Foglight for VMware 5.6.16 - User and Reference Guide

Using Foglight for VMware

This introduces you to the VMware® virtual infrastructure and provides you with essential foundational information.

For more detailed information about VMware virtualization products and solutions, consult the appropriate VMware documentation.

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Introducing the Virtual Infrastructure

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Navigation Basics

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Interacting with Foglight for VMware

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VMware Performance Agent Configuration

Introducing the Virtual Infrastructure

VMware® vSphere® provides an innovative mechanism for organizing and viewing any virtual infrastructure built on its platform. Using a unique combination of physical and logical components, this mechanism effectively and efficiently fulfills the VMware vision of the modern virtual infrastructure.

Foglight™ for VMware accommodates customers of all sizes that leverage the VMware virtualization platform by examining and enhancing eminently knowledgeable VMware view of the virtual world.

The following figure highlights the components or objects that make up a typical vSphere implementation. The figure makes a clear distinction between objects that exist in the physical world and those that are considered to be virtual.

Figure 1. VMware vCenter Server infrastructure

VMware vCenter allows for the configuration of a hierarchical organizational structure that resides primarily within the virtual domain. This enables an organization to easily configure physical VMware ESX Servers and virtual machines to reside in logical groups that dictate the various aspects of the virtual infrastructure (like physical object location, resource allocations and limitations for virtual machines, and high availability settings for physical and virtual components).

Object Roles

Before we get too far into discussing the layout and capabilities of Foglight™ for VMware, we must understand the different roles the various physical and virtual objects play within the overall virtual infrastructure.

The vCenter® Server and VMware® ESX® Servers provide the physical foundation for the vSphere® infrastructure.

Virtual machines on the other hand are classified as virtual components for the purpose of management and monitoring, even though they have many of the same characteristics (like direct network and storage access) as physical systems. At any given time, a virtual machine must be contained within a single VMware ESX Server. The particular ESX Server in which a given virtual machine is contained may change of course over the lifetime of the virtual machine through the use of unique VMware technologies such as VMware vSphere® vMotion® or VMware vSphere® High Availability (VMware HA).

Physical Objects

The physical objects within the VMware® virtual infrastructure are those with which you can physically interact. The virtual components or objects that make up the virtual environment cannot exist without the presence of underlying physical components.

A VMware ESX® Server is an example of a physical component.

To have Foglight™ for VMware monitor a virtual infrastructure, the virtual infrastructure must consist of at least one vCenter Server that is used to manage the virtual infrastructure and at least one ESX Server that is used to run virtual machines.