Shulou(Shulou.com)06/01 Report--

There are many articles on building VMware enterprise virtual computing software learning environments, such as

Install ESXi Enterprise Virtual Computing software on a physical host and create 3 virtual machines. Then install ESXi Enterprise virtual computing software in each VM and cluster the three virtual ESXi through vCenter. An ESXi cluster formed in this way is called a nested ESX environment.

Install VMware Workstation desktop virtualization software on a physical host and create a virtual machine within Workstation. Then install ESXi Enterprise Virtual Computing software in the virtual machine.

The various attempts of netizens, on the one hand, demonstrate the powerful functions of VMware's various virtualization products, which can be freely combined to complete multiple virtualization; on the other hand, it also shows that learning VMware enterprise virtualization products requires certain hardware resources, and it is difficult for ordinary personal computers to provide all the hardware resources required.

So, what if individuals can't learn VMware products until they have an enterprise-class server? Especially in recent years, VMware has proposed software-defined data centers and delivered corresponding software groups. Without corresponding hardware resources, how can individuals quickly learn and try various products of VMware software-defined data centers? VMware has kindly provided free hands-on labs for everyone to learn and try out the product groups it offers.

VMware Operations Labs (http://labs.hol.vmware.com/) is a completely free online lab environment that leverages VMWare's own products and technologies, including software-defined data center product groups and end-user computing products, to build individual lab environments. VMware Operations Lab provides each user with a separate and isolated lab environment for a limited amount of time and helps them complete software installation and basic configuration. No hardware resources required, no software package downloads required, no software installation required, no serial number authorization required, users only need a modern browser to learn and try out almost all features of VMware products. Why don't you come and try it with me?

user registration

The user registration process is very simple, just need an E-mail account is enough. When a user connects to VMware Operations Lab (http://labs.hol.vmware.com), registration can be accomplished by clicking the LOGIN/REGISTER button in the upper right corner, which will not be discussed here.

Log in and browse the lab environment

After completing registration, you can return to the home page of the operation laboratory to log in to the laboratory. In the navigation bar on the left, we can see that all the experimental environments are grouped very intuitively according to different directories. There are product groups, such as software-defined data center products (SDDC), hybrid cloud products (Hybrid Cloud), mobile computing products (Mobility), etc. (Note: For now, this blog focuses on software-defined data center products, but we will have the opportunity to introduce VMware's other two strategic directions, hybrid cloud and end-user computing products.) Experimental environments can also be grouped according to user concerns, such as Beginner, Cloud Ops, Networking, Performance, Storage, etc. VMware Operations Lab also thoughtfully opened a Chinese experimental environment group for Chinese users, which shows VMware's emphasis on the Chinese market.

Register Experimental Environment

The ancients said: a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Faced with so many products and experimental environments, we need to learn step by step, so let's start with the beginner group. When we click on the novice group in the navigation bar, the center panel lists the experimental environment and courses in all novice groups, including a short introduction to the experiment. And when we click on the link that shows the details of the experiment, the expanded text details the product group used in the experiment and the length limit of the experiment, which is usually 4 hours. In other words, users can register a separate experimental environment, and within 4 hours this experimental environment is open to users, and after 4 hours this experimental environment will be automatically recycled. Are you particularly familiar with this description? This is a simple use case for implementing IT as a service with vCAC policy-driven automation. Without further ado, let's sign up for vSphere and vSOM 101 to get started.

Start experiments and operating manuals

When the Start Lab button is clicked, the VMware Operations Lab deployment environment begins in the background. Deployment times vary depending on the complexity of the environment, but the lab environment can generally be deployed within 3 minutes. Through the deployment of the lab environment, users can experience the power of VMware vCAC software. When deployment is complete, users see a Windows Server 2008 R2 desktop in their browser. When the user slides the mouse over the desktop, they can also operate the remote desktop software directly. Here, VMware View is used to realize browser-based remote desktop access. In addition, in the lower right corner of the desktop, the basic information of the current experimental environment, including IP address, host name, user name, etc. We can launch vSphere web client by double-clicking Firefox browser that opens desktop. After entering your username and password, you can log in to vSphere's management platform and start the experiment.

Now that we have an experimental environment, it is time to carry out specific operations. Although, the experimental environment is open, real, and users can do whatever they want. However, for users who want to learn and try VMware products, they still want to have an operating manual, which can be followed step by step to complete the trial of specific features of VMware products. VMware Operations Labs also provides an operating manual for each lab. Click on the "MANUAL" tab on the right side of the browser to pop up the operation manual. The operating manual of each experiment contains a part of the basic knowledge introduction and the operation steps of specific functions. Users can navigate with arrows, which is very convenient.

Suspension and resumption of learning

If we are tired of studying, close the browser and take a break. When we log back into the Operations Lab, click "My Entries" on the upper left navigation bar, and the center panel lists all the labs we are currently enrolled in. Click the button "Resume Experiment" in the corresponding experiment, and in about one minute, our previous experimental environment will be restored, and the desktop state when we left will be maintained. There is no need to worry about losing the context of the work environment.

Such a convenient tool, such a powerful function. Please register and learn quickly.

Software defines the direction VMware has taken in recent years, and the market has come to understand that VMware is not just a server virtualization software provider, but a provider of all software platforms in the data center. In the next few articles, I'll take a closer look at software-defined networking, describing how VMware NSX meets enterprise networking needs based on specific use cases.

about the author

Xie pin

VMware Storage and Availability Business Unit Development Manager

He is currently the R & D Manager of VMware Storage and Availability Division, dedicated to the R & D of software-defined data center systems, and has in-depth understanding and rich practical experience in enterprise products and technical solutions such as virtualization, cloud computing, distributed object storage systems and big data. Prior to that, he worked for EMC on distributed object storage systems.

Welcome to subscribe "Shulou Technology Information " to get latest news, interesting things and hot topics in the IT industry, and controls the hottest and latest Internet news, technology news and IT industry trends.