vCenter Architecture Changes in vSphere 6.0 and Deploying vCenter 6 - Part 1

Here in this post will discuss about the vCenter Server architecture changes from vSphere 5.5 to vSphere 6. Will also discuss different use cases and Deploying vCenter Server 6 with Installable Windows-based and Deploying vCenter Server 6 with VCSA.

Firstly let me brief about VMware vCenter Server 5.5 components, there are multiple individual components are used to deliver the vCenter Server management solution.

vCenter Single Sign-On
vSphere Web Client
vCenter Inventory Service
vCenter Server

When deploying a vCenter server there are 2 deployment processes Simple Install and Custom Install.

Simple Install :- The simple install is a deployment option that deploys vCenter Server with its default options selected to a single physical or virtual machine. The simple install install all four components of vCenter Server (vCenter Single Sign-On, vSphere Web Client, vCenter Inventory Service, and the vCenter Server instance) on a single windows Server. This is ideal for small customer.

There are several limitations with the simple installer:-

When you choose Simple install it will install in default location with no option to change the destination folder. Many customers prefer to install their applications to a volume other than the system volume.

Simple install provides only the vCenter Single Sign-On deployment option of “vCenter Single Sign-On for your first vCenter Server.” Therefore it cannot be used for additional vCenter servers.Custom Install :- The custom install gives you option to install each individual component independently on same or different servers. Because each component is being installed individually, so it is important that components are installed in the following order:

1. vCenter Single Sign-On

2. vSphere Web Client ( Not compulsory can be installed later)

3. vCenter Inventory Service

4. vCenter Server

With the release of vSphere 6.0, vCenter Server installation and configuration has been simplified dramatically. The installation of vCenter now consists of only two components instead of 4 components in vSphere 5.5. and provide all services for the virtual datacenter:

Platform Services Controller – vSphere 6.0 introduces a new component called the Platform Services Controller (PSC). Now no need to install all these components individually. We choose to install Platform Services Controller (PSC) and all the services included in Platform Services Controller will be installed:
- vCenter Single Sign-On
- License Service
- Lookup Service
- VMware Directory Service
- VMware Certificate Authority
vCenter Services – Same way when we install vCenter Services it will install group of services includes:
- vCenter Server
- vSphere Web Client
- vCenter Inventory Service
- vSphere Auto Deploy
- vSphere ESXi Dump Collector
- vSphere Syslog Collector (Microsoft Windows)/VMware Syslog Service (Appliance)

vCenter Deployment Modes:-

There are two basic architectures that can be used when deploying vSphere 6.0 :-

1. Install vCenter Server with an Embedded Platform Services Controller – vCenter Server with an Embedded Platform Services Controller mode installs all services on the same virtual machine or physical server as vCenter Server. It will install PSC components first followed by vCenter Server Services. This mode is ideal for small environments. 2. Install vCenter Server with an External Platform Services Controller – vCenter Server with an External Platform Services Controller mode installs the platform services on a system that is separate from where vCenter services are installed. Installing the platform services is a prerequisite for installing vCenter. This mode is ideal for larger environments, where there are multiple vCenter servers.

There will be several use cases depending on business requirement to deploy vCenter Server either with an Embedded Platform Services Controller or with an External Platform Services Controller .Here are List of recommended use cases for VMware vSphere 6.0 deployment. You can also find out here :- http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2108548vCenter Server comes not only as an installable Windows-based application but also as a SUSE Linux-based Virtual appliance. Will you use Windows-based or Virtual appliance? There are advantages and disadvantages to each approach. I am not going to discuss what to use here.

Here Will discuss both approach, How to install Windows-based vCenter Server and How to deploy VCSA (VMware vCenter Server Virtual Appliance) with Embedded and External PSC.

Install Windows-based vCenter Server 6 with an Embedded Platform Services Controller:-

To install Windows-based vCenter Server we need to have a Windows Server ready.
Server must be a member of a domain.
Make a new account in Active Directory for the vCenter Server before the deployment and assign required permission on the host where you want to install vCenter Server.
Enter a DNS entry for the Server.

Now we are ready to start vCenter Server installation.

1. Login to the Windows Server with Service account and copy/mount the installer VMware-VIMSetup-all-6.0.0-2800571.iso

2. Browse the location of the Installer and double click the Autorun to start the VMware vCenter Installer.3. VMware vCenter Installer will start. Select ‘vCenter Server for Windows’ under VMware vCenter Server and Click ‘Install’.

4. VMware vCenter Server installation will start and Click ‘Next’ on ‘Welcome to the VMware vCenter Server 6.0. Installer’

5. Click the ‘I accept the terms of the license agreement’ box and then click ‘Next’

6. Here we are installing vCenter with an Embedded Platform Services Controller, So click ‘vCenter Server and Embedded Platform Services Controller’ and then click ‘Next’. 7. Enter the ‘System Name’ on the ‘System Network Name’ window and then click ‘Next’. In the most cases it will auto select FQDN of the server on which we are installing vCenter Server.

8. On the ‘vCenter Single Sign-On Configuration’ page enter the ‘Domain Name’ (By default it will be vsphere.local), ‘Enter SSO Administrator Password’ and ‘Site Name’ and then click ‘Next’

9. On the ‘vCenter Server Service Account’ page select ‘Specify a user Service account’ enter password for the Service account and then click ‘Next’. If you have logged in as Service Account it will auto take the account name in ‘Account user name’

10. Choose the ‘Database Settings’ and then click ‘Next’. In production environment it is always recommended to ‘use an external database’

11. On the ‘Configure Ports’ page normally select default ports but if required you can change the port numbers as per and click ‘Next’

12. On the ‘Destination Directory’ page change the location if required or click ‘Next’

13. On the ‘Ready to Install’ page review the settings and click ‘Install’ to start the ‘Installation Process…’

14. It will take several minutes to install ‘vCenter Server Platform Services Controller and vCenter Server services. Wait for Installation to finish.