process of moving a virtual machine (VM) from one physical host to another. The main difference between the two is whether the VM is powered off or left running during the migration process.
Cold migration: A cold migration involves powering off the VM and then moving it to a new physical host. Cold migrations are typically used for maintenance tasks or when there is no need to keep the VM running during the migration process. Cold migrations can be performed using vSphere features such as vMotion or Storage vMotion.
Hot migration: A hot migration involves moving a VM to a new physical host while it is still running. Hot migrations are typically used to move VMs between hosts in a cluster or to perform load balancing and can be performed using vSphere features such as DRS or vSphere HA. Hot migrations can be disruptive to the VM, as there may be a brief period of downtime during the migration process.
22. What is a Virtual Switch in VMware vSphere?
A virtual switch in VMware vSphere is a software-based networking component that allows virtual machines to communicate with each other and with the physical network. Virtual switches can be configured with various networking features, such as VLAN tagging, traffic shaping, and security policies.
23. What is a port group in VMware vSphere?
A port group in VMware vSphere is a logical grouping of network ports on a virtual switch. Port groups can be used to segment network traffic and apply different networking policies to different groups of VMs.
24. What is a vSphere Standard Switch?
A vSphere Standard Switch (vSS) is a virtual switch that is created and managed on a single ESXi host. Standard switches are simpler and more lightweight than distributed switches but do not provide the same level of centralized management and scalability.
25. What is a distributed switch in VMware vSphere?
A distributed switch (vDS) in VMware vSphere is a virtual switch that spans multiple hosts and allows VMs on those hosts to communicate with each other and with the physical network. Distributed switches provide a centralized management interface for virtual networking and can be used to simplify the management of large and complex vSphere environments.
Also Read: Installing Proxmox VE 8.1 on VMware Workstation 17
26. What is vSphere Replication?
vSphere Replication is a feature of VMware vSphere that allows you to replicate virtual machines between different vSphere environments, either within the same data center or across different data centers. vSphere Replication can be used for disaster recovery purposes, as well as for migrating VMs between environments.
27. What is vSphere Update Manager?
vSphere Update Manager is a tool for managing patches and updates for vSphere environments. It allows you to identify and apply updates to ESXi hosts, virtual appliances, and other components in your vSphere environment.
28. What is vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM) and in which version of VMware vSphere it was introduced?
vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM) is a feature of VMware vSphere that enables you to automate and manage the lifecycle of your vSphere infrastructure, including managing ESXi versions, patches, and drivers, as well as the VM Hardware and VMware Tools versions on VMs in your vCenter. It allows you to easily deploy, update, and maintain your vSphere environment, ensuring that all of your vSphere components are consistently configured and up to date.
vLCM was introduced in vSphere 7.0 U2a. vLCM is designed to help you automate and streamline the management of your vSphere environment, making it easier to deploy, update, and maintain your vSphere infrastructure. It helps you to ensure that all of your vSphere components are consistently configured and up to date, which can improve the reliability and performance of your vSphere environment.
29. What is a virtual machine snapshot in VMware vSphere?
A virtual machine snapshot in VMware vSphere is a point-in-time copy of a virtual machine’s disk and memory state. Snapshots can be used to preserve the state of a VM before making changes or as a means of creating multiple copies of a VM for testing or development purposes.
30. What is a virtual machine clone in VMware vSphere?
A virtual machine clone in VMware vSphere is a copy of an existing virtual machine that is created using the “Clone” feature in the vCenter Server. Clones can quickly create multiple copies of a VM for testing or development purposes.
31. What is a content library in VMware vSphere?
A content library in VMware vSphere is a centralized storage location for virtual machine templates, vApps, and other content that can be used to deploy and manage virtual machines. Content libraries can be used to store and share templates and other content across multiple vSphere environments.
32. What is vSphere Storage DRS?
vSphere Storage DRS is a feature of VMware vSphere that allows you to automatically balance workloads across different storage devices based on predefined rules. Storage DRS can help ensure that VMs have access to the storage resources they need, and can also help improve resource utilization by distributing workloads evenly across different storage devices.
33. What is vSphere Storage I/O Control?
vSphere Storage I/O Control (SIOC) is a feature of VMware vSphere that allows you to prioritize and allocate storage I/O resources to different VMs or workloads. Storage I/O Control can be used to ensure that critical VMs have access to the storage resources they need, while also allowing for the fair sharing of resources among multiple VMs.
34. What are vSphere Storage Policies?
VMware storage policies define storage requirements for your virtual machines (VMs). These policies guarantee the required level of service for your VMs because they determine how storage is allocated to the VM. Each VM deployed to a vSAN datastore is assigned at least one VM storage policy.
35. What is vSphere Fault Tolerance?
vSphere Fault Tolerance (FT) is a feature of VMware vSphere that provides continuous availability for virtual machines by creating a live secondary copy of the VM that can take over if the primary VM fails. vSphere FT can be used to protect mission-critical workloads from downtime due to hardware or software failures.
Also Read: Top 44 Scenario-Based VMware Interview Questions and Answers of 2024
36. What is Fault Tolerant Logging?
The communication between two ESXi hosts that are used when Fault Tolerance (FT) is configured between them is known as FT logging. To configure FT between two hosts, it is necessary to first set up a VMkernel port.
37. What happened if the vCenter Server goes down with Fault Tolerance configuration?
vCenter Server is only needed to enable Fault Tolerance (FT) on a virtual machine (VM). After FT is configured, vCenter is not required to be online for FT to function. In the event of a failure, FT failover between the primary and secondary VMs will occur even if vCenter is down.
38. What is vSphere Encryption?
vSphere Encryption is a feature of VMware vSphere that allows you to encrypt virtual machine disks and other data at rest. vSphere Encryption can be used to protect sensitive data from unauthorized access, and can also help meet compliance requirements related to data security.
39. What is vSphere Content-Based Read Cache (CBRC)?
vSphere Content-Based Read Cache (CBRC) is a feature of VMware vSphere that allows you to cache frequently accessed virtual machine data in memory to improve read performance. CBRC can be used to accelerate workloads that have a high percentage of read operations, such as databases or web servers.
40. What are vSphere Host Profiles?
vSphere Host Profiles is a feature of VMware vSphere that allows you to create and manage configuration profiles for ESXi hosts. Host profiles can be used to enforce consistent configurations across multiple hosts, and can also be used to automate the deployment and configuration of new hosts.
41. What is vSphere Quick Boot?
vSphere Quick Boot is a feature of VMware vSphere that allows you to quickly restart an ESXi host without requiring a full hardware reboot. Quick Boot can be used to apply patches or updates to ESXi hosts without causing downtime for the VMs running on those hosts.
42. What is vSphere Metro Storage Cluster?
A VMware vSphere Metro Storage Cluster configuration is a vSphere-certified solution that combines replication with array-based clustering. These solutions are typically deployed in environments where the distance between data centers is limited, often metropolitan or campus environments.
43. What are vSphere Big Data Extensions (BDE)?
vSphere Big Data Extensions (BDE) is a software product that enables users to deploy and manage Apache Hadoop and Apache Spark workloads on top of VMware vSphere, a virtualization platform for building and running virtual machines. BDE integrates with the vSphere infrastructure, allowing users to leverage the scalability, security, and resource management capabilities of vSphere to run their big data workloads.
44. What is vSphere with Kubernetes?
vSphere with Kubernetes is a feature of VMware vSphere that allows you to run and manage containerized applications using the Kubernetes orchestration platform on vSphere. vSphere with Kubernetes can be used to deploy and manage containerized applications in a vSphere environment, and can also provide integration with vSphere features.
It allows users to leverage the scalability, security, and resource management capabilities of vSphere to run their containerized workloads, while also taking advantage of the benefits of Kubernetes, an open-source container orchestration platform.
45. What are the maximums for the vSphere 8 configuration?
The vSphere 8 configuration maximums can vary depending on the specific vSphere edition and the hardware being used. Some of the key maximums for vSphere 8 include:
- Virtual CPUs per virtual machine (Virtual SMP): 768
- Virtual CPUs per host: 4096
- Virtual Disks per Host: 2048
- RAM per virtual machine: 24 TB
- Virtual NICs per virtual machine: 10
- Logical CPUs per host: 896
- Virtual machines per host: 1024
- Virtual disk size: 62 TB
- Hosts per vCenter Server: 2500
- Linked vCenter Servers: 15
- Maximum number of virtual machine storage policies: 1024
- Video memory per virtual machine: 4 GB
- vSAN disk groups per host: 5
- Virtual Machines per cluster: 8000
- Number of vSAN hosts in a cluster: 64
- Distributed switches per host: 16
- Distributed switches per vCenter: 18
46. What is the virtual machine hardware version for VMware vSphere 8
The virtual machine hardware version for VMware vSphere 8 is version 20.
47. What are the minimum system requirements for vSphere 8?
The minimum system requirements for vSphere 8 depend on the specific vSphere edition and the hardware being used. Some of the key requirements include:
- Processor: multi-core of 64-bit x86 processors
- Memory: 12 GB RAM
- Storage: 32 GB of persistent storage such as HDD, SSD, or NVMe
- Network: 1 GbE network adapter
48. What are the supported operating systems for vSphere 8?
vSphere 8 supports many operating systems, including many versions of Windows, Linux, and other Unix-based systems. Some of the specific operating systems that are supported by vSphere 8 include:
- Windows Server 2012/2012 R2/2016/2019/2022
- Windows 8.1/10/11
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6/7/8/9.x
- CentOS 7.x and later
- Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and later
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 12 and later
49. What are the supported storage protocols for vSphere 8?
vSphere 8 supports several storage protocols, including:
- Fibre Channel (FC)
- Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI)
- Network File System (NFS)
- vSAN (virtual SAN)
- NVMe Storage
50. What is the licensing model for vSphere 8?
vSphere 8 uses four editions, vSphere Essential Kit, vSphere Essential Plus Kit, vSphere Standard, and vSphere Enterprise Plus, which are licensed per CPU, but since the beginning of 2020, only up to 32 cores are covered. Processors with more cores require the purchase of additional licenses.
VMware Interview Questions and Answers: Wrapping Up
VMware vSphere is a powerful virtualization platform that is widely used in enterprise environments to manage and deploy virtual machines. Understanding the various features and capabilities of vSphere is important for anyone looking to work with or support vSphere environments.
The 50 VMware interview questions and answers outlined in this article provide a good starting point for anyone preparing for a vSphere-related job interview and should help you understand the key concepts and technologies involved in vSphere. Whether you are new to vSphere or have been working with it for some time, reviewing these questions and their answers can help you improve your knowledge and skills in this important area of technology.
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