Frequently Asked Questions

What is this course about? The primary goal of this course is to give you the necessary knowledge and skills to successfully apply virtual machine technology to your workstations and servers. You install and configure virtual machines, partition servers, and manage enterprise level deployments. The knowledge you gain enables you to choose the proper virtual machine product for your environment and realise a successful deployment. What are virtual machines? Virtual machines allow a single computer to run multiple operating systems simultaneously. The benefits include: The ability to create entire testing labs within a single PC Partitioning servers in order to isolate applications Server resource provisioning Improved portability and migration Extended range of applications available to workstations What background do I need? No prior background with virtual machine technologies is required for this course. However, you should have experience with system administration of Windows or Linux. In addition, networking knowledge is assumed. You are ready for this course if you have the following skills: TCP/IP networking File system management Operating system configuration Who will benefit from this course? This course is valuable for anyone who maintains or provides support for workstations and servers. Typical participants include those responsible for testing environments, training facilities, support centers, OS migrations, or data center operations. Will we be using workstation- and server-class products? Yes. This course gives you hands-on experience with both workstation- and server-class products in order to prepare you for a broad range of implementation scenarios. In addition, you gain knowledge and experience with VMware ESX Server, which is VMware's data center product. Which operating systems are used in the course? This course gives hands-on experience with both Windows and Linux operating systems running as hosts and guests. You also are introduced to the proprietary operating system used by VMware ESX Server. Which virtual machine products are covered? You gain experience with the full virtualization product lines of both Microsoft and VMware. We cover Microsoft Virtual PC, Virtual Server, VMware Workstation and ESX Server. How is this course different from Course 171, Installing and Configuring VMware® Infrastructure 3: Hands-On? This course is not product specific and covers the concepts of virtualization in general, including the basics of ESX Server. By contrast, Course 171, Installing and Configuring VMware® Infrastructure 3: Hands-On, focuses on the suite of products included in VMware Virtual Infrastructure 3, their installation, deployment, configuration and optimization. I've used virtual machine workstation products in the past. How will this course benefit me? This course reinforces and builds on your understanding of virtual machine concepts and also gives you a thorough understanding of server partitioning and complex network configurations. Server products have significant extra functionality over workstation-class products. How much time is spent on each topic? Content Hours Introduction and overview 2.0 Creating virtual machines (VMs) 5.0 Leveraging VM technology to extend workstation functionality 4.0 Partitioning servers 5.0 Virtual servers in the enterprise 4.5 Managing the virtual environment 2.0 Times, including the workshops, are estimates; exact times may vary according to the needs of each class. How much time is devoted to the hands-on exercises? Approximately 50% of the course is devoted to hands-on exercises. This allows you to build on the knowledge you gain by increasing your practical experience in the subject area. Exercises include: Exploring the virtual machine interface Leveraging templates for rapid deployment of virtual machines Invoking vendor-specific tools to enhance virtual machine functionality Creating virtual environments for support, testing and training Installing and managing ESX Server How does this course relate to other Learning Tree courses? 367, TCP/IP: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction  provides skills to configure a host, employ TCP/IP tools, use application services and access TCP/IP-based internetworks. 289, Disaster Recovery Planning: Ensuring Business Continuity , allows you to identify vulnerabilities and implement appropriate countermeasures to prevent and mitigate failure risks. 596, Windows Server® 2003 Active Directory®: Hands-On offers the essential skills needed to plan a solid and reliable Windows Server 2003 foundation.