For the successful deployment of VMware vSphere 6.5, understanding all the involved steps not only ensures the correct sizing of the hardware components, but helps to avoid potential misconfigurations.

This chapter walked-through the core components of vSphere 6.5, explaining the roles and services provided. The ESXi host is responsible for providing resources to workloads while the vCenter Server is used to manage hosts and resource availability. To ensure a successful deployment, a deployment plan must be drawn up in order to define the correct hardware platform to use, storage architecture and protocols, and network configuration.

We explained in detail the different installation methods available to users for vSphere components to finalize the deployment. There are three ways to install ESXi hosts depending on the environment size—interactive installation, unattended using installation scripts, or automated that uses the vSphere Auto Deploy feature to install ESXi through PXE. The Auto Deploy feature is the most suitable method for the deployment of a large number of ESXi hosts, automating the process and ensuring configuration consistency within the whole environment.

The chapter also covered the vCenter Server components and how to properly install them. vCSA 6.5 requires the deployment of two components—the PSC (used to manage SSO, License Service, and certificate management) and the vCenter Server. The vCenter Server can be installed with an embedded PSC or with an external PSC. As stated by VMware, the vCSA will replace the deprecated Windows-based vCenter Server.

Now that all the different vSphere components have been deployed, in the next chapter we will discuss how to configure the entire virtual infrastructure.