vmware problem solving interview questions

VMware Interview Questions and Answers (vESXi & Troubleshoot)

VMware: Powering the Virtual World

Think of your computer as a Swiss army knife – versatile, but limited. VMware unlocks its hidden potential by creating virtual machines, like separate computers within your computer. This lets you:

• Run multiple operating systems: Windows, Linux, macOS, all on one machine!
• Save resources: One physical machine power several virtual ones, saving energy and space.
• Boost flexibility : Easily test, deploy, and manage applications in isolated environments.

VMware is the leading name in virtualization, helping businesses and individuals work smarter, not harder. Think of it as multiplying your computing power, all in software!

Below, VMware interview questions , suitable for both freshers and experienced individuals, encompass fundamental, vESXi, and troubleshooting topics. Answers should cover basics, emphasizing practical knowledge and problem-solving skills.

Question: What do you know about VMware, and what is its primary purpose?

Answer: VMware is a virtualization technology used to create and manage virtual machines (VMs) on physical servers. It enables multiple operating systems to run concurrently on a single server, optimizing resource utilization. VMware is employed to enhance server efficiency, reduce hardware costs, and streamline IT infrastructure . Its core purpose lies in providing a virtualized environment, allowing for flexibility, scalability, and efficient utilization of computing resources in data centres.

Question: What are the main features of VMware?

Virtualization : VMware’s core feature is server virtualization, enabling the creation and management of multiple virtual machines on a single physical server.

vMotion: Allows live migration of virtual machines from one host to another without any downtime, ensuring continuous availability.

Storage vMotion: Enables the live migration of virtual machine storage from one datastore to another without disruption, supporting efficient storage management.

High Availability (HA): Automatically restarts virtual machines on alternative hosts in the event of a host failure, minimizing downtime.

Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS): Dynamically allocates and balances computing resources across a cluster of hosts to optimize performance and resource utilization.

vSAN (Virtual SAN): Provides software-defined storage by aggregating local storage devices across multiple hosts into a shared pool, eliminating the need for external storage.

NSX (VMware NSX ): Network virtualization and security platform that allows the creation of virtual networks, enhancing flexibility and security through micro-segmentation.

Tanzu: Supports modern application development and management by integrating with Kubernetes, allowing organizations to deploy and manage containerized applications.

Horizon : Offers virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) solutions, allowing users to access their desktops and applications from various devices securely.

vRealize Suite: Provides cloud management tools for operations management, automation, and business management, streamlining the delivery of IT services.

Disaster Recovery Solutions: VMware offers solutions for disaster recovery, ensuring the availability and integrity of critical data in the event of a disaster or system failure.

Automation and Orchestration : Automation features help streamline repetitive tasks, and orchestration allows the coordination of complex workflows, improving efficiency.

Multi-Cloud Management: VMware solutions support multi-cloud environments, allowing organizations to manage workloads across various cloud providers seamlessly.

Security Features: VMware incorporates security features like encryption, role-based access control, and secure boot to enhance the overall security posture of virtualized environments.

Cross-Cloud Compatibility: VMware solutions are designed to work across different cloud environments, enabling a consistent experience and workload mobility.

Question: What is the concept of a Virtual Machine, and how does Virtualization operate?

Answer: A Virtual Machine (VM) is a software-based emulation of a physical computer, running an operating system and applications. Virtualization is the process of creating multiple VMs on a single physical machine, enabling efficient utilization of resources. It works by using a hypervisor, a layer of software that abstracts and manages the hardware. The hypervisor allows multiple VMs to share the underlying hardware independently. This abstraction enhances flexibility, scalability, and resource optimization, as VMs can run different operating systems and applications on the same physical infrastructure without interference.

Question: What are the Key features of VMware virtual machines?

Isolation: VMs are isolated from each other and from the underlying physical hardware. Each VM operates independently, with its own operating system and applications.

Snapshotting: VMs can be snapshot, allowing users to capture the current state of the VM at a specific point in time. Snapshots enable easy rollback to a previous state if needed.

Migration: VMs can be migrated between different physical hosts without downtime using features like vMotion. This aids in load balancing, maintenance, and resource optimization.

Resource Allocation : VMware provides tools to allocate specific resources to VMs, such as CPU cores, memory, and storage, ensuring efficient utilization of the underlying hardware.

Templates: VM templates allow users to create standardized VM configurations that can be quickly deployed, streamlining the process of creating multiple VM instances with similar configurations.

Cloning: VM cloning enables the creation of identical copies of VMs, making it easy to replicate configurations and deploy new instances.

Integration with VMware Tools: VMware Tools is a suite of utilities that enhances VM performance and improves the interaction between the VM and the host system.

Question: What are the various types of virtualizations provided by VMware, and how do they differ?

Answer:   VMware provides various types of virtualization technologies to address different aspects of IT infrastructure. Here are the key types:

Server Virtualization: This is the most common type of virtualization. It involves partitioning a physical server into multiple virtual servers, each running its own operating system.

VMware Product: VMware vSphere/ESXi  (Other products Microsoft Hyper-V and and RedHat)

Desktop Virtualization: Virtualization of desktop environments, allowing multiple virtual desktops to run on a single physical machine, often in a data center.

VMware Product: VMware Horizon or or Citrix Virtual Apps

Application Virtualization: Isolating applications from the underlying OS and hardware, allowing them to run independently. It enhances compatibility and simplifies software deployment.

VMware Product: Vmware ThinApp, Citric XenApp

Network Virtualization: Abstracting network resources and functionality from the underlying hardware, enabling the creation of virtual networks that are independent of the physical infrastructure.

VMware Product: VMware NSX

Storage Virtualization: Abstracting storage resources to create a unified pool that can be easily managed and allocated to virtual machines as needed.

VMware Product: VMware vSAN (Virtual Storage Area Network)

Cloud Computing: Providing on-demand access to computing resources, including virtualization of servers, storage, and networking, delivered as a service over the internet.

VMware Product: VMware Cloud Foundation.

Question: What are the core components of the VMware infrastructure?

 VMware ESXi (formerly ESX Server): Serves as the foundational layer for virtualization, allowing multiple VMs to run on a single host.

vCenter Server (formerly VirtualCenter Server): Provides a unified platform for managing virtual infrastructure, offering features like vMotion and High Availability (HA).

VMware Infrastructure Client (VI Client ): Offers a graphical interface for administrators to configure and monitor virtualized environments.

VMware Infrastructure Web Access (VI Web Access) : Provides a browser-accessible alternative to the VI Client for basic management tasks.

VMware Virtual Machine File System (VMFS): Optimizes storage efficiency and supports features like vMotion and Storage vMotion.

VMware Virtual Symmetric Multi-Processing (SMP): Improves VM processing capabilities by leveraging multiple virtual CPUs.

VMware VMotion and VMware Storage VMotion : Facilitates workload balancing, maintenance, and efficient resource utilization.

VMware High Availability (HA): Enhances VM resilience and minimizes downtime.

VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS): Optimizes resource utilization, improves performance, and automates load balancing.

VMware Consolidated Backup (Consolidated Backup ): Streamlines backup procedures and reduces the impact on production systems.

VMware Infrastructure SDK: Enables customization and integration of third-party applications with the VMware environment.

These components collectively form the VMware infrastructure, offering a comprehensive set of tools for virtualization management and optimization.

Question: How is VMware Workstation utilized?

Answer: VMware Workstation is employed for creating and managing virtual machines on a desktop computer. Users can install and run multiple operating systems simultaneously on a single physical machine, each operating within its isolated virtual environment. This allows for testing applications, experimenting with different software configurations, and developing in diverse environments. VMware Workstation supports features like snapshots for capturing and restoring VM states, sharing VMs for collaborative work, and connecting VMs to a local network. It provides a flexible and efficient solution for developers, testers, and IT professionals needing versatile virtualization on their desktops.

Question: How is the VMware Horizon Client utilized?

Answer: The VMware Horizon Client serves as a crucial interface for accessing virtual desktops and applications. It facilitates a seamless connection between end-user devices and the VMware Horizon infrastructure. Users can install the Horizon Client on their devices, providing them with a secure and efficient way to connect to virtual desktops, applications, and online services. This client enables features like desktop and application virtualization, allowing users to access their virtual workspace from various platforms, enhancing mobility, and providing a consistent experience across devices.

Question: What role does a hypervisor play in VMware, and what are its types?

Answer: A hypervisor in VMware serves as a crucial component responsible for virtualization. It is a software layer that enables the creation and management of multiple virtual machines (VMs) on a single physical server.

There are two main types of hypervisors:

Type 1, also known as bare-metal or native, runs directly on the hardware (e.g., VMware ESXi),

 Type 2, or hosted, operates on top of an existing operating system (e.g., VMware Workstation).

Question: Why is a hypervisor used, and what benefits does it offer?

Answer: The use of a hypervisor is pivotal for several reasons. Firstly, it allows for the consolidation of multiple virtual environments onto a single physical server, optimizing resource utilization. This leads to cost savings, as it reduces the need for additional hardware. Secondly, hypervisors provide isolation between VMs, ensuring that the operation of one VM does not impact others.

The benefits of hypervisor-based virtualization extend beyond resource efficiency and isolation. It facilitates easy VM migration, enabling tasks such as live migration (vMotion) for enhanced workload flexibility. Additionally, hypervisors contribute to improved disaster recovery and high availability by enabling the rapid restoration of VMs on alternative hardware in case of a host failure. Overall, hypervisors play a pivotal role in modern IT infrastructure by fostering agility, scalability, and efficient management of computing resources.

Question: How is IOPS measured in VMware environments?

Answer: In VMware environments, IOPS (Input/Output Operations Per Second) is quantified through performance monitoring tools and metrics. VMware utilizes various counters and statistics to gauge the I/O activity on storage devices associated with virtual machines. Administrators can leverage tools like vSphere Client or third-party monitoring solutions to track IOPS metrics, providing insights into the read and write operations performed by virtual machines. Monitoring IOPS is crucial for optimizing storage performance, identifying potential bottlenecks, and ensuring efficient operation of virtualized workloads within the VMware infrastructure.

Question: What is the significance of Promiscuous Mode in VMware networking, and how does it impact virtual machine communication?

Answer: Promiscuous Mode in VMware allows a virtual network adapter to intercept and receive all network traffic, irrespective of the intended destination. While typically used for troubleshooting or network monitoring purposes, enabling Promiscuous Mode raises security concerns, as it may lead to unauthorized access to network traffic. It’s essential to judiciously implement and monitor Promiscuous Mode to balance operational needs with security considerations.

Question: What is the difference between Cold Migration& Cold Migration?

Cold Migration:

Cold migration involves moving a virtual machine from one host to another when the VM is powered off. The process requires downtime as the VM is completely powered down before the migration starts. Once the VM is off, its files and configurations are moved to the new host, and then it’s powered on again on the destination host. Cold migration is suitable for scenarios where downtime is acceptable.

Hot Migration (vMotion):

Hot migration, often referred to as vMotion in VMware environments, allows the movement of a virtual machine from one host to another without any disruption to its operation. This is accomplished while the VM is still running and serving end-user requests. vMotion transfers the VM’s memory, CPU, and network state between hosts seamlessly. Hot migration is ideal for scenarios where high availability and continuous service are crucial. It ensures resource optimization, load balancing, and facilitates maintenance activities without impacting VM availability.

Question: How do you configure and manage VMware FT?

To Configuring and Managing VMware FT:

Enable FT: Enable Fault Tolerance (FT) on a VM through the vSphere Client.

Select FT Logging : Choose between “Store the secondary VM files on the same datastore as the primary” or “Store the secondary VM files on a different datastore” for FT logging.

Choose Networking Configuration: Configure networking for FT, ensuring hosts have VMkernel ports for FT logging.

Select VM Compatibility: Verify that the VM is compatible with FT, meeting specific requirements.

Monitor FT Status: Use the vSphere Client to monitor the FT status of VMs.

Handle FT Failovers: In the event of a host failure, FT will initiate an automatic failover to the secondary VM.

Read : Infrastructure Engineer Interview Questions And Answers

VMware ESXi

Question: How do you install VMware ESXi and configure ESXi hosts?

Install VMware ESXi:

• Download the ESXi ISO from VMware’s website.
• Boot the server from the ISO using a CD/DVD or USB.
• Follow the installation wizard, select the installation disk, and configure the network settings.

Configure ESXi Host:

• After installation, access the ESXi host using the Direct Console User Interface (DCUI) or the vSphere Client.
• Configure network settings, set up DNS, and assign an IP address.
• Configure time settings, join the host to a domain (if needed), and set up SSH and other services as required.

Question: How do you create and manage virtual machines (VMs) on ESXi?

Create a Virtual Machine:

• Open the vSphere Client and connect to the ESXi host.
• Click “Create/Register VM,” follow the wizard, specifying details like VM name, guest OS, and storage location.

Install Guest OS:

Mount the installation media or use an ISO for the guest OS during VM creation. Power on the VM and install the guest OS.

Allocate Resources: Configure CPU, memory, and disk settings based on workload requirements.

Manage VMs:

• Power on/off, suspend, or reset VMs using the vSphere Client.
• Create snapshots for backup purposes.
• Clone or migrate VMs using vMotion.

Question: What are the different types of storage you can use with ESXi?

VMFS (Virtual Machine File System):

Dedicated file system optimized for VM storage.

NFS (Network File System):

Allows ESXi hosts to access VM storage over the network.

iSCSI (Internet Small Computer System Interface):

Uses standard Ethernet networks to connect ESXi hosts to external storage.

vSAN (Virtual SAN):

Software-defined storage solution that aggregates local storage across hosts.

Question: How do you network VMs on ESXi?

Create Virtual Switches:

Use the vSphere Client to create virtual switches for VM networking.

Port Groups:

Group VMs based on network characteristics by creating port groups on virtual switches.

Assign Network Adapters to VMs:

In VM settings, add network adapters and assign them to specific port groups.

Configure VLANs :

Support network segmentation by configuring VLANs on port groups.

Manage Network Policies:

Set up load balancing, failover policies, and security settings for virtual switches.

Question: How do you troubleshoot ESXi problems?

Check Logs:

Examine ESXi logs for error messages (/var/log).

Use ESXi Shell and SSH:

Access the ESXi Shell or SSH to run commands for deeper troubleshooting.

Review Hardware Compatibility:

Ensure that the hardware is compatible with the ESXi version.

Monitor Performance:

Use vSphere Client to monitor resource usage and identify bottlenecks.

Update and Patch:

Keep ESXi and VM tools up to date with the latest patches.

Review Networking Configurations:

Check network configurations, VLANs, and switch settings.

VMware Support:

Contact VMware support for assistance in complex issues.

Question: What is the purpose of paravirtualization in ESXi?

Answer:   Paravirtualization involves modifying the guest OS to be aware of the virtualization layer, resulting in improved performance and efficiency.

Question: What is the purpose of DCUI in ESXi, and how can it be accessed?

Answer:   DCUI (Direct Console User Interface) provides a local interface for basic configuration and troubleshooting. It can be accessed directly from the server’s console or through SSH.

Question: Describe the process of upgrading ESXi hosts using VUM?

Answer: VUM ( VMware Update Manager) automates the process of upgrading ESXi hosts by coordinating the download and installation of updates, patches, and new releases. Here is an overview of the typical steps involved:

Access VMware vSphere Update Manager : Open the vSphere Web Client or vSphere Client. Navigate to the “Update Manager” tab.

Download ESXi Images : Ensure that you have downloaded the ESXi image or ISO file for the desired version that you want to upgrade to. This file should be accessible to the Update Manager.

Import ESXi Images : In the Update Manager, import the downloaded ESXi image into the repository. This step makes the ESXi image available for the upgrade process.

Create Baselines: Baselines are used to define the criteria for upgrading. Create a new baseline and attach the imported ESXi image to it.

Attach Baselines to ESXi Hosts: Attach the baseline to the ESXi hosts that you want to upgrade. This associates the hosts with the specific upgrade criteria.

Scan Hosts: Perform a scan on the ESXi hosts against the attached baseline. This scan checks the hosts for compliance with the defined baseline.

Review Scan Results: Examine the scan results to verify the compliance status of each ESXi host. Hosts that are not compliant need to be upgraded.

Stage Patches : Stage the patches or upgrades to the ESXi hosts. Staging involves copying the necessary files to the hosts in preparation for the actual upgrade.

Remediate Hosts: Initiate the remediation process to apply the staged patches and perform the upgrade on the ESXi hosts. This process can be scheduled to minimize downtime.

Monitor Upgrade Progress: Monitor the progress of the upgrade. The ESXi hosts may undergo a series of reboots as part of the upgrade process.

Verify Upgrade Completion: After the upgrade process is complete, verify that the ESXi hosts are running the new version. Ensure that all VMs on the hosts are functioning correctly.

Update VMware Tools and VM Hardware: Following the ESXi host upgrade, it’s advisable to update VMware Tools and, if necessary, the virtual hardware of the virtual machines for optimal compatibility.

Repeat for Additional Hosts: If you have multiple ESXi hosts, repeat the process for each host until the entire environment is upgraded.

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Vmware interview questions, download pdf, about vmware.

Incorporated in 1998, VMware is a cloud computing and virtualization technology company based in Palo Alto, California. The company has offices around the world and has a global presence. The company offers advanced cloud services through its partnerships with Cisco Systems and Amazon Web Services. It is known worldwide for its vSphere VMware Hypervisor, which allows any architecture, whether x86 or x64, to be virtualized. Performance, reliability, flexibility, and scalability are at the heart of its engineering work.  Working with VMware allows you to collaborate with a global community that is working together to address the vital technological challenges of today. The business is driven by the values of innovation, positive leadership, and respect. VMware's incredible culture and its principles have contributed greatly to the growth of the company, and a great management team and work-life balance make it one of the best companies to work for.    Despite having a desire to get a job with VMware, many of you are unsure what to expect in your interview. The purpose of this article is to let you know what an interview at VMware looks like. If you're about to take a VMware interview , these tips and VMware Interview questions will help you succeed. 

VMware Interview Questions for Freshers

1. explain what you mean by port-group..

As the name suggests, port groups are groups of virtual ports on our virtual switch. In general, the port group provides a stable anchor point for virtual machines connected to labeled networks by aggregating multiple ports into a single configuration. Every port group is assigned a network label, which is unique to the host. VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network) tags, for example, are shared by each port group member. 

2. Explain the different types of virtualization available.

Virtualization generally enables your organization to run many processes at once with fewer physical infrastructures, leading to greater efficiency and cost savings. VMware manages different types of virtualizations, each having different uses in the industry. 

Types of virtualization-

• Server Virtualization: It is a type of virtualization where many virtual machines (VMs) run on one physical server. Since you do not have to buy new servers or expand your server room, you save floor space and money. Server virtualization is offered by a few well-known providers, such as vSphere, XenServer, Hyper-V, and RedHat.

• Network Virtualization: It refers to the process of combining all the physical network components into one virtual network. A virtual network can be composed of NICs, switches, VLANs, network storage devices, virtual network containers, and network media. This type of virtualization has the primary function of eliminating physical network device dependencies. One of its examples includes VMware NSX.

• Application Virtualization: The process involves virtualizing and hosting applications on a server so that end users can have access to them on their devices such as laptops, smartphones, and tablets. The app can be accessed via any Internet-connected device, so you don't have to log in to a desktop at your office to use it. Its example includes VMware ThinApp, Citric XenApp, etc.

• Desktop Virtualization: Often called OS virtualization or VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure), desktop virtualization is the process that enables you to run or deploy multiple virtual desktop OS on a physical server. The user may access his or her virtual desktop from anywhere since it is stored on a remote server. In this way, the need for individual CPUs is eliminated. Its example includes VMware Horizon View, Citrix Xen Desktop, etc.

• Storage Virtualization: Using storage virtualization, multiple network storage devices can be combined into a single storage device/array by pooling their physical storage. It provides an easy way to manage storage and ensure consistent performance. Its example includes vSAN.

3. Explain VMKernel and its importance.

VMware's VMkernel is a high-performance operating system that runs directly on the ESXi host. VMkernel generally acts as an interface between VMs and the physical hardware of the system and is referred to as microkernel by VMware since it runs on bare metal, directly on VMware ESX hosts. In addition to providing hardware abstraction and operating system (OS) services, VMKernel allocates memory and schedules CPUs. In addition, it handles services such as vMotion, Fault Tolerance, NFS, and iSCSI. In order for VMs to communicate with ESXi, the VMKernel is vital. 

4. Write four core elements of the VMkernel networking layer.

VMkernel networking enables vSphere to interact with the outside world. It consists of four core elements:   

• Virtual SAN
• Fault Tolerance
• Science storage

5. What do you mean by Hypervisor? Write its type.

Hypervisors, also known as VM monitors or VMMs, are software that creates and runs virtual machines (VMs) as well as also manages and allocates resources to them. By sharing its resources in virtual ways, such as memory and processing, a host computer can support multiple guest VMs. The special feature of a hypervisor allows several virtual machines to run on a single physical server. As a result, it reduces: 

• Space efficiency
• Energy usage
• Server maintenance requirements.

Types of Hypervisor - 

• Type-1 Hypervisor (also known as Bare Metal or Native Hypervisor)
• Type-2 Hypervisor (also known as Hosted Hypervisor)

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6. what do you mean by esxi.

ESXi ( Elastic Sky X Integrated ): ESXi (formerly ESX) is a virtualization platform developed by VMware for deploying and managing virtual machines. With ESXi, you get a very secure OS architecture that includes and integrates essential OS components like the Kernel. For efficiency, reliability, and performance, it's the leading choice. ESXi partitions hardware to consolidate applications and reduce costs by directly accessing and controlling underlying resources. It is a hypervisor that makes use of bare-metal virtualization technology.

7. Explain NFS and VMFS.

• NFS (Network File System): ESXi hosts use this file-sharing protocol to share files with NAS devices. Storage devices such as NAS connect to networks and enable ESXi hosts to access files. 
• VMFS (Virtual Machine File System): In VMware vSphere, it is a block-level file system that stores virtual machine files. In vSphere 6.0, it can also store large files up to 64TB in size. 

8. Explain the .vmdk file.

Virtual Machine Disk (VMDK) is an open file format by VMware which is used to store the content of virtual hard disks. In vSphere 5.5 and later versions, it can be up to 62 TB in size. Earlier, VMware products used the extension .dsk to store content or data or virtual disk files. 

9. Name some of the VMware products.

VMware offers the following products: 

• VMware Mirage
• VMware Pivotal Container
• VMware Photon Platform
• VMware Thinapp
• VMware vCloud NFV
• VMware vCloud NFV Openstack
• VMware vRealize
• VMware vRealize Operations, etc.

10. What are the VMware components?

VMware infrastructure consists of the following components: 

• VMware ESX Server
• VirtualCenter Server
• VMware Infrastructure Client (VI Client)
• VMware Infrastructure Web Access (VI Web Access)
• VMware Virtual Machine File System (VMFS)
• VMware Virtual Symmetric Multi-Processing (SMP)
• VMware VMotion and VMware Storage VMotion
• VMware High Availability (HA)
• VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS)
• VMware Consolidated Backup (Consolidated Backup)
• VMware Infrastructure SDK

11. Explain VMware DRS.

DRS ( Distributed Resource Scheduler ), as the name suggests, provides a way to schedule and balance resources across a vSphere environment. Through the use of clusters and resource pools, virtual environments are able to automatically balance available resources across hosts. DRS uses VMware HA (High Availability) to move VMs from one host to another to ensure that resources are evenly distributed among them. 

12. What is the importance of virtualization?

A virtualization process creates a virtual version of a physical device, such as a server, storage device, network device, on a physical host. On a single machine/server known as an ESXi (ESX integrated) host, several virtual machines, as well as multiple operating systems and applications, can be operated. It has the following advantages: 

• Increasing IT agility, flexibility, and scalability while reducing costs.
• Increased workload mobility, performance, and resource availability.
• Automated operations that save time.
• Simplify IT management and make it less expensive to operate.

13. Write three port-groups that are configured in ESXi networking.

The following are the three port-groups configured in ESXi networking: 

• Virtual Machine Port Group: They are used for Virtual Machine Network.
• Service Console Port Group: They are used for Service Console Communications.
• VMKernel Port Group: They are used for vMotion, iSCSI, NFS (Network File System) Communications.

14. Explain iSCSI storage.

Generally, iSCSI SANs consist of an iSCSI storage system, which houses one or more storage processors. Communication between the host and array occurs over TCP/IP protocol, and ESXi hosts are configured with an iSCSI initiator. Such an initiator is either hardware- or software-based. The hardware-based initiators can be dependent or independent; the software-based ones are called iSCSI software initiators. 

15. What is the meaning of VVol?

vSphere 6.0 introduces the concept of Virtual Volume, also known as VVol, for managing virtual disks. Whenever a virtual disk is created in a virtual environment, VVol is automatically created. At the virtual disk level, it enables array-based operations. 

16. Explain Cluster.

In VMware, the cluster is defined as a logical grouping of multiple ESXi hosts. It lets you add and remove hosts from a cluster. HA and DRS are also provided on the cluster.  

17. Explain cold and hot migration?

• Cold Migration: This is the process of migrating a powered-off VM, including its configuration and data, from a single host to another. One can migrate VMs manually or set up a scheduled task to perform cold migration.  
• Hot Migration: This is the process of migrating a powered-on VM from a single host to another. It is also known as live migration because there is no need to shut down the VM.

VMware Interview Questions for Experienced

1. what is vdi.

With VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure), users can host a desktop operating system (OS) on a server and access VM-based desktops remotely from different devices and locations. VDI is a type of IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), which can be run in a private or public cloud. When VDI is used, the end-user can access his or her desktops via a device called a thin client. 

2. How many CPUs can be used for a VM in FT in vSphere 7.0?

In VMware vSphere 7.0, up to 8 vCPUs can be used with the VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus license. 

3. Explain FT logging traffic.

For VMware FT, fault tolerance logging traffic is considered as the second network requirement. For continuous data syncing between primary and secondary VMs, Fault Tolerance applies FT logging. Additionally, this is a VMkernel connection type used to move nondeterministic events from primary to secondary VMs. 

4. What is the difference between vSphere and vCenter?

• VMware vSphere: It's an enterprise-scale virtualization platform that lets you build a reliable and resilient infrastructure to meet pretty much any business need while staying within your budget. Vsphere adds important capabilities to data center infrastructure that prevent unplanned downtime and can completely eliminate maintenance and storage downtime. 
• VMware vCenter: It is a centralized platform used to manage virtual infrastructure. From a single console, you can control all your hosts and virtual machines, enhancing visibility and preventing errors. Even if you are managing a large-scale environment, vCenter Server lets you optimize routine operations and daily tasks. As a result of this functionality, you are able to get a detailed understanding of how your environment is configured.  

5. Will FT (Fault Tolerance) work if the vCenter server goes down?

Fault Tolerance on a VM can only be enabled through the vCenter Server. FT does not require vCenter to be online once configured. Due to this fact, no FT failure between the primary and the secondary will occur when vCenter is down. 

6. What is the use of vMotion?

VMware's VMotion technology enables you to migrate active virtual machines from one ESX-host to another without disrupting service or functionality. During this process, there is zero downtime, constant service availability, and overall transaction integrity. vMotion technology plays a key role in creating a dynamic, automated, and self-optimizing data center and provides great flexibility for virtual environments. Ensure that both hardware and software requirements are met by the cloud provider. The compatibility requirements are reduced if powered-off VMs are migrated.   

7. What will happen if vMotion fails?

A virtual machine will not be migrated if the target host does not have enough memory i.e., vMotion fails. This can be fixed by moving the VM to another ESXi host providing guaranteed memory, or by reducing the virtual machine's memory reservation. 

8. Explain Promiscuous mode.

A promiscuous mode is network security, monitoring, and administration method that allows any network adapter configured on a host system to access all network data packets. You can specify it at the virtual switch or port group level in vSphere ESX/ESXi. Essentially, promiscuous mode is a method of monitoring (sniffing) network traffic. You have two options: accept or reject. Additionally, all communication will be visible to all virtual machines if the promiscuous mode is set to accept. 

9. There are several features such as DRS (Distributed Resource Scheduler), SMP (Symmetric Multi-Processing), VMotion, etc., but why do we need ‘HA’?

VMware HA is critical for us since we need uninterrupted service. Let's suppose that one of the ESX servers in the cluster crashes suddenly for some reason. What would happen to the virtual machines running on that server? Do they continue running or are they falling? Likewise, they go down too. Thankfully, VMware HA allows you to restart these VM's on any other ESX server in the same cluster as soon as they fail. 

10. What is the importance of snapshots in VMware?

VMware snapshots allow you to quickly and easily save the state of a VM before making changes. A snapshot is taken when upgrading or installing software. In VMware snapshots, the current state of the virtual machine is preserved, so after testing, the machine can be quickly reverted to the desired state. After a specific task is completed, a snapshot should be removed to improve performance. 

11. What are vSS and vDS?

To connect virtual machines, VMware vSphere offers two types of virtual switches. vSphere administrators can control the traffic between VMware virtual machines using either type of virtual switch.  

• vSphere Standard Switch (VSS): VSS is the default virtual switch when ESXi is installed. The switch allows VMs installed on one physical host to communicate with one another. The switch controls how a VM communicates with another VM on the same physical server, just as a physical switch would.

• vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS): It acts as the single switch in a virtual environment and provides central provisioning, administrative, and monitoring capabilities for virtual networks. Additionally, it supports advanced networking features in VMware vSphere.

12. What do you mean by VMware HA and VMware FT? Difference between them.

• VMware HA (High availability): It generally works on Cluster Level. By pooling VMs and the hosts they reside on into a cluster, VMware HA provides high availability for VMs. VMs running on a failed host are forced to be restarted on alternate hosts. 
• VMware FT (Fault Tolerance): It generally works on VM Level. In this, a secondary VM is created and maintained that is identical to the primary and can replace it when the ESXi host fails to provide continuous availability of VMs. A complete copy of a VM is made, including storage, computation, and memory. To configure FT, a 10GB NIC is recommended. 

Difference between VMware HA and VMware FT- 

• While VMware HA is enabled per cluster, VMware FT is enabled per VM.
• VMware HA works on cluster level whereas VMware FT works on VM level.
• An HA system will restart and power on VMs on another host in the event of a failure, while an FT system will activate the second copy in case of a loss of the primary host. By providing fast backup and continuous availability, it reduces downtime.

13. What do you mean by vCloud Suite?

vCloud Suite is often described as an enterprise-grade cloud and management solution. It is a collection of multiple VMware components to build and provide a completely integrated cloud infrastructure, that includes virtualization, software-defined datacenter services, disaster recovery, application management, etc. 

14. Why use VMware Workstation?

VMware Workstation is software that allows users to run multiple operating systems on the same host computer. Virtual machines are capable of running one instance of any operating system such as Microsoft, Linux, etc. 

Here are three reasons why VMware workstation is useful:  

• Allows the user to run more than one operating system on the same computer.
• It saves the current OS configuration as virtual machines.
• You can work across different OSs without switching.

15. Why use virtual machines instead of original hardware?

In the absence of virtualization, it would be impossible to run multiple operating systems at once, such as Windows and Linux.  Virtual machines serve mainly the purpose of running multiple operating systems concurrently on a single piece of hardware. Splitting a physical server into multiple units reduces the need to invest in additional units. You can also use VMs to enable rapid disaster recovery and automatic backups of your data. 

16. What is the major advantage of VM running under a type 1 hypervisor than type 2 hypervisor?

• Type-1 Hypervisor: It acts as a lightweight OS and runs directly on the host system. A base server OS is not required, and direct hardware access is available. Its example includes VMware ESXi, Citrix XenServer, etc. 
• Type-2 Hypervisor: It cannot run directly on the underlying host system, but can run as an application layer on a host system, similar to other computer programs. Its example includes VMware player or parallel desktop, VMware Server, etc.

Advantages of using Type-1 over Type-2 Hypervisor:

It is more secure to use type-1 hypervisors since they do not rely on the underlying OS, unlike type-2 hypervisors. The type 2 server also loses some efficiency, performance, and speed due to this dependency. So, if you're under attack, a type-1 hypervisor will give you better protection than a type-2 hypervisor. 

17. What do you mean by RDM?

The Raw Device Mapping (RDM) files are contained in VMFS and act as proxies for raw physical devices. This feature enables VMware's virtual machines (VMs) to access logical unit numbers (LUNs) directly. This eliminates the need to use the virtual machine file system (VMFS) because the LUN can be formatted using any file system like NTFS (New Technology File System). It is generally beneficial for cluster configurations including VM-to-VM, physical-to-VM, or SAN (Storage Area Network) snapshots. But it has some limitations, including the inability to map disk partitions and possibly not working with direct-attached block devices. 

The figure above shows that an RDM disk exists as an address mapping file on a VMFS volume. This mapping file acts as a symbolic link between a VM's access to an RDM disk to LUNs.

18. What is clone and template in VMware? Differentiate between them.

• VMware clone: It is an identical copy of a VM (called parent VM (Virtual Machine), since it is the one from which you made a clone). MAC addresses and UUIDs for both cloned and parent VM, however, will be different. Any changes to the cloned VM will not impact the original VM or parent VM (and vice versa).  
• VMware template: It is a golden image or a master copy of Virtual Machine that is capable of creating and provisioning virtual machines. It can later be used to make many clones. 

Tips to Prepare for VMware Interview

1. vmware interview preparation.

• The Generic Tip: Using online IDEs and platforms such as HackerEarth, Hacker Rank, LeetCode, Code Chef, and so on, is always a good idea for practicing coding questions. Since it is critical to code your solution accurately and in a timely manner, use the programming language you're most comfortable with.
• Speak what you believe: At the moment, the point is how to give them what they are looking for. The interviewer will have no prior knowledge of your abilities, yet they will attempt to assess your years of education in 30–40 minutes. Even if you write the correct solution to the problem without saying anything, the interviewer is unlikely to deduce anything about your mental state. The only way out is to say exactly what you're thinking because your voice is the only method for them to understand what and how you are thinking.  So, you must express yourself at every stage of your thought process. Even if you believe your method may be incorrect, just say so. Don’t ever hesitate.
• Prepare Well: The technical round may include a number of questions. Prepare all in advance. Make sure you have knowledge of DSA. Basic questions related to coding, OS, process synchronization, recursion and iterative techniques, sorts, searches, and traversals should also be considered as well. Become well-versed in fundamental subjects such as operating systems, databases, and computer networks. Reading prior interview experiences and questions will also improve your insight into the interview process.
• Ask for Hints: Don't pester the interviewer with demands for hints. In fact, try if you can find and fix the issues yourself. And if you feel absolutely stuck, instead of continuing to flounder, simply ask for help. It demonstrates that you acknowledge your insufficiency of knowledge, but do not immediately give up trying to learn. Make use of the hints you've been given. In most cases, the interviewer is familiar enough with the question to recognize which tips would help you next if you get stuck.
• Confidence is crucial: No matter how frightened you are, face the interviewer with confidence. The confidence you exude isn't for you; it's for the interviewer to feel comfortable enough to hire you. You must persuade her/him that you are a valuable asset to the firm.
•   Prepare generic questions for HR or Managerial round: Find out online what general HR questions you might be asked during your interview. Never know when someone will ask you, "Why did you choose VMware?" or "Why not another company?". It's, therefore, a good idea to learn a bit about the company before your interview.
• Ask questions:   Be sure to keep the flow two-way. If you have doubts, you should voice them to the interviewer. Your willingness to join will be apparent to the interviewer if you do this.

1. How many rounds are there in VMware Interview?

Generally, 4-5 rounds are there in the VMware Interview process:  

• Online Assessment
• Technical Rounds (2-3)
• Managerial Interview
• HR Interview

2. How to get a job in VMware?

As a software company, VMware is committed to the notion of equal employment opportunities for all employees, as well as to providing a non-discriminatory and harassment-free workplace. At VMware, employees are hired based on business needs, job specifications, and individual qualifications. All applicants are encouraged to apply, whether they are freshers or experienced. Therefore, if you want to get hired, you must prepare thoroughly. Start by researching about the company, their interview process, tips on how to prepare for the interview, and then prepare accordingly. If you would like to apply, you can visit the career portal and apply directly or you can ask for a referral.  

3. How long does the offer process take at VMware?

It will take approximately 2-4 weeks to receive an offer letter following the final interview.  

4. Why do you want to join VMware?

As a VMware employee, we will be a part of a global community of innovators and leaders that solve technical challenges together. Here, employees are surrounded by an environment filled with possibilities and are always encouraged to bring new ideas to life. Every day, employees are challenged to innovate in everything VMware does. 

5. Is VMware Interview hard?

The amount of time and effort you put into preparing for an interview can greatly affect how tough it is going to be. VMware interviews usually consist of easy to medium level questions, however, this depends on the individual. Since the number of rounds varies from 4-5, some candidates may find it intimidating. I assure you it is worth the effort if you join.

6. What is the role of VMware admin?

Virtual machines, hardware, and servers are familiar terms to most VMware admins. They use a specific VMware environment such as vSphere to create and install computer infrastructure, including hardware, servers, and virtual machines. Maintenance and troubleshooting are a major part of their job. 

The following are some of the roles of a VMware administrator :  

• Managing the host's storage and VMs
• Maintain and upgrade the Virtual Center
• Simplify template management and cluster management
• Coordinate with vendors
• VM Troubleshooting, etc.

Useful Resource

VMware vs VirtualBox

Multiple Choice Questions

Which of the following type of virtualization enables you to run or deploy multiple virtual desktop OS on a physical server?

How does VDI benefit you?

What tool does one use to convert a physical machine to a virtual one?

Which of the following is the latest version of vSphere?

VMFS stands for __.

Are any of the following types of virtualization?

Which of the following is true about RDM?

Which software allows you to run multiple operating systems on one physical server?

What is VMware ESXi?

Which of the following is a type-2 hypervisor?

FT stands for __.

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Table of Contents

Basic vmware interview questions, intermediate vmware interview questions, top 80+ vmware interview questions and answers – 2024.

VMware is a cloud computing and virtualization company incorporated in 1998 and based in Palo Alto. It has a global presence offers advanced cloud computing services through its partnership with Amazon Web Services. VMware is known for its reliability, flexibility, performance, and scalability. You can collaborate with a global community that works towards addressing the vital technological challenges of today while working with VMware.

VMware is one of the most renowned virtual machine-creating software tools. Creating a virtual machine that behaves exactly like an actual computer – VMware also allows everything on that virtual machine to run in its window. Accordingly, this particular tool’s usage increases in the IT professional world. If you wish to start your career in VMware, many job opportunities are available. This blog talks about the top 80+ VMware Interview Questions and Answers, which will help you crack the technical interviews and ace your upcoming interview

Let’s get started.

These commonly asked VMware Interview Questions will help you answer your upcoming interview confidently and land your dream job.

1. What is VMware?

VMware is a virtualization technology-based software tool used to test various software virtually by making a virtual operating system. It is like using a different operating system simultaneously as your current OS. It develops virtualization software, which means creating an abstraction layer over computer hardware that allows the hardware elements of a single computer to be divided into multiple virtual computers, also called virtual machines (VMs).

2. What is the reason for using virtual machines instead of original hardware?

VM or Virtual machines allow us to operate multiple operating systems simultaneously from the same piece of hardware. Without virtualization, operating multiple systems like Windows and Linux would require two separate physical units. So it reduces the requirement to invest in additional units by splitting up a physical server into multiple servers.

3. What are the different types of virtualization available?

There are five types of visualizations available, they are:

• Desktop Virtualization.
• Application Virtualization.
• Server Virtualization
• Storage Virtualization.
• Network Virtualization  

4. What is the server software VMware provides us?

VMware provides us with:

• VMware ESX Server,
• VMware ESXi Server, and
• VMware Server.

5. Name some VMware products.

• VMWARE MIRAGE,
• VMWARE PIVOTAL CONTAINER SERVICE,
• VMWARE PHOTON PLATFORM,
• VMWARE THINAPP,
• VMWARE VCLOUD NFV,
• VMWARE VCLOUD NFV OPENSTACK,
• VMWARE VCLOUD SUITE,
• VMWARE VREALIZE.

6. What is desktop virtualization? How does desktop virtualization work?

Desktop virtualization is a technology that simulates a workstation load to access a desktop from a connected device remotely or locally. This separates the desktop environment and associated application software from the physical client device used to access it.

Desktop virtualization works in many ways, but the basic two types of desktop virtualization are based on whether the operating system instance is local or remote.

• Local Desktop Virtualization: It denotes the operating system runs on a client device where all processing and workloads occur on local hardware. This desktop virtualization works when users don’t need a continuous network connection and can meet application computing requirements with local system resources. Although this requires processing to be done locally, you cannot use local desktop virtualization to share VMs or resources across a network to thin clients or mobile devices.
• Remote Desktop Virtualization:  Remote desktop virtualization is a commonly used virtualization that operates in a client/server computing environment. It allows users to run operating systems from a server while all user interactions occur on a client device. The result is that IT departments have more centralized control over applications and desktops and can maximize the organization’s investment in IT hardware through remote access to shared computing resources.

7. What is network virtualization?

In virtualization technology, network virtualization is the process of combining network resources and network functionality into a single software-based administrative entity which is called a virtual network. It can combine multiple physical networks into one virtual software-based network, or it can divide one physical network into separate independent virtual networks.

8. Explain memory and storage virtualization?

Memory virtualization is the process of creating a memory pool by aggregating the resources of Random Access Memory (RAM) from individual systems in the data centre.

Storage virtualization is a process of taking information about all of the storage hardware resources on storage area networks. Logically this can be used to combine hardware resources from different networks and data centers.

9. What are the components of VMware infrastructure?

The major components of VMware infrastructure are:

• VMware ESX Server
• VirtualCenter Server
• VMware Infrastructure Client (VI Client)
• VMware Infrastructure Web Access (VI Web Access) 
• VMware Virtual Machine File System (VMFS)
• VMware Virtual Symmetric Multi-Processing (SMP)
• VMware VMotion and VMware Storage VMotion
• VMware High Availability (HA)
• VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS)
• VMware Consolidated Backup (Consolidated Backup) 
• VMware Infrastructure SDK

10. What is the requirement for running ESXi in the BIOS of the server?

Running ESXi in the BIOS requires the NX/XD bit to be enabled for the CPU in the BIOS in order to ensure the smooth installation of the software programs.

11. What does ESXi stand for?

ESXi stands for ESX Integrated.

VMware ESXi is a type-1, enterprise-class hypervisor which easily installs on to your server and divides itself into multiple virtual machines. It isn’t a software application, although it includes and integrates vital OS components, such as a kernel.

12. What is VMKernel? What is the VMkernel port used for?

The VMkernel is the interface between virtual machines (VMs) and the physical hardware of the system. The responsibility of VMkernel is scheduling CPUs, allocating memory and providing other hardware abstraction with other operating systems (OS) services.

Virtual machines cannot communicate with the ESXi server without VMKernel, so that’s why it’s very important for VMs.

VMkernel port, also called VMkernel adapter, is a type of VMkernel network interface that works as a service provider used by the ESXi host to communicate with the VMware-based infrastructure. These adapters or ports are created according to the type of services required by vMotion, Fault Tolerance, Management or perhaps vSAN etc.

13. What is VMotion? Why is it used?

VMotion could also be a key enabling technology for creating the dynamic, automated, and self-optimizing data centre.

We used VMware VMotion because it enables the live migration of running virtual machines from one physical server to a special one with zero downtime, continuous service availability, and complete transaction integrity.

14. What is Port-group?

VM port groups are how we will create logical rules round the virtual ports that are made available to VMs. It’s common to make a port group for every VLAN and network subnet that you simply want to present to your VMs.

15. What is vSwitch in VMware?

vSwitch is the software-based virtual networking switch used to connect virtual machines to the ESXi host & it also provides the connectivity between the virtual machines on that virtual switch. vSphere Standard Switch is referred to as vSwitch. Each ESXi host requires its own vSwitch.

16. How does vMotion work in the background?

The Virtual Machine Memory state is copied over the Vmotion Network from the source Host to the Target Host. Users still access the virtual machine and potentially update memory pages. A list of modified pages in memory is kept during a memory Bitmap on the source host.

17. What happens if VMotion fails?

VMotion will fail if the target host does not have enough memory to satisfy the reservation of the virtual machine. If you want to fix this, migrate the virtual machine to another ESXi host that can provide the guaranteed memory for the VM or reduce the memory reservation of the virtual machine.

18. What is the hypervisor and its types?

A hypervisor may be a virtualization layer that permits multiple operating systems to share one hardware host. Each operating system or Virtual Machine is allocated physical resources such as memory, CPU, storage etc by the host. There are two types of hypervisors.

• Hosted hypervisor – works as application i.e. VMware Workstation
• Bare-metal – is virtualization software i.e. VMvisor, Hyper-V which is installed directly onto the hardware and controls all physical resources.

19. We have got tons of features like VMotion, DRS, SMP, etc, but why do we like HA?

We’d like this because we want our services running without interruption. Assume like, for a couple of reasons if anyone of the ESX server within the cluster goes down suddenly, what happens to the virtual machines which are running thereon particular server? Do they continue to run or go down? Yes, they also go down. But with the help of VMware HA, these VM’s are often restarted immediately on the other ESX servers within an equivalent cluster. But here, you’ll get a downtime of 5 –10 mins because a server crash is an unexpected thing.

If you are someone who already has a basic understanding of VMware, this section is helpful for you as it covers the intermediate VMware interview questions.

20. What architecture changes were seen between ESXi 4.1 and 5.0?

vSphere 5.0 involves a replacement HA architecture. HA has been rewritten from the bottom up to shed a number of those constraints that were enforced by AAM. HA, as a neighbourhood of 5.0, also mentioned as FDM (fault domain manager), introduces less complexity and better resiliency. From a UI perspective, not tons have changed, but there are tons under the covers that have changed. Though no more primary/secondary node concept as stated but a master/slave concept with an automated election process.

21. Is HA dependent on Vmware vCenter Server?

Yes. But only during the initial installation and configuration.

22. What is VM Monitoring status?

HA will usually monitor ESX hosts and reboot the virtual machine within the failed hosts within the opposite host within the cluster just in case of host isolation. Still, I want the HA to monitor Virtual machine failures also. Here the feature called VM monitoring status as a neighbourhood of HA settings.VM monitoring would restart the virtual machine if the VMware tools heartbeat didn’t receive within the specified time using Monitoring sensitivity.

23. What is VMware vSphere API and vSphere SDK?

VMware vSphere API may be a set of interfaces for managing vSphere. You can use the API to try to do most of the items the vSphere Client can do. The API is defined as SOAP Web Services with WSDL. The vSphere SDK could also be a group of libraries that support vSphere API, also as tools and samples that assist your development efforts. The vSphere SDK is additionally referred to as VI SDK, vCenter SDK, ESX SDK, etc. In most discussions, the vSphere API and vSphere SDK are used interchangeably.

24. What’s VMFS?

VMFS may be a block-level, high-performance clustered filing system for virtualization. It is often shared between multiple ESXi hosts or VMs and may simultaneously write and read data to and from one storage location.

25. What advantages does VMware filing system provide over the utilization of traditional file systems?

The advantages of the VMware filing system over the utilization of a traditional filing system are that the structure of VMFS makes it possible to store VM files in a single folder and simplifies VM administration. Traditional file systems authorize only one server to get read/write access to a storage resource. This guarantees that a VM works with only one ESXi server at a time.

26. What’s a VMware Data-store?

Data-stores are the storage containers for files. Generally, data-stores hide the specifics of every memory device and supply a consistent model for storing VM files. Data-stores are wont to hold virtual machine files, templates, ISO images etc.

27. What’s the difference between NFS and VMFS data-stores?

NFS may be a file-level filing system, while VMFS may be a block-level filing system. Once we create a VMFS Data-store, the VMFS filing system is made by the vSphere, but the NFS filing system is on the Storage side and is merely mounted and features a shared folder on the vSphere.

28. What’s iSCSI in VMware?

iSCSI may be a protocol which uses the TCP to move SCSI commands and also enables the utilization of the prevailing TCP/IP networking infrastructure as a cargo area Network.

29. What’s the default port employed by iSCSI during a VMware vSphere environment?

In a VMware vSphere environment, iSCSI uses TCP ports 860 and 3260 with higher-level names wont to address the objects within the protocol.

30. What’s multipathing in vmware?

In VMware, multipathing may be a process that permits you to employ quite one physical path that transfers data between the host and an auxiliary storage device. During a failure of any element within the SAN network, like a switch, adapter, or cable, ESXi can switch to a different physical path that doesn’t use the failed component.

31. What’s FCoE protocol?

Fibre Channel over Ethernet or FCoE may be a transport standard that takes Fibre Channel frames and encapsulates them within an enhanced Ethernet network. FCoE retains Fibre Channel upper-level protocol features like flow control and data integrity checking but not its cables and interfaces.

32. What’s the difference between FC and FCoE?

FCOE maps Fiber channels over full duplex Ethernet networks based on IEEE 802.3 standard. And therefore the other hand, Fiber Channel or FC may be a serial data transfer protocol and standard for high-speed enterprise-grade storage networking. It accelerates to 128 Gbps and delivers storage data over fast optical networks.

33. How does VMware measure IOPS?

VMware measures IOPs by these two formulas:

A. IOPS = 1/(Avg. Latency + Avg. Seek)(ms) (per Disk )

B. Total IOPS = IOPS * Total number of Disks.

34. What’s IOPS in VMware?

IOPS stands for Input/output Operations per Second and may be a common performance measurement to benchmark memory devices like hard disc drives, solid state drives and cargo area networks.

35. What’s the utilization of snapshots in VMware?

The VMware snapshot is used to preserve the state and data of the Virtual machine at the present point in time, so once you are done testing, you’ll quickly revert the VM back to the desired state. In VMware, VMware snapshots are easy and quick thanks to saving the state of a virtual machine before you test a software update, patch or other change.

36. What percentage sorts of snapshots are there in VMware?

As the perspective of files VMware snapshot are often four types:

• Delta disk files
• Database file
• Memory file

37. Are you able to restore a VM from a snapshot?

Yes, one can restore a snapshot in VMware by using the Revert and attend commands.

38. What’s ALUA storage?

ALUA stands for Asymmetric Logical Unit Access. ALUA may be a specific memory device capable of servicing I/O to a given LUN on two different storage processors but unevenly. Using ALUA, I/O to a given LUN are often sent to available ports on any of the SPs within the storage array.

39. What’s NUMA in VMware?

The full sort of NUMA is Non-uniform access. It’s a memory design utilized in multiprocessing, where the access time depends on the memory location relative to the processor. The biggest disadvantage is that the access of the CPU is usually the fastest when the CPU can access its local memory.

40. How do I enable NUMA in VMware?

There are thanks to enable NUMA in VMware which is:

• Configure one virtual machine to use hyper-threading with NUMA, add NUMA and VCPU.
• Click on the VM option then select Edit Settings.
• Now configure all virtual machines to use hyper-threading with NUMA. Add numa then configure PreferHT=1 for per-host advanced configuration file.

41. What’s vNUMA or Virtual NUMA?

vNUMA or virtual non-uniform access may be an access optimization technique for VMware virtual machines (VMs), which helps prevent memory-bandwidth bottlenecks. Virtual NUMA is particularly useful with large, multiple VMs during a vApp or high-performance virtual machines.

42. What’s a LUN in VMware? What’s the complete sort of LUN?

LUN stands for Logical Unit Number. LUN could also be a logical section of storage. A LUN is often one disk or multiple disks, and it can also be allocated from a disk pool or disk volume relying on the storage vendor’s terminology. A data store could also be a representation VMware uses for an area of storage that virtual machines can reside on.

43. Why is RDM employed in VMware?

RDM allows Virtual machines to bypass VMFS. VMware’s default storage management interface and access the memory device directly. In this manner, an RDM acts as a proxy for a raw LUN residing during a VMFS volume. RDM or Raw Device Mapping may be a mapping file that maps a LUN on to a VM.

44. What’s the difference between RDM and VMDK?

RDM is additionally referred to as a pass-through disk and may be a mapping file that acts as a proxy for a physical device like a LUN. On the opposite side, VMDK may be a file that appears as an uncompromising drive to the guest OS. Fundamentally it’s a virtual disk drive.

45. How to add RDM to VMware?

First, you’ve got to create the RDM pointer file, then attach the RDM to a virtual machine using the vSphere Client; Right-click the virtual machine you would like to feature an RDM disk, Click Edit Settings, Click Add, Select hard disc, Select Use an existing virtual disk.

46. What’s the first feature of VMware vSAN?

The primary feature of VMware vSAN is its work with VM storage policies to support a VM-centric approach to storage management.

47. What’s the difference between SAN and vSAN?

SAN leverages storage protocols like FCP and iSCSI while vSAN only works with ESXi hosts. Within the case of SAN, storage administrators are required to pre-allocate storage on different systems although vSAN automatically converts local storage resources into one storage pool.

48. What’s NAS in VMware?

The NAS or network-attached storage transport mode enables the virtual server agent proxy computer to read data directly from the network digital computer (NFS) without browsing an ESX host or transferring data over the local area network.

49. What’s vSphere replication NFC?

vSphere replication NFC is that the replication traffic was sent and received using the management interfaces of ESXi and VRA appliances. NFC (Network File Copy) traffic is employed to repeat VM replication data from the vSphere Replication Server appliance at the target site to the destination datastores.

50. What’s VMware VAAI?

VMware VAAI is hardware acceleration or hardware offload APIs which are a group of APIs to enable communication between VMware vSphere ESXi hosts and storage devices.

51. How do I know if VAAI is enabled?

To enabled VAAI steps are following,

• In the vSphere Client inventory panel, click the host.
• Click the Configuration tab, then click Advanced Settings under Software.
• Check that these options are set to 1 (enabled).

52. What’s NFS in VMware?

NFS generally referred to as Network File Systems, may be file-level storage allocated by shared storage. Its network-attached storage will be shared through a cluster in vSphere. It also allows a user on a computer to access files over a network similar to local storage.

53. What’s the default number of ports configured with the virtual switch?

The default number of ports configured with the virtual switch is 128 ports.

54. What’s vDS in VMware?

The full form is vDS is VMware vSphere Distributed Switch which provides a centralized interface from which you’ll configure, monitor and administer virtual machine access switching for the whole data center. And it also provides support for advanced VMware vSphere networking features.

55. What’s a vSphere client?

The vSphere Client is application software that permits the management of a vSphere installation. The vSphere Client provides an administrator with access to the key functions of vSphere without the necessity to access a vSphere server directly.

56. What’s the max number of virtual machines per host?

Maximum number of virtual machines per host is 100.

57. What’s a host and cluster in VMware?

A Host is the virtual representation of the computing and memory resources of a physical machine running ESX Server, and a cluster may be a group of hosts.

58. What’s VMware auto deploy?

Auto Deploy is a process of VMware that stores the knowledge for the ESXi hosts to be provisioned in several locations. Information about the situation of image profiles and host profiles is initially laid out in the principles that map machines to image profiles and host profiles.

59. How does one automate a VM deployment in VMware?

Steps to automate a VM deployment in VMware:

• Enter the vCenter IP address, username and password.
• Select your vCenter platform.
• Enter the registration details, and therefore the new specification name.
• Enter the administrator password.

60. What are the 2 reasons why a virtual machine might fail to power on?

The two reasons for a virtual machine might fail to power on:

• The virtual machine is running on an ESXi host which has an expired license.
• The virtual machine is running on a data-store which has insufficient disc space for the .vswp file.

61. What’s VMware VUM?

VUM, also called VMware vSphere Update Manager, may be a tool that gives a patch management framework for VMware vSphere. IT administrators use VUM to patch and upgrade VMware ESXi hosts, VMware Tool, virtual hardware for virtual machines, and appliances.

62. What’s an appliance in VMware?

A virtual appliance consists of application software running on a preconfigured virtual machine with JeOS or simply enough OS needed to support the functions of the appliance.

63. What’s the utilization of vCenter server?

vCenter is employed to manage multiple ESXi hosts, virtual machines and every one dependent component from one centralized location.

64. What are the most components of vCenter server architecture?

The vCenter Server architecture consists of three main components which are vSphere Web Client, vCenter Server Database and vCenter Single Sign-On.

65. What are the services in vCenter server?

The vCenter Server services are vCenter Server, vSphere Web Client, Inventory Service, vSphere Auto Deploy, vSphere ESXi Dump Collector, VMware vSphere Syslog Collector on Windows and VMware Sphere Syslog Service for the vCenter Server Appliance.

66. What are the extra modules of VMware vCenter server?

VMware vCenter server additional modules are vCenter Update Manager, vCenter Converter, and vCenter Guided Consolidation Service.

67. How do I export VM from vCloud director?

The steps to export VM from vCloud director:

• Navigate to the organization you would like to export from.
• Click on Catalogs.
• Click on vApp Templates.
• Right-click on the VM that you simply wish to export, and choose Download.
• Click on Browse, and choose a folder and a reputation to store the OVF export

68. Which cloud service does VMware vCloud air provide?

vCloud Air provides three Infrastructure as a Service(IaaS) subscription service types- dedicated cloud, virtual private cloud, and disaster recovery.

69. What’s VMware VADP?

VMware VADP may be a VMware vStorage API that backs up and restores vSphere virtual machines. VADP replaces the VMware Consolidated Backup (VCB) framework, this offloads backup processing from ESX hosts and allows each ESX host to run more VMs.

70. What does MOB in VMware stand for?

MOB in VMware stands for Managed Object Browser.

71. How do I disable Storage DRS for the Data-store?

The steps are:

• Browse to the data-store cluster within the vsphere Client.
• Click the Configure tab and click on Services.
• Select Storage DRS and click on Edit.
• Select activate vSphere DRS and click on OK.

An optional step is to disable only I/O-related functions of Storage DRS, leaving space-related controls enabled then perform the subsequent steps.

72. What do you mean by clone & template in VMware? What is the difference between the two? 

Clone VMware: Clone virtual machines are the identical copy of the parent virtual machine; however the clone virtual machine and parent virtual machine will have different MAC addresses and UUIDs. Any changes done on a cloned virtual machine will not affect the parent virtual machine and vice-versa.

Template VMware: Template VMware the master copy or golden image of virtual machine that is used to provision virtual machines. This image can be later used to clone multiple virtual machines.

73. What are VMware HA and VMware FT? What is the difference between the two?

VMware HA: VMware HA (High Availability) works on cluster level. By pooling virtual machines and hosts resides into a cluster. Virtual machines running on failed hosts are forced to restart on alternate hosts. 

VMware FT: Vmware FT (Fault Tolerance) works on VM Level. In this a secondary virtual machine is created and maintained as identical to the primary virtual machine and it can be replaced when ESXi hosts fail to provide continuous availability of virtual machines. It is a complete copy of a virtual machine including storage, computation and memory.

74. How many CPUs can be used for a VM in FT in vSphere 7.0?

In VMware vSphere 7.0, we can use up to 8 vCPUs with VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus license. 

75. Explain Fault Tolerance logging traffic.

Fault tolerance logging traffic is considered to be the second network requirement. For syncing the data between primary VMs and secondary VMs fault tolerance applies FT logging.

76. Differentiate between vSphere and vCenter.

77. Will FT work if the vCenter server goes down?

Fault tolerance does not require vCenter to be online once configured, due to this no fault tolerance between primary and secondary will occur when vCenter is down.

78. What do you understand about Promiscuous mode?

Promiscuous mode is used for monitoring traffic. In the Promiscuous mode, all the network data packets can be viewed and accessed by all the network adapters operating in this mode. It is a network security, monitoring, and administration method that allows any network adapter configured on a host system to access all network data packets.

79. What do you mean by cold and hot migration?

Cold Migration:  In this migration, the powered-off VM, along with its configuration and data, is migrated from one host to another host. The VMs can be migrated manually, or one can set up scheduled tasks to perform this migration.

Hot Migration:  In this migration, the powered-on VM is migrated from one host to another. This is also known as live migration because there is no need to shut down the virtual machine.

80. What is the difference between virtual desktop and remote desktop?

Remote Desktop:  The remote desktop program allows a computer that is located at a different location and interacts with the desktop as if they are accessing them physically, sitting in front of that device. Its solution is best for people who want to access their computers if they are away from their usual workplace. Also, it is beneficial for the technician who wants to fix any issues remotely by taking the remote console of that system.

Virtual Desktop:  Virtual Desktop and Remote Desktops offer similar functionality – under the surface, there are a few significant differences. Virtual desktops provide a pre-configured image of operating systems or applications – separate from the device used to access them. Over the internet, any endpoint device – be it a laptop, tablet, or smartphone can be used to access the virtual desktop. 

81. How can I differentiate between virtual machine port groups and VMkernel ports?

The VMKernel port provides connectivity to the host, and it handles the traffic like vMotion, Fault Tolerance traffic, and management. The IP address is assigned to the Virtual Kernel Adapter (VMK) of the VMKernel port group. The Virtual machines are connected to the VM port group.

One of the important differences is that a Virtual Machine port group is just passing your garden variety virtual machine traffic, and a VMKernel port group is passing traffic specific to VMware vSphere.

82. What’s the difference between VMFS and NFS?

VMFS (Virtual Machine File System) : VMFS is a block-level file system that is used to store virtual machine files. In vSphere 6.0, it can also store large files up to 64TB in size. 

NFS (Network File System):  NFS is a distributed file system protocol that was first developed by Sun Microsystems in 1984. It has a client/server architecture, which contains a client program, server program, and protocol that helps to communicate between the client and the server. It helps the user to access the data and files easily over the network.   

83. What do you understand about RDM?

The Raw Device Mapping (RDM) files are contained in VMFS and act as proxies for raw physical devices. This helps virtual machines access logical unit numbers (LUNs) directly. The RDM contains metadata used for managing and redirecting disk access to the physical device.

The difficulty of the VMware interview depends on the individuals efforts and the company they are applying for. It may seem quite intimidating if you are a fresher and don’t have much experience, however, it depends on the individual. The questions may range from easy to intermediate.

In the VMware interview process, there are around 4-5 interview rounds, such as: – Online Assessment – Technical Round (2-3) – Managerial Interview – HR Interview

According to Payscale, the salary in US may range from $80,267 to $183,781 a year.

VMware admins use a specific VMware environment such as vSphere that can be used to install computer infrastructure such as servers, virtual machines, and hardware. Troubleshooting and maintenance are part of a VMware admins job responsibilities. Apart from this, they would also work on maintaining the virtual center, simplifying template management and cluster management, coordinating with vendors, and managing the host’s storage and virtual machines.

The overall interview process takes close to 2-4 weeks, at the end of which, you will receive the offer letter.

This brings us to the end of the blog on the top 80+ VMware Interview Questions and Answers. We hope that this list of the top VMware Interview Questions was helpful and you are now better equipped to attend your upcoming interview confidently.

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40 Scenario Based VMware Interview Questions and Answers

VMware is the leader in Virtualization and Cloud Computing technologies and provides solutions in network and desktop virtualization. VMware has changed the tech world from a physical to a software-based virtual world.

Due to the implementation of a virtual environment to consolidate the hardware infrastructure, the demands of subject matter experts are increasing day by day in the market. To manage and maintain an organization’s business, an experienced workforce is required. Professionals are selected via many technical and HR processes to choose the top talent from the market for growing an organization’s business.

Following are some scenario-based interview questions and answers for experienced IT administrators (up to 5 years experience) on data center virtualization technology that may be asked to assess the candidate’s technical and hands-on expertise.

#1. An administrator wants to connect the ESXi host directly from the vSphere Web Client. Which ports are required for this purpose?

Typically vSphere Web Client is used to connect vCenter Server, and VClient is used to connect ESXi hosts. But vSphere Web Client can also be used to connect vCenter Server, but for this purpose, you will need 443 TCP, 902 TCP and UDP, and 903 TCP ports to be opened from Security Profile.

#2. The clock time of an ESXi 6.x host is not correct. What should an administrator do to correct this issue?

To correct the time on the ESXi host, modify the time for the host using the vSphere client and correct the NTP settings in the /etc/ntp.conf file.

#3. An administrator wants to shut down the host using the ESXi host. Which option would be used in the Direct Console User Interface to perform this task?

To shut down the host for Direct Console User Interface (DCUI), an administrator will press F12 Key.

#4. An administrator can access the ESXi host via vCenter Server using vSphere Web Client but cannot directly via VClient. What should he do to access ESXi host directly?

If the ESXi host connected to vSphere Web Client is being accessed and can’t be accessed directly, we should check that Lockdown is not enabled. If it is enabled, we should be disabled. Because if Lockdown is enabled, ESXi hosts can only be accessed via vCenter Server; you cannot directly access any host.

#5. An administrator wants to use the VMware Certificate Authority (VMCA) as an Intermediate Certificate Authority (CA). He already replaces the Root Certificate and Machine Certificates (Intermediate CA). What should he do next?

After replacing the root certificate and machine certificate (intermediate CA), the following two steps are needed to perform.

• Replace Solution User Certificates (Intermediate CA)
• Replace the VMware Directory Service certificate.

#6. If Strict Lockdown Mode is enabled on an ESXi host, which action should an administrator perform to allow ESXi Shell or SSH access for users with administrator privileges?

The administrator will add the users to Exception Users and enable the service to allow ESXi Shell or SSH access.

#7. SSO is an essential component of the vCenter Server. Which SSO component issues Security Assertion Markup Language tokens?

VMware Security Token Service component of SSO grants SAML tokens.

#8. What is a valid Identity Source used to configure vCenter Single Sign-On?

OpenLDAP is a valid Identity Source for configuring vCenter SSO.

#9. What happens to the files contained on shared storage When a Content Library is deleted?

When Content Library is deleted, all stored files in the content library will be deleted.

#10. What is the maximum number of vCPUs required for a VM in vSphere 6.0?

Maximum 128 vCPUs can be allocated to a VM vSphere 6.0.

#11. A windows domain user can be logged in to vSphere using vSphere Web Client. What are the requirements to be met for this feature to be available and functional?

An administrator can allow users to log in to vSphere Web Client using Windows session authentication. For this purpose, Install the vSphere Web Client Integration browser plug-in on each computer from where a user will sign in. The users must be signed in to Windows using Active Directory user accounts. And, an administrator must create a valid Identity Source in Single Sign-On for the users’ domain.

#12. An administrator wants to clone a virtual machine using the vSphere Client. Which explains why the Clone option is missing?

To clone a VM can be performed from vCenter Server either you connected via vSphere Web Client or VClient. If you are directly connected to an ESXi host, you cannot perform cloning of a VM.

#13. What will happen if the .nvram file is deleted accidentally from a VM?

.nvram file is used to store the BIOS state of a VM. If it is deleted for some reason, then, .nvram file will be created again when the virtual machine is powered on.

#14. An administrator wants to connect the vSphere 5.5 Client to ESXi 6.x host. What will occur?

If the administrator tries to connect the vSphere 5.5 Client to ESXi 6.x host, the operation will prompt the administrator to run a script to upgrade the vSphere Client.

#15. Which one of the secondary Private VLANs (PVLANs) types can send packets to Isolated PVLAN?

A promiscuous type of PVLAN can communicate and send packets to an Isolated PVLAN.

#16. What sample roles are provided by default when vCenter is installed?

When vCenter is installed, Virtual machine user and Network Administrator roles are provided.

#17. What will happen when all paths down (APD) event occurs for the software FCoE storage?

If all paths down events occur, Spanning Tree Protocol is enabled on the network ports.

#18. What methods are available for upgrade a host from ESXi 5.x to ESXi 6.x?

vSphere Update Manager (VUM), esxcli command-line tool, and vSphere Auto Deploy can be used to upgrade.

#19. What administrator should do before upgrading virtual machine hardware?

Before upgrading a VM hardware, we should create a backup or snapshot of the VM, upgrade VMware Tools to the latest version, and verify that the VM is stored VMFS or NFS datastore.

#20. vCenter Server up-gradation fails at the vCenter Single Sign-On installation. What should you do to complete the upgrade process?

Before upgrading the vCenter Server, please verify that the VMware Directory service can stop by manually restarting it. If it stopped manually, then you can start the up-gradation process of the vCenter Server.

#21. What prerequisites should be considered before upgrading the vCenter Server Appliance?

In case of up-gradation of vCenter Server Appliance (vCSA) or after fresh installation, Client Integration Plugin (CIP) will be installed in both cases.

#22. After deploying a PSC, vCenter Server is not being installed and shows the following error:

If this error appears, verify that the clocks on the host machines running the PSC, vCenter Server, and the vSphere Web Client are synchronized. And also, ensure that there is no firewall blocking port 7444 between the PSC and vCenter Server.

#23. An administrator installed Windows Server 2008 and wants to install vCenter Server on it but failed when installing on a Windows virtual machine?

vCenter Server installation requires 64bit Windows OS to install. If you try to install it on Windows Server 2008, it will not be installed, and installation will be failed. vCenter Server will be installed in Windows Server 2008 R2 or higher Windows OS.

#24. What is the minimum Virtual Hardware version required for vFlash Read Cache?

vFlash Read Cache was first in vSphere 5.5, and the minimum Virtual Hardware version for vSphere 5.5 is version 10.

#25. ESXi host is added in vCenter Server but not responding in vSphere Web Client. If this issue occurs due to a firewall, which port should be opened?

If the administrator sees no response of added ESXi 6.x host in vCenter Server, the issue is caused by network firewall blocking traffic. Then he should check that port 902 (UDP) is not blocked by a firewall . If it happens, enable the port from Security Profile by using vSphere Web Client by selecting said ESXi host in vCenter Server.

#26. Suppose a VM is unexpectedly powered off. Which VM logs files should be considered to troubleshoot the issue?

If it happens, an administrator should check vmware.log and hostd.log log files to troubleshoot the issue.

#27. Why a VM appeared as an orphaned VM?

If a VM appears in an orphaned state, this could cause a VMware High Availability host failure has occurred. And the virtual machine was unregistered directly on the ESXi host.

#28. While upgrading an ESXi 5.5 host to ESXi 6.x, the following error appears: MEMORY_SIZE

What does this require to do?

It indicates insufficient memory on the ESXi host to complete the upgrade process of an ESXi host from ESXi 5.5 to ESXi 6.x.

#29. To remove a host from a vSphere Distributed Switch (vDS), the following error message is observed:

The resource ’10’ is in use

Before removing vDS, it is ensured that VMkernel network adapters on the vDS are not in use. If any of the resources of vDS is being used, then above mentioned error message with resource ID will appear.

#30. An administrator wants to monitor network traffic and capture network traffic for a VM but cannot see the expected traffic in the packet capture tool. What should he do to resolve the problem?

If an administrator needs to capture network traffic for a VM, he should Enable Promiscuous Mode on the relevant port group. Then you can capture the network traffic by using any networking traffic capturing tool.

#31. A vSAN Cluster is created with six nodes along with the fault domain, and three of them moved into the fault domain. A one-member node of the fault domain fails. What will happen with the remaining two nodes exist in the fault domain?

When a member node of the fault domain fails, the remaining two fault domain members will be treated as failed.

#32. At which level is a vSAN Fault Domain configured?

A fault domain is configured at the vSAN Cluster level, and nodes will be added to this domain. If any member node fails due to any reason, the remaining members of the fault domain will also be considered as fail.

#33. It is observed that a VM storage activity on an ESXi 6.x host is negatively affecting a VM storage activity on another host that is accessing the same VMFS Datastore. Which action would mitigate the issue?

To control the storage activity of a VM from affecting another VM’s storage activity, Storage IO Control (SIOC) should be enabled. Storage I/O Control provides much-needed control of storage I/O and should be used to ensure that the performance of your critical VMs is not affected by VMs from other hosts when there is contention for I/O resources.

#34. While upgrading an ESXi host from 5.5to 6.0, the administrator runs the following command:

What will be shown by this command?

This command will show all active VIBs (vSphere Installation Bundle). VIB is a collection of files like tarball or zip packaged into a single archive to facilitate distribution.

#35. To troubleshoot a CPU performance issues of a VM, which counters will be used to demonstrate CPU contention?

To test the performance of an ESXi host in the form of memory, CPU, and network utilization, the ESXTOP tool is used. It is an excellent tool available for VMware administrators to troubleshoot performance issues. For configuring ESXTOP, you’ll need vSphere Client, and putty and SSH sessions should be enabled. For CPU performance testing, %RDY, %MLMTD, and %CSTP counters are used.

#36. An administrator tries to run esxtop by enabling SSH and using putty to troubleshoot CPU performance issues, but no output is displayed. How to resolve this issue?

To display output in ESXTOP, press f and place an asterisk next to each field that should be displayed.

#37. An administrator wants to monitor VMs on a host using vCenter Server and send notifications when memory usage crosses 80%. What should an administrator do in the vCenter Server to accomplish this?

To monitor VM’s memory usage that reaches 80%, a vCenter Server alarm will be created to monitor VM’s memory usage and set an action to email the notification.

#38. An administrator created a DRS cluster, and it became unbalanced. What are likely causes to become unbalanced?

DRS cluster can become unbalanced when Affinity rules are preventing VMs from being moved. And a device is mounted to a VM prevents vMotion from one host to another.

#39. An IT administrator configured two vCenter Servers within a PSC and needs to grant a user privilege that can access all environments. What is the access level required to access all the environments?

To access multiple vCenter Servers within a PSC, requires Global Permission to access all environments.

#40. An administrator created 10 ESXi 6.x hosts via Auto Deploy for a new Test/Dev cluster, and all hosts are configured to obtain their IP address via DHCP. Which DCUI option should the administrator use to renew the DHCP lease for the hosts?

The “Reset Management Network” of the Direct Console User Interface (DCUI) option is used to renew the DHCP lease for the hosts.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this post. You may also like to explore more VMWare Interview Questions and Answers .

Interview Baba

Top 25 VMware Interview Questions & Answers

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

Embarking on a career in virtualization calls for a solid grasp of VMware, the industry leader in virtualization solutions. If you’re gearing up for a VMware interview, understanding the type of vmware interview questions you might encounter can be the key to displaying your expertise and securing the position. This article delves into essential VMware interview questions, offering insights into what hiring managers seek in potential candidates.

2. Navigating VMware Career Opportunities

VMware stands as a titan in the realm of virtualization, offering products and services that enable businesses to operate more efficiently and securely in a multi-cloud world. Professionals in this field are expected to have a robust understanding of VMware’s suite of software, including but not limited to vSphere, vCenter, and ESXi. Interviews for roles involving VMware technologies are designed to assess not only a candidate’s technical knowledge but also their ability to troubleshoot, optimize, and secure virtual environments. From managing resources with High Availability and Fault Tolerance to handling live migration and network virtualization, mastery in VMware can open doors to a variety of challenging and rewarding careers in IT infrastructure management.

3. VMware Interview Questions

Q1. can you explain what vmware is and why it is used in the industry (virtualization fundamentals).

VMware is a leading provider of multi-cloud services for all apps, enabling digital innovation with enterprise control. It is widely recognized for its virtualization products, which allow businesses to run multiple virtual machines (VMs) on a single physical machine, and share the resources of that single computer across multiple environments. Different operating systems can run on the same physical hardware, which is a cost-effective way of managing and optimizing the use of hardware resources.

VMware’s virtualization technology is used in the industry for several reasons:

• Resource Optimization : It helps in consolidating servers and saving on hardware costs.
• Isolation : Each VM is isolated from others, which means that if one VM crashes, it doesn’t affect the others.
• Encapsulation : A VM includes a full copy of an operating system, one or more apps, and the necessary binaries and libraries — making it highly portable.
• Hardware Independence : VMs can be easily moved, copied, and assigned to other servers.
• Management and Automation : Improve the efficiency, agility, and responsiveness of IT to business needs.

Q2. Why do you want to work with VMware technologies? (Interest & Motivation)

How to Answer When answering this question, it’s important to demonstrate your knowledge of VMware products and how they align with your career goals and interests. You may want to discuss your fascination with virtualization technology, your experience with VMware products, or your interest in the company’s innovation and market presence.

Example Answer I am passionate about virtualization and cloud technologies, and VMware is at the forefront of this field. Working with VMware technologies would allow me to engage with cutting-edge solutions that are pivotal in driving digital transformation. The company’s commitment to innovation aligns with my desire to be on the leading edge of technology and to contribute to projects that have a significant impact on how businesses operate and grow.

Q3. How does vSphere High Availability (HA) work? (High Availability & Fault Tolerance)

vSphere High Availability (HA) provides easy-to-use, cost-effective high availability for applications running in virtual machines. In the event of server failure, affected VMs are automatically restarted on other production servers with spare capacity. Here’s a glimpse of how it works:

• Host Failure Detection : HA monitors whether each physical server (host) in a cluster is still running. If a host stops responding, HA treats this as a failure and initiates VM restarts on other hosts.
• VM Monitoring : Besides monitoring the health of servers, HA can also monitor VMs to ensure they’re running properly. If a VM stops responding, HA can reset the VM and get it running again.
• Admission Control : This ensures that sufficient resources are reserved for VM recovery in case of a host failure.
• Network and Datastore Heartbeating : In situations where a host is isolated from the network, HA uses datastore heartbeating to determine if the host should be considered down and its VMs restarted elsewhere.

Q4. Can you describe the differences between vSphere, vCenter, and ESXi? (VMware Product Knowledge)

Here are the primary differences between vSphere, vCenter, and ESXi:

vSphere is the overall product suite that provides cloud computing virtualization. vCenter is a management application that allows centralized management of vSphere environments. ESXi, on the other hand, is a type 1 hypervisor that runs on the host machine to manage and allocate resources to VMs.

Q5. What is VMotion and how does it work? (VM Migration & DRS)

VMotion, now called vSphere vMotion, is a feature that allows the live migration of running VMs from one physical server to another with zero downtime, continuous service availability, and complete transaction integrity. Here’s how it works:

• Pre-Migration : vSphere vMotion checks if the target host has sufficient resources and is compatible with the virtual machine’s hardware requirements.
• Quiesce and Snapshot : The VM’s memory, current state, and precise execution point are quiesced and snapshoted.
• Transfer : The memory and execution state of the VM are then transferred over a high-speed network to the target ESXi host.
• Switch Over : Once the memory and system state are copied, vSphere vMotion switches the VM network identity and storage to the new host without any noticeable service interruption.
• Clean Up : The original VM on the source host is powered off, and resources are cleaned up.

vSphere vMotion is a key component of VMware’s Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS), which automatically balances computing workloads with available resources.

Q6. Describe the process of creating a new VM on an ESXi host. (VM Provisioning & Management)

Creating a new VM on an ESXi host involves several steps. Here is a general process:

• Log into vSphere Client : Access your vSphere Client and connect to the vCenter Server or directly to the ESXi host if vCenter is not used.
• New Virtual Machine Wizard : Right-click on the ESXi host in the inventory and select "Create New Virtual Machine" or click on "Create a new virtual machine" from the Actions panel.
• Configuration : Select a configuration type, typically "Custom" for advanced settings or "Typical" for a guided setup with default settings.
• Name and Folder : Enter the name of the virtual machine and select the location (datacenter or folder) where it will be stored.
• Compute Resource : Choose the host or cluster where the VM will run.
• Storage : Select a datastore where the virtual machine files will be stored.
• Compatibility : Choose the virtual machine version that defines the hardware features available to the VM. This should match or be lower than the ESXi host version.
• Guest OS : Choose the guest operating system family and version.
• Customize Hardware : Configure the virtual machine’s hardware, such as CPU, memory, network, and disk size. You can also add additional hardware like GPUs or USB controllers.
• Review and Finish : Review the configuration summary and click "Finish" to provision the VM. The VM files will be created on the datastore and the VM will be powered off by default.

Remember to install VMware Tools on the newly created VM for optimized performance and driver compatibility.

Q7. Explain the concept of a datastore in VMware. (Storage Management)

A datastore in VMware is a logical storage unit that can aggregate physical storage resources from one or more storage devices and provides a unified model for storing virtual machine files, templates, and ISO images. Datastores in VMware are used for:

• Storing virtual machine files (.vmx for configuration, .vmdk for disks, .nvram for BIOS settings, etc.)
• Storing templates for rapid deployment
• Holding ISO images for OS installation

Datastores can be backed by different types of physical storage like:

• Local storage on the ESXi host
• SAN (Storage Area Network) storage, like Fibre Channel or iSCSI
• NAS (Network Attached Storage), using NFS protocol
• vSAN, VMware’s own software-defined storage solution

Q8. What is a hypervisor and what types does VMware offer? (Hypervisor Knowledge)

A hypervisor is software that creates, runs, and manages virtual machines (VMs) by abstracting the physical hardware of the host system and providing it virtually to VMs. VMware offers two types of hypervisors:

• Type 1 hypervisor (Bare-metal) : This type of hypervisor runs directly on the host’s hardware to control the hardware and manage the guest operating systems. VMware’s ESXi is an example of a Type 1 hypervisor. It is known for its high performance and efficiency because it has direct access to physical hardware.
• Type 2 hypervisor (Hosted) : This type of hypervisor runs on a conventional operating system just like other software applications. VMware Workstation and VMware Fusion are examples of Type 2 hypervisors. They are easier to set up and are ideal for development and testing environments.

Q9. How would you secure a VMware virtual environment? (Security & Compliance)

How to Answer : When discussing security in a VMware virtual environment, consider the various layers that require security measures such as network security, physical security, user access, virtual machine security, and compliance with industry standards.

Example Answer : To secure a VMware virtual environment, I would take the following steps:

• User Access and Authentication : Implement strong user authentication and role-based access control. Minimize use of the root account and use Active Directory integration for centralized management.
• Network Security : Deploy firewalls and segregate network traffic using VLANs or NSX virtual networks. Use VMware NSX for micro-segmentation to isolate workloads.
• VM Security : Keep the ESXi hosts and virtual machines up-to-date with the latest patches. Utilize VM encryption and encrypted vMotion to protect data at rest and in transit.
• Monitoring and Compliance : Use vRealize Operations and Log Insight for continuous monitoring, alerting, and auditing of the environment. Implement compliance standards like PCI DSS or HIPAA as required for the organization.
• Physical Security : Ensure physical access to ESXi hosts and related infrastructure is controlled and monitored.
• Backup and Disaster Recovery : Implement regular backup procedures and disaster recovery plans to enable quick recovery in case of an incident.

Q10. What are the benefits of using VMware NSX? (Network Virtualization)

VMware NSX provides several benefits to an organization’s network infrastructure. Here’s a list of key advantages:

• Agility and Speed : Enables rapid network provisioning and deployment of applications, reducing the time to market.
• Micro-segmentation : Offers granular security within the data center, by isolating workloads from each other, reducing the attack surface.
• Automated Network Operations : Simplifies network management through automation, reducing the risk of manual errors and operational overhead.
• Enhanced Security : Integrates with third-party security solutions and provides a platform for advanced security services.
• Disaster Recovery : Simplifies disaster recovery processes through network virtualization, which is independent of physical network topology.
• Cross-Cloud Mobility : Facilitates workload mobility across different clouds and data centers.

Using VMware NSX, companies can create a more flexible, scalable, and secure network infrastructure that is better aligned with the needs of modern, dynamic data centers and cloud environments.

Q11. How do you monitor the performance of a VMware environment? (Performance Monitoring)

Monitoring the performance of a VMware environment is crucial to ensure that all virtual machines (VMs) and host systems are running optimally. Here are key approaches and tools used for monitoring:

• vSphere Client : The vSphere Client provides a dashboard that displays the performance metrics of VMs and hosts. It includes CPU usage, memory usage, disk I/O, and network utilization.
• ESXTOP/RESXTOP : These command-line tools provide real-time data on the ESXi hosts and are useful for in-depth performance analysis. They are particularly powerful for troubleshooting performance issues.
• vRealize Operations Manager : This is an advanced monitoring tool that provides comprehensive visibility and analytics for the entire virtual environment. It offers predictive analytics and smart alerts to proactively address potential issues.
• Performance Charts : The Performance tab in vSphere Web Client lets you view historical performance data and analyze past performance to identify trends.

Q12. What is VMware DRS and how does it benefit a virtualized environment? (Distributed Resource Scheduler)

VMware DRS stands for Distributed Resource Scheduler, a feature of VMware vSphere that provides load balancing of computing workloads with automatic resource allocation to virtual machines based on predefined rules. It optimizes the usage of available resources within a cluster.

Benefits of VMware DRS in a virtualized environment include:

• Load Balancing : DRS continuously monitors utilization across resource pools and intelligently assigns available resources among virtual machines, thereby ensuring balanced workloads.
• High Availability : In the event of server failure, DRS can redistribute VMs from the failed server to other hosts in the cluster, minimizing downtime.
• Automated Resource Management : DRS automates the process of resource allocation, thus reducing manual intervention and the risk of human error.
• Flexibility : DRS allows for manual overrides, where an administrator can intervene for specific resource allocation decisions if needed.

Q13. Can you explain the difference between thick provision and thin provision of virtual disks? (Storage Provisioning)

Thick provision and thin provision are two methods of allocating storage to virtual disks in VMware environments:

Thick Provision : This method allocates the entire specified size of the virtual disk upfront. There are two types of thick provisioning:

• Thick Provision Lazy Zeroed : Creates a virtual disk in a default thick format. Space required for the virtual disk is allocated during creation, but the data that makes up the disk is not zeroed until it is written to for the first time by the VM.
• Thick Provision Eager Zeroed : Space required for the virtual disk is allocated at creation time and is zeroed immediately. This can enhance performance as data does not need to be zeroed on demand as the space is used.

Thin Provision : This method allocates disk space on-demand as data is written to the virtual disk. Initially, a small amount of space is allocated, which grows as needed, up to the maximum defined disk size.

The primary difference is in how disk space is allocated and when it is reserved. Thick provision ensures that the space is guaranteed but may lead to unused allocated space. Thin provision is more efficient in space utilization but requires monitoring to prevent the VM from running out of space as it grows.

Q14. What are the essential components required for a VMware virtual infrastructure? (Infrastructure Components)

The essential components required for a VMware virtual infrastructure include:

• ESXi Server : This is the core hypervisor that runs directly on the physical server and allows for the creation and management of virtual machines.
• vCenter Server : vCenter Server is the centralized management platform that enables the management of multiple ESXi hosts and virtual machines.
• VMware vSphere Client : This is the interface used to interact with vCenter Server and ESXi hosts.
• Virtual Machines : These are the "computers within the computer," encapsulated in files that can run an operating system and applications just like a physical machine.
• Datastores : These are storage units where virtual machine files are stored, typically SAN, NAS, or local storage.

Here is a simplified table of the components:

Q15. How do you troubleshoot a VMware network connectivity issue? (Network Troubleshooting)

Troubleshooting network connectivity in a VMware environment involves several steps:

• Check Virtual Machine Network Settings : Ensure the VM is connected to the correct virtual switch and port group with the right VLAN settings.
• Verify Physical Network Connections : Check if the ESXi host’s physical NICs are connected to the correct physical switches and ports.
• Review ESXi Networking Configuration : Use the vSphere Client to review the host’s virtual switch configuration and network adapter settings.
• Test with Ping and Traceroute : Use these tools to determine where the connectivity breakdown is occurring.
• Examine Firewall Settings : Check both the ESXi host’s firewall and any virtual or physical firewalls in the path for rules that might block traffic.
• Inspect Logs : Look at the ESXi host logs and VM logs for any error messages or indicators of what went wrong.
• Update Network Drivers : Make sure that the ESXi hosts are using the latest network drivers.

Here’s a troubleshooting checklist:

• Verify virtual machine network settings (e.g., correct virtual switch and port group).
• Check physical network connections.
• Review the ESXi host’s virtual switch configuration.
• Perform network tests with ping and traceroute.
• Examine firewall settings for possible blockages.
• Look through relevant logs for clues.
• Ensure network drivers are up to date.

Q16. Describe the process for patching ESXi hosts. (Maintenance & Patching)

Patching ESXi hosts is a crucial part of maintaining the security and performance of your virtual environment. Here’s the general process:

• Verify the Patch Compatibility: Before starting the patching process, ensure that the patches are compatible with your ESXi version and your hardware.
• Backup Your Configuration: Always back up your ESXi host configuration before applying patches. This can be done using the vicfg-cfgbackup command.
• Enter Maintenance Mode: Place the ESXi host into maintenance mode. This will ensure that no VMs are running on the host during the patching process. You can do this via the vSphere Client or with the command esxcli system maintenanceMode set --enable true .
• Apply the Patch: Upload the patch to a datastore accessible by the ESXi host and use the esxcli software vib command to install the patch. For example:
• Reboot the Host: If required by the patch, reboot the ESXi host to complete the patching process.
• Exit Maintenance Mode: Once the host is patched and back online, exit maintenance mode with the command esxcli system maintenanceMode set --enable false .
• Verify Patch Installation: Confirm that the patch has been successfully applied by checking the host version and build number.
• Re-apply Host Configuration (if necessary): If the patching process reset any configuration settings, re-apply your host configuration from the backup.

Q17. What is the purpose of VMware vSAN? (Software-Defined Storage)

VMware vSAN is a software-defined storage solution that is fully integrated with VMware vSphere. Its purpose is to create a shared storage pool by aggregating the local or direct-attached storage of ESXi hosts. The main goals of vSAN are:

• Simplify Storage Management: Administrators can manage storage along with virtual machines and compute resources using familiar vSphere tools.
• Scale-Out Architecture: vSAN allows the addition of more capacity or performance by simply adding more ESXi hosts to the cluster or by adding more storage devices to existing hosts.
• High Availability and Performance: vSAN provides storage policies that ensure high availability and performance, offering features like replication and caching.
• Reduce Costs: By using server-side storage, organizations can reduce their reliance on traditional storage arrays, leading to lower capital and operational expenses.

Q18. How can you migrate a VM from one datacenter to another without downtime? (Live Migration Techniques)

To migrate a VM from one datacenter to another without downtime, you can use the VMware vSphere vMotion feature. The process is as follows:

• Ensure Both Datacenters are Connected: The source and destination datacenters should be interconnected with a high bandwidth, low latency network.
• Compatible Environment: The destination ESXi host must have a shared storage setup that the VM can access and must be running a compatible version of ESXi.
• Configure vMotion Networking: Ensure that vMotion networking is properly configured on both source and destination ESXi hosts.
• Initiate vMotion: From the vSphere Client, right-click the VM you want to migrate, select "Migrate," and follow the wizard to select the destination datacenter, host, and datastore. During the migration, vMotion will transfer the running state and memory of the VM to the destination host.
• Monitor the Migration: Monitor the vMotion task until completion. The VM will continue to run during the entire process, with no noticeable downtime for users.

Q19. What is the role of VMware vRealize Operations Manager? (Operations Management)

VMware vRealize Operations Manager is a software product that provides operations management across physical, virtual, and cloud environments. Its role is to:

• Monitor Performance: It continuously monitors the health, risk, and efficiency of your infrastructure and applications.
• Capacity and Cost Management: It provides insights into capacity usage and demand, along with cost visibility for infrastructure consumption.
• Troubleshooting and Analytics: It offers root cause analysis and predictive analytics to detect and solve potential issues before they impact the environment.
• Automation: vRealize Operations Manager can automate certain tasks such as workload balancing and optimization to proactively ensure performance and resource utilization.

Q20. Can you explain how resource pools work in VMware? (Resource Management)

Resource pools are used in VMware to hierarchically partition available CPU and memory resources among multiple virtual machines (VMs). Here’s how resource pools work:

• Hierarchical Organization: Resource pools allow you to organize and manage resources in a hierarchical manner. You can create a tree-like structure with parent and child resource pools.
• Resource Allocation: You allocate CPU and memory resources to each resource pool, which can then be further divided among the child pools or assigned to VMs.
• Shares: Determine the relative priority of a resource pool or VM within a parent pool.
• Reservations: Guarantee a minimum amount of CPU or memory to a resource pool or VM.
• Limits: Set a maximum amount of CPU or memory usage for a resource pool or VM.

Here is an example table demonstrating how you might allocate resources within a simple hierarchy:

• Balancing Performance: If a VM requires more resources and they are not being utilized by others, the resource pool can allow that VM to consume more up to the limit set for the pool.

Using resource pools, administrators have greater control over resource distribution and can ensure that critical workloads have the necessary resources while maintaining overall efficiency in the environment.

Q21. Describe a scenario where you had to troubleshoot a VMware environment. What steps did you take? (Problem-Solving & Troubleshooting)

How to Answer: When answering this question, it is important to demonstrate your problem-solving skills and your methodical approach to troubleshooting. Outline the situation briefly, but focus on the steps you took to diagnose and resolve the issue. This will help the interviewer understand your thought process and technical expertise.

Example Answer: In a previous role, I encountered a scenario where a critical VM suddenly became unresponsive. Here’s how I approached the problem:

• Initial Assessment : I first verified if the issue was isolated to the single VM or if it was affecting multiple VMs, which would suggest a broader problem.
• Resource Monitoring : I checked resource usage on the VM and the host to ensure there were no resource contention issues.
• Log Analysis : I reviewed the VM’s logs and the ESXi host’s vmkernel logs for errors or warnings that could indicate the source of the problem.
• Network Checks : I verified network connectivity and reviewed the virtual switch configuration to rule out network-related issues.
• Snapshot and Backup Verification : Before attempting any restarts or changes, I checked if there were recent snapshots or backups that could be used in case of a required rollback.
• Restart Procedures : I attempted to gracefully restart the VM, which was unsuccessful, so I proceeded with a forced shutdown and restart of the VM.
• Root Cause Analysis : After the VM was back online, I continued investigating to identify the root cause, which turned out to be a storage I/O bottleneck.
• Resolution and Documentation : I worked with the storage team to resolve the I/O contention and documented the issue and resolution in our knowledge base.

This systematic approach ensured minimal downtime and a thorough understanding of the underlying issue, which helped prevent future occurrences.

Q22. What methods do you use for backing up VMs in a VMware environment? (Backup & Recovery)

There are several methods to back up VMs in a VMware environment:

• Snapshot-based backups : Using VMware snapshots to capture the state of a VM at a specific point in time. However, this is not a long-term backup solution and is mainly used for short-term changes.
• Agent-based backups : Installing backup agents within the guest operating system of each VM. This method allows for file-level backups and is similar to backing up physical servers.
• Agentless backups : Using VMware APIs like VMware vStorage APIs for Data Protection (VADP) to perform backups without installing agents inside VMs. This is less intrusive and more scalable.

A backup strategy may involve a combination of these methods, depending on the business requirements, size of the environment, and RTO/RPO objectives.

Q23. How would you explain the benefits of virtualization to a non-technical stakeholder? (Communication & Stakeholder Management)

How to Answer: To effectively communicate the benefits of virtualization to a non-technical stakeholder, you should focus on the business advantages and use simple terminology. Avoid technical jargon and relate the benefits to cost savings, efficiency, and business continuity.

Example Answer: Virtualization allows us to run multiple virtual computers on a single physical machine. Here are some key benefits:

• Cost Savings : By consolidating servers, we reduce hardware costs and save on energy bills because fewer physical servers are running.
• Efficiency : Virtualization enables us to utilize hardware resources more efficiently, ensuring we get the most out of our investments.
• Flexibility : It allows us to quickly set up or decommission servers as business needs change, without the need for physical hardware adjustments.
• Disaster Recovery : Virtualization simplifies backup processes and disaster recovery, as virtual machines can be easily replicated to offsite locations for safety.
• Space Saving : Less physical hardware means we can save space in our data centers, which is both practical and environmentally beneficial.

Q24. What experience do you have with automating tasks in a VMware environment? (Automation & Scripting)

Throughout my career, I have utilized several tools to automate tasks in VMware environments, including:

• PowerCLI : I’ve created scripts using VMware PowerCLI to automate tasks such as VM provisioning, snapshots, and reporting. For example, I wrote a PowerCLI script that deploys multiple VMs from a template with customized settings based on a CSV file input.
• vRealize Orchestrator (vRO) : I have experience in using vRO to create workflows that automate complex processes, such as orchestrating a full disaster recovery process.
• Ansible : I have also used Ansible to manage VMware infrastructure configuration and ensure consistency across the environment.

Automation has been a significant part of my work, saving time, reducing errors, and improving operational efficiency.

Q25. How do you ensure compliance with licensing requirements in a VMware setup? (Compliance & Licensing)

Ensuring compliance with licensing requirements in a VMware setup involves:

• Inventory Management : Keep a detailed inventory of all VMware products and licenses in use.
• License Tracking : Use VMware’s built-in licensing tools or third-party license management software to track license allocation and usage.
• Regular Audits : Conduct regular audits to compare actual usage with licensed capacity.
• Documentation : Maintain up-to-date documentation of licensing agreements, purchases, renewals, and terminations.
• Training : Ensure that IT staff are aware of licensing terms and conditions to prevent unintentional non-compliance.
• Vendor Communication : Engage with VMware or authorized resellers to stay informed about licensing changes and ensure that the organization adapts to new licensing models.

By following these practices, organizations can maintain compliance and avoid financial or legal penalties.

4. Tips for Preparation

To excel in a VMware interview, immerse yourself in the latest VMware technologies and trends. Brush up on core concepts of virtualization, vSphere, ESXi, and vCenter, and understand how these components interlink to create robust virtual environments. Stay informed about the newest features and updates by reading VMware’s official documentation and community forums.

Familiarize yourself with common scenarios and troubleshooting practices, as these can often form the basis of interview questions. In addition to technical skills, emphasize your ability to communicate complex ideas clearly, as well as your problem-solving approach. For leadership roles, prepare to discuss past experiences with team management and decision-making in IT projects.

5. During & After the Interview

In the interview, present yourself confidently and articulate your thoughts with clarity. Interviewers will look for expertise in VMware technologies, but also how you approach problems and adapt to new challenges. Be ready to explain your reasoning and how you’ve overcome past difficulties in your career.

Avoid common pitfalls such as being overly technical with non-technical interviewers or failing to express your enthusiasm for the role and the company. Prepare thoughtful questions that show you’ve done your research and are genuinely interested in the position and the company’s future.

After the interview, send a personalized thank-you email to express your appreciation for the opportunity and to reiterate your interest. It’s an excellent opportunity to briefly summarize why you are a strong fit for the role. Most companies will provide a timeline for feedback; however, if they don’t, it’s appropriate to politely inquire about the next steps within a week or two following the interview.

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VMware Interview Questions

Last updated by Ashwin Ramachandran on May 30, 2024 at 05:59 PM | Reading time: 13 minutes

VMware is a billion-dollar virtualization, cloud computing, and enterprise software company headquartered in California. The company was the first to virtualize the Microprocessor 8086 architecture commercially. It offers a wide variety of technology products and services, also through its acquisition of several smaller technology companies.

VMware hires for several technology roles, with software engineer and developer roles being the most common. Given the number of engineers who apply for these roles, landing an offer requires a solid prep strategy and implementing it to the T.

If you are preparing for a tech interview, check out our interview questions page and salary negotiation ebook to get interview-ready!

Having trained over 10,000 software engineers , we know what it takes to crack the toughest tech interviews. Since 2014, Interview Kickstart alums have been landing lucrative offers from FAANG and Tier-1 tech companies, with an average salary hike of 49%. The highest ever offer received by an IK alum is a whopping $933,000!

At IK, you get the unique opportunity to learn from expert instructors who are hiring managers and tech leads at Google, Facebook, Apple, and other top Silicon Valley tech companies.

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This article on VMware interview questions covers questions asked at VMware’s software engineering interviews. We’ll cover:

• VMware interview process and timeline
• VMware interview questions
• Tips to crack the VMware interview
• Get ready for your next VMware interview

VMware Interview Process and Timeline

The interview process at VMware is similar to that at FAANG and tier-1 companies. Recruiters essentially test your approach to problem-solving and your ability to solve complex coding problems by applying the right concepts.

The interview process at VMware lasts about 20-40 days from your first interaction with the recruiter to landing an offer. Here’s what you can expect as far as the process is concerned:

The Initial Phone Screen

This is the first round where a recruiter will contact you to essentially figure out if your profile meets the role’s requirements. In order to get contacted by a recruiter, make sure your LinkedIn profile has the right keywords so that LinkedIn’s bullion algorithms can locate your profile when recruiters are hiring for software developer positions.

You’ll be asked general questions about your experience and skills , following which your Technical Phone Screen round will be scheduled.

The Technical Phone Screen

This round tests your technical problem-solving skills with a problem or two on core data structures. You will be asked to brute-force the problem solution and write code on a shared doc. The interviewer may even modify the problem to include additional elements and test your approach.

If your performance in the technical phone screen is satisfactory, you’ll be invited to the on-site interview.

On-site Interview

The on-site interview has three main rounds : the coding round, the design round, and the behavioral round.

Each of these rounds typically last 30 minutes . The coding round will involve solving a problem or two around algorithms and data structures . You could be asked to code on a whiteboard if you’re invited to the on-site campus.

The design round evaluates your ability to build arbitrary, scalable systems with low latency. You’ll also be asked questions about cloud computing, database management, and network protocols in this round.

Finally, the behavioral round tests if you are the right cultural fit. Recruiters test your reaction in workplace situations and understand your attitude and behavioral traits in general.

Note: Behavioral and design rounds are more important for senior developer roles, such as Engineering Manager and above. In contrast, the coding round is more important for junior and mid-level developer roles.

In this section, we’ll look at VMware interview questions across four main categories:

• General (mostly about VMware’s products and services)

VMware Coding Interview Questions

VMware’s coding interview questions essentially fall under the following topics:

• Arrays , strings, and linked lists
• Sorting algorithms — quicksort , merge sort , heap sort , etc.
• Hash tables and queues
• Trees and graphs
• Graph algorithms, including greedy algorithms
• Dynamic programming

Below are some coding interview questions asked at Google’s software engineering interview:

• Write a program to implement a Queue using two stacks H1 and H2.
• You are given a Binary Tree “B” with unique values. You’re given two nodes for the binary tree. Write a program to find the lowest common ancestor of the two nodes.
• You’re given a Binary Tree “B” with unique values. Write a program to find the longest path consisting of connected nodes with consecutive values. The idea is to find the longest consecutive sequence in the given binary tree.
• You’re given a Binary Tree “B.” Write a program to return the mirror of the given binary tree.
• You’re given a sequence of strings. Write a program to find the most repeated string in the given sequence.
• Write a program to convert a given URL (long) into a shorter version leading to the same web page.
• In a party of “N” number of people donated as integers, if the same integer denotes couples, write a program to find the single person at the party.
• For a given number “N,” write a program to find out if it is sparse or not. A number is said to be sparse if no two or more bits are in binary representation.
• You’re given an incomplete 9x9 Sudoku frame. Write a program to complete the sudoku accurately.
• You’re given an array A that is both sorted and rotated and has distinct elements. Write a program to find the index of a given element in the array.
• You’re given a boolean matrix of size LxM where cells contain either 1 or 0. Your task is to modify it such that if a given matrix cell m[i][k] is 1, the ith row and the jth column also have the same value of 1.
• You’re given an array consisting of integer elements. Divide the array into two sets such that the difference between the sum of both sets is an absolute minimum.
• You’re given two strings “S” and “K.” Write a program to find the longest common substring.
• A frog can jump either 1, 2, or 3 steps to reach the top. Write a program to find out how many ways it can reach the top.
• You’re given n pairs of numbers. In each pair, the first number is smaller than the second number. A certain pair [a,b] takes numbers from two different pairs [c,d] and [e,f] if c<f. Find out the longest chain that the new set of pairs can form.
• For a given array arr[], write a program to find the maximum sum increasing subsequence of the array.
• For a given array of n integers, find the length of the longest increasing subsequence from the array.
• You’re given two strings str1 and str2. Write a program to find the longest subsequence in both the strings.
• Write a code to compute the square root of a given number.
• For a given Binary Tree, find out if it is a Binary Search Tree or not.
• Write a code to convert a given set of integers into their Roman number equivalents.
• Write a program to reverse the characters of a given string “S.”
• You’re given a string containing a set of digits. Write a program to return all possible IP address combinations in the format A.B.C.D where the alphabets are numbers from 0 to 255.

Want to access a huge list of problems with their solutions? Check out the Interview Kickstart’s Problems page.

VMware Design Interview Questions

Design interview questions are meant to gauge your approach to solving the given design problem. The focus here is not so much on the result but on your thought process and ability and ideas to create scalable systems with low latency, capable of reaching millions of users.

• Design a URL shortening service.
• Design a video streaming service where users can view available videos in the database.
• Design an online bookstore where users can make purchases through different payment methods.
• Design a global file storage or sharing service.
• Design an API rate limiter.
• Design a proximity server.
• How do you design a vending machine in Java or Python?
• How do you design a traffic control system where vehicles are guided accurately?
• How to design a limit order book for trading systems?
• How do you design an elevator system that has a maximum load capacity?
• How would you go about designing an e-commerce website?
• How would you go about designing an e-commerce website using microservices? How will you handle transactions?
• Create an autocomplete feature like word suggestions on search engines. How will you scale it to millions of users?
• Design a chat application like Whatsapp?
• How would you design Google’s Web Crawler?
• How would you design a global ride-hailing service where users can make payments through multiple means.
• Design a train ticket booking system that shows vacancies and prices in real-time.

Recommended Reading: System Design Interview Preparation Tips

VMware Behavioral Interview Questions

Performing well in the behavioral interview is extremely important. Preparation is the key, as you can often be caught off-guard if you are unprepared in behavioral interviews. Here are some behavioral interview questions you can expect:

• Tell us about a time when you had a disagreement with a coworker regarding the course of action for a project?
• Tell us about the most difficult project you worked on?
• Tell us about the most crucial learnings in cloud computing over the course of your experience?
• Tell us your experience in dealing with enterprise software solutions?
• Tell us about a time when you dealt with a difficult manager?
• Tell us about a time when you made important decisions under pressure?
• Tell us about a time when you moved teams and had to adapt quickly.
• Tell us about a time when you shared crucial learnings with the entire team?
• What are your interests outside of work? How do you pursue those interests?
• How do you generally keep your productivity levels high at work?

Recommended Reading: Behavioral Interview Questions for Software Developers

<h3>VMware-related Interview Questions

Below are some questions pertaining to VMware’s products/services that you can expect at the on-site interview:

• Describe the main purpose of Hypervisor in VMware?
• Tell us how VMware has transformed the virtualization landscape in recent years?
• Why do you want to work at VMware? What is the most exciting thing you’re looking forward to at VMware?
• What is the difference between vpxa and vpxd?
• What is Esxi, and how do you install it? What are its benefits?
• What are the different types of virtualization?
• What is the VMware Vsphere?
• Describe the process of configuring false tolerance?

Tips to Crack The VMware Interview

Tech interviews at tier-1 tech companies can be tough and daunting. But a good prep strategy and lots of hard work can get you over the line. Here are some tips to help you with your prep.

Practice Whiteboard Coding

Getting used to coding on a whiteboard is important during the on-site. Whiteboard coding brings out your analytical thinking abilities and your general approach to problem-solving. By practicing, you can recall and apply concepts in a faster and more refined fashion, putting you ahead of your competition.

Practice Mock Interviews

Mocks are a super important way to polish your interviewing skills. More so, you can target and improve areas where you’re found to be weak (through insightful feedback). While practicing mocks, make sure you practice with hiring managers and technical leads from FAANG and leading tier-1 companies to get the right feedback and incorporate it during your on-site interview.

Give Yourself 10-12 Weeks to Prepare

Cracking technical interviews at tier-1 companies isn’t an easy task. It requires a solid prep strategy and being absolutely consistent with it. Given the vastness of topics to cover, giving yourself enough time is crucial. Giving your interview if you're underprepared is definitely not going to cut it.

Ideally, give yourself about 10-12 weeks to prepare if you want to give it your best. During these 10-12 weeks, make sure to practice as many coding problems as possible and classify problems based on inherent patterns. This will help you solve complex problems in the interview by applying pre-existing patterns in the problems you’ve already practiced and solved.

Related article: 2-month coding interview prep course — the only resource you’ll need to nail tough technical interviews.

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VMware Interview Questions

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VMware is a top global tech company specializing in cloud infrastructure and business mobility. Known for their cutting-edge virtualization technology, VMware operates with a highly skilled and accomplished workforce dedicated to building products and solutions that power the hybrid cloud.

At VMWare, employees broaden their skill base with various specializations like new CPU feature enablement, confidential computing, monitor architecture, hardware accelerators, and more. As such, these topics are typically covered in the company’s interviews.

In this article, we’ll discuss the structure of VMWare’s interview process and common questions you may encounter at different stages.

VMware Interview Process

The interview process at VMware is structured to thoroughly evaluate candidates in order to ensure a mutual fit for both the company and the applicant. Here’s a breakdown of the process based on insights from Glassdoor:

1. Preliminary Screening

The first stage often involves a conversation with a recruiter or HR representative to learn more about a candidate’s background, goals, and their alignment with VMware’s values. Expect questions about your resume, past projects, and reasons for considering VMware as a potential employer.

2. Technical Evaluation

As a tech-driven company, VMware places significant emphasis on assessing the technical abilities of its candidates. Depending on the role, this could involve coding tests, system design questions, or a deep dive into specific technologies. It’s crucial to be well-prepared and demonstrate your expertise in relevant areas.

3. Team Interviews

This phase typically consists of multiple rounds where candidates meet various team members, ranging from potential peers to senior leadership. The discussions involve a mix of technical, behavioral, and situational questions. It’s an opportunity for both sides to gauge the fit and understand the dynamics of working together.

Quick Tips for VMware Interviews

• Understand the product : VMware is a global leader in cloud infrastructure and digital workspace technology. Dive deep into their product suite and understand how they’re shaping the future of digital businesses.
• Highlight problem-solving skills : VMware values individuals who can think critically and develop innovative solutions. Be ready to discuss challenges you’ve faced and how you overcame them.
• Focus on cultural fit : The company has a distinct culture that emphasizes innovation, collaboration, and customer service. Showcase experiences where you’ve exemplified these values in your professional journey.

VMWare Coding and Algorithms Interview Questions

As a company that delivers and streamlines cloud services like virtualization and storage, VMWare wants employees who excel in algorithms in order to build efficient and scalable systems. Some questions you can use to prepare for these interview topics include:

1. Find the number of possible paths to move from one corner of a grid to another.

Given an integer $n$, write a function traverse_count to determine the number of paths from the top left corner of an $n \times n$ grid to the bottom right. You may only move right or down.

2. Design three classes based on specific functionalities.

You are tasked to implement three classes, text_editor , moving_text_editor , and smart_text_editor , based on the following functionalities:

• write_line(string:str) : A method that appends a given string to the end of the existing string.
• delete_line(char_num : int) : A method that deletes  char_num  number of characters from the existing string, starting from the end. If there are no characters left, the method should do nothing.
• get_notes() : A method that returns the internal string.
• special_operation() : A method that does nothing with text_editor , but must be overridden with moving_text_editor to change the string’s appending location. With smart_text_editor , this method serves as an undo operation.

3. How would you determine if a function is a valid binary search tree?

Given the root of a binary tree, you need to determine if it is a valid binary search tree (BST).

A valid BST is defined as follows:

• The left subtree of a node contains only nodes with values less than or equal to the node’s value.
• The right subtree of a node contains only nodes with values greater than or equal to the node’s value.
• Both the left and right subtrees must also be binary search trees.

Given the function  def is_valid_bst(node: dict) -> bool: , which takes in a  dict  representing a Node, return True if the binary tree is a valid BST. Otherwise, return False.

To practice Coding and Algorithms interview questions, use the Python learning path and the full list of Coding and Algorithms questions in our database .

VMWare SQL and Databases Interview Questions

SQL and databases, while not as commonly asked compared to algorithms and networking questions, remain an essential topic for VMWare’s interview process.

Some questions to practice with include:

4. How would you find the total number of stays booked during a specific interval?

Let’s say we have a table that represents vacation bookings. Write a query that returns columns representing the total number of bookings in the last 90 days, the last 365 days, and overall.

Note: You may assume that today is the 1st of January 2022.

5. Write a query to determine which employees are at risk of leaving the company.

Let’s say you’re working in HR at a major tech company, and they ask you to find employees with a high probability of leaving the company. They tell you these employees perform well but have the lowest pay.

Given two tables,  employees  and  projects , find the five lowest-paid employees who have completed at least three projects.

Note: We consider projects to be completed when they have an end date, which is the same as saying their   End_dt   is not   NULL .

6. What factors must be considered when designing data pipelines for an e-commerce company?

Let’s say you work for an e-commerce company. Vendors can send products to the company’s warehouse to be listed on the website. Users can order any in-stock products and submit returns for refunds if they’re unsatisfied. The front end of the website includes a vendor portal that provides sales data in daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly intervals.

The company wants to expand worldwide. They put you in charge of designing its end-to-end architecture, so you need to know what significant factors you’ll need to consider. What clarifying questions would you ask? What kind of end-to-end architecture would you design for this company (both for ETL and reporting)?

To practice Database interview questions, try using the SQL learning path or the full list of SQL questions in our database.

VMWare Networking Interview Questions

While we don’t typically offer networking interview questions at Interview Query, VMWare’s specializations underly a need for networking questions throughout their interview process. Here are some you can try for practice:

7. Describe the difference between a router and a switch. How do they function in a virtual environment like VMWare vSphere?

This question tests your knowledge of networking basics and how they translate into virtualized environments. In traditional networks, routers work at the network layer (Layer 3) of the OSI model to connect different networks and direct network traffic between them. Switches, on the other hand, work at the data link layer (Layer 2) to connect devices within the same network segment. In VMWare vSphere, virtual switches (vSwitches) and distributed switches connect VMs to both the physical network and each other.

8. Explain the importance of VMWare NSX and how it’s used. How does it improve network performance and security in virtualized environments?

VMWare NSX is a virtual networking and security software. It plays a variety of roles in virtualized environments through logical routing, firewalling, load balancing, and VPN.

In this question, you should highlight your knowledge about software-defined networking solutions provided by VMWare and how they can be beneficial in terms of flexibility, scalability, and security.

9. How would you design a network for a hybrid cloud setup with VMWare vCloud and a public cloud provider? What are some of the implications you have to consider?

Hybrid cloud setups are becoming more popular as they combine the best of both worlds: the flexibility and scalability of public clouds with the control and security of private clouds. Here, candidates are assessed on their ability to design complex network architectures while considering security concerns associated with hybrid cloud environments.

VMWare Server and Linux Interview Questions

VMWare’s range of server solutions and their deep integration with Linux means that these two areas are inseparable for many enterprise applications. VMWare’s virtualization solutions on Linux servers allow for dynamic, scalable, and secure environments. Candidates should be prepared to demonstrate extensive experience and knowledge in both areas.

10. Explain the role of VMWare vSphere in managing Linux servers within a large enterprise setup. How does it aid in automation and scalability?

vSphere is VMWare’s cloud computing virtualization platform. Your explanation should describe how vSphere interfaces with Linux servers– facilitating seamless virtualization, automation of tasks, and scaling operations based on demand. A well-rounded answer should also highlight features like Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) and vMotion, and how they optimize resource usage and manage VM migrations, respectively.

11. Describe the process of setting up a VMWare virtualized Linux server cluster. What are some key considerations in terms of storage, networking, and failover strategies?

Clustering is essential for high availability and disaster recovery. This question delves into your experience setting up and managing server clusters, especially in a virtualized environment. While explaining the setup process, emphasize challenges like shared storage configuration, network redundancy, and ensuring quick failovers.

12. How would you optimize a Linux-based VMWare server for high-performance applications? Discuss both hardware and software considerations.

Optimization is a critical part of ensuring that applications run efficiently. The interviewer is trying to gauge your experience with setting up a Linux server that hosts high-performance applications in a VMWare environment. Points you could cover include the choice of hardware components (like SSDs over HDDs, server-grade CPUs), software configurations (like properly allocating vCPUs and memory), and keeping the Linux OS lean and secure.

When preparing answers to these questions, it’s helpful to draw from real-world experiences and scenarios when possible. Demonstrating a strong grasp of VMWare’s integration with Linux servers, backed by practical insights, can make a significant difference in the interview.

VMWare Behavioral Interview Questions

Every company emphasizes cultural fit, especially for an organization as large and diverse as VMWare. This stage of the process evaluates a candidate’s alignment with company values and how well they’ll adapt to the work environment.

13. Describe a time when you had to adapt to significant changes in your work environment. How did you handle it, and what was the outcome?

This question is designed to assess your adaptability and resilience. VMWare, like all tech companies, is in a constantly evolving industry, and employees often have to adapt to new technologies, processes, or even teams.

14. How would you handle disagreements or conflicts within your team, especially when you believe that your solution is the right one?

This question looks at your overall communication skills and how well you can manage under stress. The aim is not just to see if you can stand up for your beliefs, but also if you can do so while remaining respectful and collaborative.

15. What attracts you to VMWare’s culture, and how would you contribute to it?

This is a classic fit question. The interviewer is trying to see if you’ve done your homework to learn more about the company’s values. Researching a solid answer to this question is just as important as preparing for the technical stages of the process.

Tailor your answer to highlight your passion for the role and the company. Draw on your background, previous projects, and personal values.

Practice for the VMware interview with these recently asked interview questions.

VMware Salaries by Position

Most data science positions fall under different position titles depending on the actual role.

From the graph we can see that on average the Product Manager role pays the most with a $169,426 base salary while the Data Analyst role on average pays the least with a $103,584 base salary.

30 Vmware Administrator Interview Questions and Answers

Common Vmware Administrator interview questions, how to answer them, and example answers from a certified career coach.

In the realm of information technology, VMware administrators are essential players. They manage and support the virtual infrastructure of a company, including its networks, servers, and cloud systems. As you prepare for your VMware administrator interview, it’s important to not only showcase your technical expertise but also demonstrate how these skills can be applied in real-world situations to drive business efficiency.

To help you navigate the intricate world of VMware administration interviews, we’ve created this guide that outlines potential questions you might encounter, along with expert tips on formulating impactful responses. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or new to the field, this article will equip you with the necessary tools to impress your future employer.

1. Can you describe your experience with VMware vSphere and its components?

Your familiarity and expertise with VMware vSphere, which includes its many components like vCenter Server, ESXi, vSphere Client, and more, is essential in your role as a VMware Administrator. The interviewer wants to gauge your level of knowledge and experience with this software as it forms the backbone of their virtualization infrastructure. The depth and breadth of your answer can help them understand how well you can manage, troubleshoot, and optimize their environment.

Example: “I have extensive experience with VMware vSphere, which is a suite of virtualization applications including ESXi and vCenter. I’ve worked on deploying, configuring, and managing ESXi hosts in large-scale environments.

My responsibilities included creating and managing VMs, setting up High Availability (HA) and Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS), troubleshooting performance issues, and ensuring system security.

In terms of vCenter, I used it to manage our vSphere environment, handle clustering services, and automate tasks using PowerCLI scripts. My proficiency in these areas ensures efficient and reliable virtual infrastructure management.”

2. How would you handle a situation where a VM is not starting up?

As a VMware administrator, you’re expected to have strong problem-solving skills and the ability to troubleshoot issues effectively. When a virtual machine doesn’t start, it can have a major impact on business operations. By asking this question, hiring managers are assessing your technical expertise, your approach to problem-solving, and your ability to handle stressful situations calmly and efficiently.

Example: “In a situation where a VM is not starting up, I would first check the system logs to identify any error messages. This could provide clues about what’s causing the issue.

If there are no clear errors in the logs, I’d verify the configuration settings of the VM. Incorrect settings can often prevent a VM from booting properly.

Next, I would ensure that the host machine has sufficient resources. A lack of available resources might be preventing the VM from starting.

Lastly, if all else fails, I would consider restoring the VM from a backup. It’s crucial to have regular backups for such scenarios.

Throughout this process, I would document each step and finding to help with future troubleshooting and to maintain a record of changes made to the system.”

3. Describe a time when you had to troubleshoot a problem with vMotion. What steps did you take?

Digging into your problem-solving skills is the key intention behind this question. As a VMware administrator, you’ll often encounter issues that need to be solved efficiently and effectively. vMotion, a key component of VMware, can often present challenges. The interviewer wants to know how you approach troubleshooting, your familiarity with vMotion, and your ability to resolve complex technical issues.

Example: “During a planned migration using vMotion, I encountered an issue where the process failed midway. The error message indicated network connectivity issues.

To troubleshoot this, my first step was to verify that both source and target ESXi hosts were reachable and there weren’t any network disruptions. After confirming this, I checked the compatibility of both hosts by running a pre-check in vSphere client.

The problem persisted, so I examined the VM’s settings and found it had active connections preventing the live migration. By temporarily disabling these connections, I successfully completed the vMotion process. This experience highlighted the importance of thoroughly checking all aspects when troubleshooting.”

4. Can you explain how you would go about setting up a high availability cluster in VMware?

This question is designed to assess your technical knowledge and practical application skills in VMware administration. A high availability cluster is vital for ensuring continuous operation and minimizing downtime, which is critical for businesses. Your ability to set up such a cluster shows your understanding of important concepts, your problem-solving abilities, and your capacity to contribute to the company’s operational efficiency.

Example: “To set up a high availability cluster in VMware, the first step is to configure shared storage. This can be done using SAN or NAS systems.

Next, you need to install and configure ESXi on all servers that will be part of the cluster. The configuration should include network settings, security policies, and other necessary parameters.

Then, create a vCenter Server instance for managing the cluster. You can use either a physical server or a virtual machine for this purpose.

Once the vCenter Server is ready, add all ESXi hosts to it. Then, create a new cluster and enable the High Availability feature.

The final step involves configuring VM Monitoring and Admission Control policies based on your specific requirements. These settings help ensure optimal performance and resource utilization within the cluster.”

5. How familiar are you with vSAN and how would you configure it?

As a VMware Administrator, your proficiency in vSAN is vital because it’s a core component of VMware’s software-defined storage strategy. It’s used to abstract and pool together direct-attached storage devices across a VMware vSphere cluster to create a distributed, shared data store. Your ability to configure it effectively demonstrates your technical competency, understanding of storage best practices, and ability to contribute to the organization’s IT infrastructure.

Example: “I’m well-versed with vSAN, VMware’s software-defined storage solution. It pools together local or direct-attached storage disks of a host cluster to create a distributed shared data store.

To configure it, I’d first ensure all hosts meet the prerequisites – compatible hardware and network setup. Then, using vSphere Web Client, I would enable vSAN on the cluster settings and choose whether to use automatic or manual mode for adding disks to the datastore.

Next step is to create disk groups, each containing one SSD and up to seven HDDs. Finally, I’d validate the configuration using health checks provided by vSAN.

Remember, continuous monitoring is key in maintaining optimal performance and availability.”

6. What is your approach to monitoring the performance of a VMware environment?

In the dynamic landscape of virtualization, maintaining optimal performance and uptime is paramount. Interviewers want to ensure that you have a systematic and proactive approach to monitoring the VMware environment. They’re looking for your ability to identify potential issues before they become problems and your understanding of how to use monitoring tools to maintain a healthy, efficient virtual environment. This question also tests your technical knowledge, strategic thinking, and problem-solving skills.

Example: “Monitoring the performance of a VMware environment involves several key steps. I would start by using vSphere’s built-in tools, such as Performance Charts and ESXTOP to monitor CPU, memory, network and storage usage.

I also believe in proactive monitoring through alarms and alerts for potential issues before they become critical. Regularly reviewing logs can provide insights into system health and identify any recurring problems.

Moreover, capacity planning is crucial. It helps ensure that there are sufficient resources available to meet future demands. This includes tracking trends in resource usage and predicting future needs based on these trends.

Finally, using third-party tools like SolarWinds or Veeam ONE can give more detailed analytics and reporting capabilities. These tools can help with troubleshooting, identifying bottlenecks, and optimizing overall performance.”

7. What steps do you take to ensure data protection and disaster recovery in a VMware environment?

Data protection and disaster recovery are critical elements in any IT environment, and VMware administrators are expected to have strategies to address potential issues. Hiring managers want to know if you understand the importance of these tasks and if you have experience implementing safeguards. They also want to see if you can react quickly and effectively in the case of a system failure or data loss, minimizing downtime and data loss.

Example: “To ensure data protection in a VMware environment, I would implement encryption both at rest and in transit. This includes encrypting virtual machines and network traffic to protect sensitive data.

For disaster recovery, I’d leverage VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM) which provides business continuity and disaster recovery solutions. It allows for quick recovery of applications by automating the transfer of virtual machines to a local or remote recovery site.

Regular backups are also crucial. Using tools like VMware vSphere Data Protection can automate backup processes and replication tasks.

Lastly, it’s important to regularly test these strategies to identify any potential issues before they become critical problems.”

8. How would you handle a P2V migration? What are the potential pitfalls and how would you avoid them?

This question serves to test your technical knowledge and problem-solving skills. P2V, or Physical-to-Virtual conversion, is a common task for VMWare Administrators. It involves converting a physical server’s operating system, applications, and data into a virtual machine. The process can be complex and fraught with potential issues. Interviewers want to know if you understand the process, can foresee potential problems, and have strategies to prevent or resolve them. This not only ensures you can perform a key part of the job, but also demonstrates your ability to plan and think critically.

Example: “A P2V migration involves moving a physical server to a virtual environment. This process requires careful planning and execution.

Key steps include assessing the current environment, selecting suitable conversion tools, testing the migration on non-critical systems first, and then performing the actual migration.

Potential pitfalls could be compatibility issues, data loss or downtime during the transition. To avoid these, I would ensure thorough compatibility checks, backup all data before migration, and schedule the migration during off-peak hours to minimize disruption.

Post-migration, it’s crucial to monitor system performance and address any issues promptly.”

9. Could you explain your understanding of DRS in VMware? When and how would you use it?

This question is posed to gauge your technical proficiency in VMware systems, particularly in relation to Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS). As VMware administrators are expected to manage and allocate resources efficiently across different virtual machines, your understanding and application of DRS is a key part of the role. It also indicates your ability to make strategic decisions about resource distribution based on various factors.

Example: “DRS, or Distributed Resource Scheduler, is a feature in VMware that balances computing workloads with available resources in a virtualized environment. It uses vMotion to automatically migrate VMs between hosts for optimal performance.

You would use DRS when you want to ensure high availability and fault tolerance in your network. For instance, if a host is overburdened, DRS can move VMs to another host with more capacity, preventing potential downtime.

It’s also useful for maintenance purposes, as it allows you to evacuate VMs from a host before taking it offline. This ensures continuous operation of applications and services.”

10. In your opinion, what are the key considerations when designing a VMware infrastructure?

As a VMware administrator, your role is to ensure the smooth operation of virtual infrastructure. This requires a comprehensive understanding of VMware technology and the ability to design a VMware infrastructure that meets the needs of the organization. Your ability to consider factors like scalability, performance, availability, and security while designing a VMware infrastructure is vital. This question helps interviewers assess your understanding of these considerations and your ability to apply them in practical scenarios.

Example: “Designing a VMware infrastructure requires careful consideration of several factors.

Understanding the business needs is crucial to ensure that the infrastructure aligns with organizational goals and objectives. This includes understanding the applications that will be run, their resource requirements, and any specific performance or availability needs.

Capacity planning is another key aspect. It involves determining the necessary resources such as CPU, memory, storage, and network bandwidth. This should take into account future growth and scalability needs.

Security is also paramount. The design must incorporate best practices for securing virtual environments, including segmentation, encryption, and access controls.

Lastly, disaster recovery and business continuity plans need to be integrated into the design to ensure minimal downtime in case of an outage.”

11. How would you troubleshoot a storage connectivity issue in a VMware environment?

This question is designed to assess your technical abilities and knowledge of VMware environments. As a VMware Administrator, troubleshooting is an essential part of your job, and storage connectivity issues are one of the common problems you might encounter. It’s important to show that you have a systematic approach to identifying and resolving these types of issues.

Example: “To troubleshoot a storage connectivity issue in a VMware environment, I would first verify the physical connections and ensure that all cables are properly connected.

Next, I’d check if the storage device is recognized by the host operating system. If it’s not, there might be an issue with the drivers or the hardware itself.

If the storage device is recognized, but still not accessible, I’d look at the virtual machine settings in VMware to see if the storage device is correctly configured and enabled.

I’d also use VMware’s built-in tools for troubleshooting, such as the ESXi host client or vSphere Web Client, which provide detailed information about the status of storage devices.

Lastly, checking logs can provide valuable insights into what might have caused the problem. For example, vmkernel.log contains messages related to the operation of VMkernel, including device discovery and storage path failover events.”

12. Can you describe a situation where you had to optimize the performance of a VMware environment?

In a technology-driven world, system performance is key, and as a VMware administrator, you’re the gatekeeper. Hiring managers ask this question because they want assurance that you can not only maintain a VMware environment, but also improve its performance. They want to know that you can identify potential issues, devise solutions, and implement them effectively. This question allows them to assess your problem-solving skills and your understanding of VMware performance optimization.

Example: “In one instance, I was tasked with improving the performance of a VMware environment that was experiencing slow response times.

I started by analyzing resource usage and found that several virtual machines were over-provisioned, causing unnecessary strain on the system. To rectify this, I adjusted the allocation of resources to better match actual usage patterns.

Next, I noticed inefficient storage practices. By implementing thin provisioning, we were able to save significant space without affecting performance.

Lastly, I optimized network settings for VMs to reduce latency. This included enabling jumbo frames and tuning VMXNET3 parameters.

Through these actions, we achieved noticeable improvements in system responsiveness and efficiency.”

13. What experience do you have with automating tasks in VMware using PowerCLI or other tools?

Automation is key to managing large-scale virtual environments effectively and efficiently. By asking this question, hiring managers want to gauge your skill in employing automation tools like PowerCLI, which are essential in simplifying and streamlining various administrative tasks. Your ability to automate can significantly enhance productivity and reduce the likelihood of human errors in the virtual environment.

Example: “I have extensive experience in automating tasks within VMware using PowerCLI. I’ve used it to automate the deployment of VMs, manage vSphere configurations and perform routine checks.

For instance, I automated the process of creating multiple virtual machines from templates, which significantly reduced manual effort and errors.

I also utilized PowerCLI for real-time monitoring and reporting on VM performance metrics, helping us proactively address any potential issues.

Beyond PowerCLI, I’ve leveraged other tools like vRealize Orchestrator for workflow automation, further enhancing operational efficiency.”

14. How have you used VMware NSX in a previous role? What were the benefits and challenges?

The heart of this question lies in gauging your practical experience with VMware NSX, a critical technology for virtual networking and security. By asking about benefits and challenges, potential employers aim to assess your problem-solving skills, your ability to seize opportunities for improvements, and your understanding of the technology’s impact on overall operations. It also provides insight into your hands-on experience, your ability to navigate complex situations, and your understanding of the tool’s strategic value.

Example: “In my experience with VMware NSX, I primarily used it for creating and managing virtual networks. This allowed us to create isolated environments for testing new applications without affecting the production environment.

One of the key benefits was enhanced security through micro-segmentation. We could apply policies at a granular level, which significantly reduced our attack surface.

However, the complexity of NSX presented some challenges. The initial setup required careful planning and coordination between different teams. Also, troubleshooting issues often required in-depth knowledge about the underlying network infrastructure.”

15. If a host is disconnected from vCenter, how would you resolve the issue?

This question seeks to gauge your technical competency in handling VMware-specific issues. As a VMware administrator, you will be expected to handle a variety of technical difficulties, including hosts disconnecting from the vCenter. The interviewer wants to understand your troubleshooting process and ability to diagnose and resolve such issues independently.

Example: “If a host is disconnected from vCenter, it could be due to network issues, authentication problems, or the ESXi/ESX host agent service not running.

To resolve this, I would first verify the networking configuration and ensure there’s connectivity between vCenter and the host. If that doesn’t work, I’d check if the ESXi/ESX host agent service is running and restart it if necessary.

In case of an authentication issue, resetting the root password can help. If none of these steps solve the problem, rebooting the host might be required. However, before doing so, it’s critical to migrate any active VMs to another host to prevent downtime.”

16. Can you describe your experience with VMware Horizon? How have you used it in the past?

As a VMware administrator, having a deep understanding and hands-on experience with VMware Horizon, a platform that provides virtual desktops and applications, is imperative. An interviewer wants to gauge your familiarity and proficiency with this tool to ensure you can effectively manage and optimize the organization’s virtual environment. Your previous experience can also shed light on your problem-solving skills and your ability to adapt to different situations.

Example: “I have extensive experience with VMware Horizon, primarily in deploying and managing virtual desktops and applications. My key responsibilities included setting up automated pools of desktops, creating application pools, and managing user entitlements.

In terms of troubleshooting, I used vRealize Operations for Horizon to monitor health, usage, and performance. This tool was vital in identifying issues before they disrupted users, ensuring a smooth operation.

Furthermore, I utilized Unified Access Gateway for secure remote access to these virtual resources. This involved configuring policies to balance security and usability effectively.

Overall, my experience with VMware Horizon has been about optimizing the end-user experience while maintaining operational efficiency and security.”

17. How would you handle a situation where a VM is running slow? What steps would you take to diagnose and fix the issue?

This question is designed to assess your technical skills, problem-solving abilities, and knowledge of VMWare systems. In a role as a VMWare administrator, you’re expected to troubleshoot and resolve issues that arise within the virtual environment. The ability to diagnose and resolve performance issues promptly and effectively is critical to minimize downtime and ensure the smooth operation of the virtual machines.

Example: “In case of a slow VM, I would start by checking the resource allocation. If it’s not sufficient, increasing CPU, RAM or disk space might solve the issue.

If resources are adequate, I’d examine the performance metrics like CPU usage, memory usage and network latency to identify any bottlenecks.

Next, I would check if there is an excessive number of snapshots as they can impact performance. If that’s the case, consolidating them could help.

Another possible cause could be outdated drivers or software. Ensuring everything is up-to-date is crucial.

Lastly, I’d look at the host itself. If multiple VMs on the same host are slow, the problem may lie with the host rather than individual VMs.”

18. What is your experience with managing and maintaining VMware licensing?

As a VMware administrator, one of your key responsibilities is to ensure that all VMware licenses are managed correctly and kept up to date. This is important for compliance purposes, to avoid penalties and to ensure that all systems continue to function smoothly. The interviewer wants to know if you have the experience and skills to handle this task efficiently.

Example: “I have extensive experience managing VMware licensing. I’ve handled the procurement, deployment and management of licenses for different VMware products such as vSphere, vCenter, and Horizon. This includes ensuring compliance with VMware’s licensing policies and performing regular audits to prevent any discrepancies.

Moreover, I am proficient in using My VMware portal for license key tracking, upgrades or downgrades, and merging license keys when necessary. I also understand how to leverage various tools like vRealize Operations Manager for monitoring and reporting on license usage.

In terms of maintenance, I’m adept at troubleshooting licensing issues, renewing support contracts, and coordinating with vendors for any required assistance. I believe that effective license management is crucial to optimize costs and maintain operational efficiency.”

19. How would you go about planning and implementing a VMware upgrade?

This question is designed to assess your technical competence and your ability to manage projects. As a VMware administrator, you will likely be tasked with keeping the company’s VMware environment up to date. This involves not just technical know-how, but also planning, coordination, and risk management. Your interviewer wants to see that you can handle these responsibilities effectively.

Example: “Planning a VMware upgrade involves assessing the current environment, analyzing compatibility and dependencies, and creating a detailed plan.

In the assessment phase, I would review hardware, software, network configurations, and performance metrics to understand the existing setup.

Next, I would analyze the compatibility of the new version with the current infrastructure using tools like VMware Compatibility Guide and Interoperability Matrix. It’s crucial to check dependencies between different components to avoid any potential issues.

Creating a detailed plan includes defining timelines, identifying necessary resources, and outlining rollback procedures in case of failure.

The implementation process starts with backing up all data and configurations. Then, I’d proceed with upgrading vCenter Server followed by ESXi hosts, VM Tools, and finally virtual machines. Post-upgrade, I would verify everything is functioning as expected.”

20. Can you describe a time when you had to recover a failed ESXi host?

Systems can fail, and when they do, it’s not just about having the technical skills to fix them, but also about how you manage such situations under pressure. ESXi is a critical component of VMware’s infrastructure, and its failure can have severe consequences for the business operations. By asking this question, the interviewer wants to understand your problem-solving abilities, your depth of technical skills, and how efficiently you can manage a crisis.

Example: “In one instance, a critical ESXi host unexpectedly failed. I immediately started troubleshooting and found the issue was due to hardware failure. Since we had redundancy in place, there wasn’t any immediate impact on services.

I coordinated with the hardware vendor for replacement parts. While waiting, I migrated all VMs from the faulty host to other hosts in the cluster using vMotion. This ensured continuity of service without any downtime.

After replacing the faulty hardware, I reinstalled the ESXi software and joined it back to the vCenter server. Post-joining, I redistributed the load evenly across all hosts. The situation demanded quick decision-making and efficient problem-solving skills.”

21. What is your understanding of the VMware vRealize suite and how have you used it in your previous roles?

The VMware vRealize suite is a key tool in the arsenal of any VMware Administrator. It’s designed to simplify and automate the management of heterogeneous, multi-cloud environments. By asking this question, hiring managers are trying to gauge your familiarity with this important toolset, your competency in using it and how you’ve applied it in practical, real-world situations. Understanding how you have used vRealize suite will give them insights into your problem-solving skills and your ability to optimize virtual and cloud infrastructures.

Example: “The VMware vRealize Suite is a comprehensive cloud management platform that delivers and manages infrastructure and applications. It provides full-stack visibility from physical infrastructure to applications with capabilities like intelligent operations, automated IT, and developer-friendly IT.

In my experience, I’ve used it for managing hybrid clouds by automating deployment and real-time monitoring of performance, capacity, and configuration management. This helped in improving efficiency while also ensuring compliance and service level agreements were met.

I’ve also utilized its self-service capabilities to enable rapid on-demand provisioning and de-provisioning of resources which significantly reduced the time taken to deliver services. The suite’s ability to provide insights into running costs and consumption trends was instrumental in optimizing resource usage and cost management.”

22. How would you ensure the security of a VMware environment?

As you can imagine, maintaining a secure environment is critical in the realm of virtualization. When you’re managing a VMware environment, you’re dealing with sensitive data that could be vulnerable to cyber attacks. By asking this question, hiring managers are looking for evidence that you understand the importance of security and that you’re capable of implementing measures to safeguard the VMware environment.

Example: “Securing a VMware environment involves multiple strategies. Regular patching and updates are crucial to prevent vulnerabilities. Implementing least privilege principles, where users only have access necessary for their roles, can minimize potential damage from breaches.

Network segmentation using firewalls or similar tools can isolate different parts of the network, preventing an attacker from moving laterally if they gain access.

In addition, enabling logging and monitoring can help detect any unusual activity early on. This should be complemented with regular security audits to identify and rectify weaknesses.

Finally, it’s important to have a robust disaster recovery plan in place so that operations can quickly resume even after a breach.”

23. What experience do you have with integrating VMware with other systems and technologies?

In this ever-evolving technological landscape, it’s critical to ensure that software and systems can talk to each other. As a VMware Administrator, your role isn’t just about knowing VMware inside out; it’s also about understanding how it interacts with other systems. Hence, the interviewer wants to gauge your experience and competency in integrating VMware with other systems or technologies, which is key in maintaining the seamless operation of IT infrastructure.

Example: “I have experience integrating VMware with various systems and technologies. For instance, I’ve integrated it with Microsoft Active Directory for centralized user management and authentication. This ensures a secure environment by controlling access to the virtual machines.

Additionally, I’ve worked on integration with storage solutions like SAN/NAS using iSCSI and NFS protocols. This is crucial in managing data effectively and ensuring high availability.

Moreover, I’ve also integrated VMware with networking devices like Cisco switches and routers to provide better network performance and security. Furthermore, I’ve used APIs to integrate VMware with cloud platforms such as AWS and Azure for hybrid cloud scenarios.

Overall, these integrations enhance functionality, improve efficiency, and ensure seamless operations within the IT infrastructure.”

24. Can you explain how you would set up and manage a multi-site VMware environment?

When it comes to managing a multi-site VMware environment—an intricate and complex task—hiring managers want to ensure that you possess the necessary technical aptitude. They’re looking for a clear demonstration of your ability to implement, manage, and troubleshoot the VMware infrastructure while maintaining high availability and performance. This question is a way for them to gauge your in-depth understanding of VMware technologies and your capability to utilize them effectively in a real-world scenario.

Example: “Setting up a multi-site VMware environment involves careful planning and execution. Initially, I would assess the existing infrastructure and identify the requirements for each site such as storage, networking, and compute resources.

Next, I’d install and configure vCenter Server at each site to manage local hosts and VMs. Then, I’d set up Enhanced Linked Mode to allow multiple vCenters to be viewed from a single interface.

For workload balancing and disaster recovery, I’d implement vSphere High Availability (HA) and Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS). HA ensures minimal downtime by restarting VMs on other hosts in case of failure, while DRS balances workloads across hosts.

Finally, I’d use Site Recovery Manager (SRM) for disaster recovery purposes between sites. Regular monitoring and maintenance would be crucial to ensure optimal performance and quick resolution of any issues.”

25. How would you handle capacity planning in a VMware environment?

This question is designed to assess your understanding of VMware infrastructure and your ability to anticipate and plan for future needs. Capacity planning is critical in maintaining performance and avoiding system downtime due to overloaded resources. Demonstrating your knowledge of this process shows that you’re proactive, detail-oriented, and capable of keeping a VMware environment running smoothly and efficiently.

Example: “Capacity planning in a VMware environment involves monitoring and analyzing the performance and resource usage of VMs to ensure optimal allocation. I would use tools like vRealize Operations Manager for real-time tracking, predictive analysis and smart alerts.

It’s important to consider CPU, memory, storage and network resources. Overprovisioning can lead to wasted resources while under-provisioning can impact performance.

I’d also implement a regular review process to adjust resources based on changing needs and growth predictions. This proactive approach helps avoid potential issues and ensures efficient utilization.”

26. Can you describe a situation where you had to troubleshoot a complex network issue in a VMware environment?

This is your chance to prove your problem-solving skills in a real-world setting. VMware environments can be complex and troubleshooting issues within them requires a solid understanding of the system and a methodical approach. Your ability to identify and resolve problems quickly and effectively is key in ensuring minimal downtime and maintaining business continuity. So, interviewers want to hear about your hands-on experience and the strategies you use to solve complex problems.

Example: “In one instance, a critical application was experiencing intermittent connectivity issues. I started by analyzing the network traffic and noticed an unusually high packet loss.

I isolated the issue to a specific ESXi host in our VMware environment. Upon further investigation, I discovered that the virtual switch associated with this host had been misconfigured, causing network congestion.

By correctly configuring the vSwitch settings, I resolved the problem, resulting in improved application performance and stability. This experience emphasized the importance of thorough troubleshooting and understanding of network configurations within a VMware environment.”

27. How familiar are you with the process of patching and updating VMware environments?

Ensuring the security and functionality of VMware environments is in the hands of a VMware administrator. Regular patching and updating is critical in this role, as it keeps the systems up-to-date and shielded from vulnerabilities. By asking this question, the hiring manager wants to assess your understanding and experience in maintaining the health and efficiency of VMware environments.

Example: “I’m well-versed in patching and updating VMware environments. This involves understanding the current configuration, assessing available updates, planning for downtime if necessary, and ensuring backups are in place before initiating the process.

After applying patches or updates, it’s crucial to monitor the environment closely to detect any potential issues early. I am comfortable using tools like vSphere Update Manager for these tasks.

Moreover, I understand the importance of keeping up with VMware’s compatibility matrix when planning for updates. It ensures that all components will work seamlessly post-update, minimizing disruptions.”

28. Can you share your experience with VMware Cloud on AWS or other public clouds?

This question aims to gauge your experience and comfort level with using VMware technologies in conjunction with public cloud platforms. It’s an opportunity to demonstrate your ability to adapt to various environments and implement solutions that leverage the strengths of both on-premises VMware infrastructure and public cloud services. This is a critical skill in today’s hybrid cloud world, where businesses often operate across multiple platforms and need IT professionals who can seamlessly integrate and manage these diverse environments.

Example: “I have substantial experience with VMware Cloud on AWS. It’s a robust solution that integrates VMware’s enterprise-class features with Amazon’s scalable cloud infrastructure.

My primary responsibility was to manage and optimize the resources, ensuring seamless migration of VMs from on-premises data centers to the cloud. I also handled disaster recovery scenarios using Site Recovery Manager (SRM) and vSphere Replication.

Working with other public clouds like Azure and Google Cloud, I found VMware on AWS offers better interoperability with existing VMware environments. This simplifies management tasks as it uses familiar tools and processes.

The biggest challenge was cost optimization due to its hourly billing model. However, by leveraging native AWS services and rightsizing workloads, we managed to keep costs under control. Overall, my experience has been positive, providing flexibility, scalability, and enhanced performance.”

29. How would you handle a situation where a VM is not able to connect to the network?

This question is designed to evaluate your troubleshooting skills and your understanding of VMware’s network configuration. As a VMware Administrator, you will regularly encounter technical issues, and your ability to logically diagnose and solve these problems is essential. Being able to effectively handle such situations shows that you can maintain the smooth operation of virtual environments, which is a critical aspect of the role.

Example: “In troubleshooting a VM network connectivity issue, I would start by checking the virtual machine’s network configuration settings. This includes verifying that the correct network adapter is selected and properly configured.

Next, I’d look at the physical host to ensure it has network connectivity. If other VMs on the same host are experiencing similar issues, it could indicate a problem with the host or its connection to the network switch.

If these steps don’t resolve the issue, I would check the virtual switch configuration in vSphere to ensure it matches the VM’s network settings.

Finally, if all else fails, I might consider migrating the VM to another host to see if the issue persists. This can help determine whether the problem lies with the original host or within the VM itself.”

30. Can you describe a time when you had to implement a new feature or technology in a VMware environment? How did you ensure its successful deployment?

Being a VMware administrator isn’t just about maintaining current systems—it’s also about keeping up with new technologies and features and implementing them in a way that benefits the organization. The interviewer wants to know if you can successfully navigate the technical and organizational challenges that come with deploying new features or technologies in a VMware environment.

Example: “In one instance, we needed to implement vSAN technology in our existing VMware environment. This was a crucial step for us as it would improve storage efficiency and performance.

I started by conducting comprehensive research on the feature, understanding its benefits, and potential challenges during implementation. I then developed a detailed plan outlining each step of the deployment process, including testing phases.

During the implementation, I closely monitored the system’s behavior and made necessary adjustments. Post-deployment, I ensured thorough documentation of the entire process for future reference and troubleshooting.

Regular communication with the team about progress and any issues encountered was also vital. This proactive approach helped ensure a successful deployment while minimizing disruptions to our operations.”

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VMWare Interview Questions and Answers | Top 281 Questions

Top 281 frequently asked vmware interview questions.

1. What do you understand by VMKernel and why it is important? Answer: VMkernel is defined as a virtualization interface between an ESXi host and the Virtual Machine which helps in storing the VMs. It is responsible for allocating all the available resources to VMs such as memory, CPU, Storage etc, of the ESXi host. It also controls special services such as vMotion, Fault tolerance, NFS, traffic management and iSCSI. For accessing these services, VMkernel port can be configured on the ESXi server by making use of a standard or distributed vSwitch. Without VMkernel, hosted VMs are not capable of communicating with the ESXi server.

2. What are the hypervisor and its types? Answer: A hypervisor is defined as a virtualization layer that helps in enabling the multiple operating systems for sharing a single hardware host. Each operating system is allocated the physical resources such as CPU, storage, memory, etc by the host. There are basically two types of hypervisors which are as follows:

• Hosted hypervisor (works as application i.e. VMware Workstation)
• Bare-metal (is virtualization software i.e. VMvisor).

3. What do you understand by the term Virtualization? Answer: It is defined as the process which helps in creating virtual versions of the physical components i.e. Network Devices, Servers, and Storage Devices on a physical host termed as virtualization. Virtualization lets you run the multiple virtual machines on a single physical machine which is termed as ESXi host.

4. What is VMware Tools? Answer: VMware Tools is defined as a suite of utilities that we use to install in the operating system of a virtual machine. VMware Tools helps in enhancing the performance of a virtual machine. You can install VMware Tools on Windows as well as Linux Operating Systems. VMware Tools has various advantages such as the faster graphics performance, synchronization of Clock in VM, improved mouse performance, Copy and paste text & files, and many more.

5. What is Hardware Version? Answer: The hardware version of a virtual machine helps in reflecting the virtual machine  that support the virtual hardware features. These features are corresponded to the physical hardware which is available on the ESXi host on which we are capable of creating the virtual machine. Virtual hardware features include BIOS and EFI, maximum memory configuration, available virtual PCI slots, maximum number of CPUs, and other characteristics typical to hardware. You can easily upgrade the Hardware version of Virtual Machine but it requires the virtual machine to be powered off.

6. What are the Memory Management Techniques in VMware? Answer: ESXi uses 4 types of Memory management Techniques to reclaim memory when physical memory is not available. Below are 4 types: Transparent Page Sharing (TPS): Transparent Page Sharing is used when multiple virtual machines are making use of the same operating system. So, at that time ESXi will check for the identical memory pages and it will be keeping a single copy of the identical pages by removing the redundant pages. This technique will help the ESXi for reclaiming the memory easily. It is enabled by default. Memory Ballooning: Ballooning is a dynamic memory reclamation technique used when ESXi is running out of memory and it uses balloon drivers to reclaim memory from VMs. Balloon driver is itself included in the VMware Tools which is installed in the VM. Memory Compression: When the Ballooning isn’t able to reclaim the memory then ESXi makes use of the Memory Compression. It helps in compressing and storing the memory in a cache in host’s main memory. Memory compression takes place when we find that the page’s compression ratio is greater than 50%. It gets enabled by default. Hypervisor based memory swapping: When the TPS, Ballooning and Memory compression are not in working conditions then the ESXi makes use of the Memory Swapping in which ESXi is used to swap guest VMs memory to the swap file which is used to make the physical memory available.

7. What is Standard Switch? Answer: A vSphere Standard Switch is very similar to a physical Ethernet switch. You use standard switches for providing network connectivity to the virtual machines and hosts. A standard switch is capable of bridging the traffic internally between links to external networks and the virtual machines in the same VLAN. In order to provide the network connectivity to the virtual machines and the hosts, you can connect to the physical NICs of the hosts for up linking the ports on the standard switch.

8. What is Distributed Switch? Answer: A vSphere distributed switch function is defined as a single switch across all the associated hosts. This is enabling you for setting the network configurations that is spanning across all the member hosts which allows the virtual machines for maintaining the consistent network configuration as they migrate across multiple hosts. In Standard Switch you need to create Port Groups on each host but in case of Distributed Switch you only have to create port groups once and it will be applied to all hosts.

9. What is Traffic Shaping? Answer: ESXi allows you to shape the incoming and outgoing traffic on Port Groups. A traffic shaping policy is the policy which is defined by various characteristics such as: average bandwidth, peak bandwidth, and burst size. Standard switch only supports the outbound traffic shaping.

10. What is Port Group? Answer: Port Groups aggregates multiple ports of virtual machines. Each port group in this VMware gets identified by a network label which is unique for the current host. Network labels are used in making the virtual machine configuration portable across the various hosts. You can either create a VMkernel port group or VM port group based on requirements. You can set VLAN IDs on Port Groups.

11. What are the Network Adapter Types in VMware? Answer: When we add Network Adapter to the VM, we have the option to choose from multiple network adapters for better performance. So below is the Network Adapter Types available in VMware: E1000: It is termed as an Emulated version of the Intel 82545EM Gigabit Ethernet NIC with the drivers that are available in the most newer guest operating systems which also include the Linux versions 2.4.19 and Windows XP and later. E1000E: It is an Emulated version of the Intel 82574 Gigabit Ethernet NIC. E1000E is defined as the default adapter for the Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8. VMXNET: It is optimized for performance in a virtual machine and has no physical counterpart. Because operating system vendors usually do not provide you with the built-in drivers and one must install the VMware Tools for the VMXNET network adapter to make it available. If VMware Tools are not installed in the Guest Operating system this adapter will not be visible. VMXNET 2 (Enhanced): It is based on the VMXNET adapter but provides high-performance features commonly used on modern networks such as jumbo frames and hardware offloads. VMXNET 2 (Enhanced) is defined as the network adapter type in VMware which is available only for some guest operating systems on the ESX/ESXi 3.5 and later. VMXNET 3: A paravirtualized NIC is designed for performance. VMXNET 3 is defined as the network adapter type in VMware which offers all the features that are available in VMXNET 2 and also add several new features such as MSI/MSI-X interrupt delivery, IPv6 offloads, multi queue support. VMXNET is the network adapter type in VMware 3 which is not related to VMXNET or VMXNET 2. SR-IOV passthrough: It is the representation of a virtual function (VF) on a physical NIC with SR-IOV support. The physical adapter and the virtual machine are usually used for exchanging the data without making use of the VMkernel as an intermediary. This network adapter type is best suited for the virtual machines where latency can cause the failure or which requires more CPU resources. SR-IOV passthrough is the network adapter type which is available in Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP2 and ESXi 6.0 and later for guest operating systems.

12. What are Security Policies available in Standard and Distributed Switch? Answer: Below are 3 Security Policies available in vSphere Standard as well as Distributed Switch: Promiscuous Mode: It is used mostly when you want to capture or sniff all the packets coming on the same port group. There are 2 options available: Accept and Reject. When it is set to Accept, you can monitor or capture all the network packets on the vSphere standard switch that are allowed under the VLAN policy for the port group that the adapter is connected to, but when it is set to Reject there is no impact on the packets sent or received. MAC Address Changes: It usually works on the MAC Address of the Virtual Machines. There are 2 options available: Accept and Reject. If you set it to Accept then, if the VM’s MAC address is changed from the original MAC Address assigned, VM will be able to send and receive network packets. But when it is set to Reject then, if the VM’s MAC Address is changed from the original MAC Address then VM will not able to send or receive network packets. Forged Transmits: It also works the same as MAC Address changes in which MAC Address of the VM is compared by ESXi with the Source MAC Address. There are 2 options available: Accept and Reject. When it is set to Accept no filtering is performed and all outbound frames are passed but when it is set to reject any outbound frame with a source MAC address is the address which is different from the one currently setting on the adapter.

13. What is vMotion? Answer: vMotion allows you to migrate virtual machines from one physical ESXi host to another ESXi host without downtime. In vMotion only virtual machines will be migrated from one host to another and the storage stays at the same place. vMotion is the most used feature in VMware vSphere. This is the capability which is possible across the Clusters, vSwitches, and even Clouds. It is also called live migration.

14. What is Storage vMotion? Answer: Storage vMotion allows you to migrate virtual machine disks from one datastore to another. It means that you can easily migrate your virtual machine from one storage to another without downtime. By Storage vMotion you can transform virtual disks from Thick-Provisioned Lazy Zeroed to Thin-Provisioned or the reverse.

15. What are DRS? Answer: DRS is also called as Distributed Resource Scheduler. DRS works on the cluster level. DRS is the most useful feature when you have heavy workloads. DRS will continuously monitor the load on the ESXi hosts and if the load increases then it will migrate VMs from one host to another to balance the load on the cluster. There are 3 types of modes available in DRS: Fully Automated, Partially Automated and Manual.

16. What is SDRS? Answer: SDRS is called Storage DRS. SDRS works on the datastore cluster where multiple data stores are added into a single cluster. Storage Distributed Resource Scheduler allows you to manage the aggregated resources of a datastore cluster. When Storage Distributed Resource Scheduler gets enabled then it provides the recommendations for virtual machine disk placement and migration for balancing the space and Input/output resources across the data stores which are in the cluster.

17. What is High Availability? Answer: High Availability is referred to as HA in VMware. HA works on the Cluster level. VMware HA provides us high availability for the virtual machines by pooling them and the hosts they reside on into a cluster. Hosts in the cluster are getting monitored and in the failure event the virtual machines on a failed host are restarted on the alternating hosts.

18. What is Fault Tolerance? Answer: Fault Tolerance is referred to as FT in VMware. FT works on the VM level. VMware Fault Tolerance provides us with continuous availability for the virtual machines by creating and maintaining a Secondary VM which is identical and available for the replacement of the Primary VM in the event of a failover situation. You can enable the Fault Tolerance for most mission critical virtual machines.

19. What is EVC? Answer: EVC is known as Enhanced vMotion Compatibility. EVC is used when you have multiple CPU family hosts in the same cluster. Enhanced vMotion Compatibility feature is the feature which helps and ensures the vMotion compatibility for the hosts in a cluster. Enhanced vMotion Compatibility also ensures that all hosts in a cluster present the same CPU feature setting for the virtual machines even if the actual CPUs on the hosts are different. By making use of Enhanced vMotion Compatibility it prevents the migrations of vMotion from failing because of the incompatible CPUs.

20. What is VCHA? Answer: VCHA is the new feature announced in vSphere 6.5. VCHA is referred to as vCenter High Availability. VCHA provides high availability for the vCenter Server by the creation of the secondary copy of the vCenter Server. So in case your primary vCenter fails, a secondary vCenter will take over it and you have your vCenter Server running.

21. What is a Resource Pool? Answer: Resource pools allow you to delegate control over resources of a host which are CPU and Memory. You can create a Resource Pool and assign an amount of resources to the virtual machines inside the resource pool. A resource pool is defined as the pool which contains virtual machines, child resource pools or both. You can create multiple resource pools based on your requirement.

22. What is vApp? Answer: A vApp is a logical container like a resource pool and can contain one or more virtual machines. In addition, a vApp is also an application which shares some functionality with virtual machines. A vApp is the application which has power on and power off and can also be cloned. You can even export vApp.

23. What is Host Profiles? Answer: Host Profile allows you to create and maintain consistent configurations among ESXi Hosts. You can create a Host Profile from one Host and attach it to another host to maintain the same configuration and make them compliant. It helps you to avoid the error and misconfiguration in larger environments.

24. What is Hot Add? Answer: Hot Add is a more useful feature where you can add or increase the CPU and Memory of the Virtual Machine while it is running. First you have to enable Hot Add CPU and Memory for the Virtual Machine when you create Virtual Machine.

25. What is VUM? Answer: VUM is defined as the VMware Update Manager. VUM is used to Upgrade and Patch the ESXi Hosts. With the help of VUM we can also upgrade the virtual appliances and VMware Tools.

26. What is vCenter Converter? Answer: vCenter Converter is used to convert Physical Servers into virtual machines. By using vCenter Converter you can easily convert without much hassle of creating vm and copying data. Conversion Process is called P2V.

27. What is the Content Library in VMware? Answer: Content Library is the container you create to store different objects such as Template, ISO, Config Files, and Scripts etc. It allows you to share the templates and files across the multiple vCenter Server instances in the different locations or same locations which results in compliance, consistency, efficiency, and automation in deploying the workloads at scale.

28. What are the Two Types of Content Library available in VMware? Answer: There are basically two types of content libraries: Local Content Library: You use a local library to store items in a single vCenter Server instance. You are capable of publishing the local library so that the users from other vCenter Server systems can subscribe to it. When you publish a content library externally, you can configure a password for authentication. Subscribed Content Library: You subscribe to a published library by creating a subscribed library. You are capable of creating the subscribed library in the same vCenter Server instance where the published library is or in a different vCenter Server system. In the Create Library wizard you have the option for downloading all the contents which is present in the published library immediately after the subscribed library has been created or for downloading only metadata for the items from the published library and to later download the full content of only the items you intend to use.

29. What is Cold Migration? Answer: Cold Migration is when you want to migrate powered off or suspended virtual machines. For performing a cold migration, you have an option of moving the virtual machines manually or setting up a scheduled task.

30. What is Hot Migration? Answer: Hot Migration is when you migrate running power on virtual machines. vMotion is also referred to as “live migration” or “hot migration.”

31. How vSphere Licensing Works? Answer: vSphere is licensed on a per-processor basis. Each physical processor in a server needs to have at least one processor license key which is assigned to run the vSphere. There are as such no limits on the Number of the Virtual Machines and Physical Resources.

32. Which License editions are available in vSphere 6.7? Answer: Below are the editions available in vSphere 6.7 :

• vSphere Standard
• vSphere Enterprise Plus
• vSphere with Operations Manager Enterprise Plus
• vSphere Platinum

You also have option for Smaller Environment:

• vSphere Essentials Kit
• vSphere Essentials Plus kit

You also have option for Remote Office and Branch Offices:

• vSphere Remote Office Branch Office Standard
• vSphere Remote Office Branch Office Advanced

33. Which are Editions available in vCenter Server? Answer: vCenter Server comes in below 3 editions:

• vCenter Server For Essentials (For Essential Kits with up to 3 ESXi Hosts supported)
• vCenter Server Foundation (Up to 4 ESXi Hosts supported.)
• vCenter Server Standard (Unlimited Number of ESXi Hosts supported.)

34. What is vSphere Replication? Answer: VMware vSphere Replication is defined as a hypervisor-based, asynchronous replication solution for the vSphere virtual machines. By making use of the vSphere Replication we can easily replicate virtual machines from one site to the other.

35. What is SRM? Answer: SRM is referred to as Site Recovery Manager. SRM is defined as a business continuity and disaster recovery solution that helps us for the testing, planning, and running of the recovery of the virtual machines between a protected vCenter Server site and a recovery vCenter Server site. We are able to configure SRM with vSphere Replication or with Array Based Replication.

36. What is VMware NSX? Answer: NSX is a Network Virtualization by VMware which provides complete virtualization of networking components in datacenter using software. NSX Data Center helps in providing a complete set of logical networking services and elements, including the load balancing, VPN, quality of service (QoS), logical switching, routing, firewalling, and monitoring. These services get provisioned through any cloud management platform in virtual networks leveraging the NSX Data Center APIs. Virtual networks get deployed over any existing networking hardware non-disruptively. NSX is the main component of Software Defined Data Center (SDDC).

37. What are Key Features of VMware NSX? Answer: Below are the Key Features of NSX which are as follows:

• Distributed Firewalling
• Load Balancing
• NSX Gateway
• Multi Site Networking

38. What are the ways of Installing ESXi? Answer: The ways of installing ESXi are as follows:

• Interactive ESXi installation
• Scripted ESXi installation
• Auto Deploy ESXi installation
• Customizing installations with ESXi Image Builder CLI and many more.

39. What are the different types of virtualization? Answer: There are 5 basic types of virtualization.

• Server virtualization: It helps in consolidating the physical server and multiple OS that is running on a single server.
• Network Virtualization: It helps in providing the complete reproduction into a software-defined network of the physical network.
• Storage Virtualization: It helps in providing an abstraction layer for the physical storage resources to manage and optimize in the virtual deployment.
• Application Virtualization: It helps in increased mobility of applications and allows the migration of VMs from a host to another with minimal downtime.
• Desktop Virtualization: The virtualization desktop helps in reducing the cost and increasing the service.

40. Why is virtualization needed? Answer: Virtualization reduces the number of physical servers, reducing the energy needed to power and funky them. It saves time. It is also a lot quicker to deploy a virtual machine than to deploy a brand new physical server. Reduces desktop management headaches.

41. How will virtualization work? Answer: Golf stroke multiple VMs on one pc permits many operating systems and applications to run on only 1 physical server or host. A skinny layer of package referred to as a “hypervisor” decouples the virtual machines from the host and dynamically allocate computing resources to every virtual machine PRN.

42. What is VMware? Answer: VMware, Inc. is an American company that provides cloud and virtualization software and services and claims to be the first to successfully virtualize the x86 architecture commercially. It was founded in 1998. VMware is based in Palo Alto, California.

43. What is VMware FT? Answer: FT simply means the Fault Tolerance which is a very prominent component of the VMware vSphere. It helps in providing the continuous availability for VMs when an ESXi host fails. It supports up to 4 vCPUs and 64 GB memory. Fault Tolerance is bandwidth intensive and 10GB NIC is usually recommended for the configuration of it. It helps in creating a complete copy of an entire VM such as storing, computing, and memory.

44. How many vCPUs can be used for a VM in FT? Answer: In vSphere 6.0, we can use upto 4 vCPUs and the RAM of 64 GB can be used.

45. What is the name of the technology used by VMware FT? Answer: vLockstep technology is used by the VMware Fault Tolerance.

46. What is Fault Tolerant Logging? Answer: The communication between the two ESXi hosts is termed as the Fault Tolerance logging when the Fault Tolerance is configured between them. The prerequisite of configuring FT is to configure VMKernel port.

47. Will the FT work if vCenter Server goes down? Answer: vCenter server is only required to enable the Fault Tolerance on a VM. Once it gets configured, vCenter is not required to be online for the Fault Tolerance to work. Fault Tolerance failover between primary and secondary will take place even if the vCenter is down.

48. What is the main difference between VMware HA and FT? Answer: The main differences between VMware HA and VMware FT are: VMware HA gets enabled per cluster whereas the VMware FT gets enabled per VM. In VMware HA, VMs will be re-started and powered-on onto another host in case of a host failure whereas in VMware FT there is no downtime because the second copy will be activated in case of the host failure.

49. What do you mean by NFS? Answer: NFS means the Network File System which is defined as a file-sharing protocol that helps in making use of a communication bridge between ESXi hosts and NAS (Network-attached storage) devices over a Transfer Control Protocol/Internet Protocol network. It is also able to hold the ISO images, templates and virtual machines files.

50. What do you mean by RDM? Answer: Raw device mapping (RDM) is a mapping file located in VMFS volume and acts as a proxy for the raw physical storage device. It helps in allowing the virtual machine for reading and writing from the storage and it also contains metadata for managing and redirecting disk to the physical device. By making use of the raw device mapping we can make use of the file system, Vmotion and can also be capable of adding raw LUNs to the virtual machine.

51. What do you understand from the term virtual networking? Answer: A network of VMs connected logically with each other which runs on a physical server is called virtual networking.

52. What is Hardware virtualization & advantages of hardware Virtualization? Answer: Transforming Hardware resources into software layers is called Hardware virtualization. Using hardware virtualization we can run multiple operating systems concurrently on a piece of hardware.So we are capable of reducing the Hardware Resources Save Power, cooling, Space. Provides high availability to Virtual Machines.

53. What is VM Monitoring status? Answer: HA usually monitors ESX hosts and reboot the virtual machine in the failed hosts and in case of host isolation one needs the HA to monitor the Virtual machine failures also. Here is the feature known as the VM monitoring status which is the part of the HA settings.VM monitoring is used to restart the virtual machine if the VMware tools heartbeat isn’t able to receive in the specified time by making use of the Monitoring sensitivity.

54. What is vSS? Answer: vSS simply means the Virtual Standard Switch which is responsible for communication of VMs hosted on a single physical host. It works like a physical switch and helps in automatically detecting a VM which wants to communicate with another VM on the same physical server.

55. What is vDS? Answer: vDS simply means that Virtual Distributed Switch which acts as a single switch in a whole virtual environment and is also responsible for providing the central provisioning, administration, and monitoring of the virtual network.

56. How many standard ports are maximum available per host? Answer: There are 4096 ports available per host that are either in a distributed switch or standard switch.

57. What are the main benefits of distributed switch (vDS)? Answer: vDS can provide:

• Central administration for a data center
• Central provision, and

58. What is the VMKernal adapter and why is it used? Answer: VMKernel adapter is the adapter which is used to provide network connectivity to the ESXi host for handling the network traffic for IP Storage, vMotion, NAS, Fault Tolerance, and vSAN. For each type of traffic such as vSAN, vMotion etc. separating the VMKernel an adapter should be created and configured.

59. What is the main use of port groups in data center virtualization? Answer: You can segregate the network traffic by using port groups such as vMotion, FT, management traffic etc.

60. What three port groups are configured in ESXi networking? Answer:

• Virtual Machine Port Group – it is the port group which is used for the Virtual Machine Network.
• Service Console Port Group – it is the port group which is used for Service Console Communications.
• VMKernel Port Group – it is the port which is utilized for iSCSI, VMotion, NFS Communications.

61. What is VLAN and why is it used in virtual networking? Answer: A logical configuration on the switch port to segment the IP Traffic where each segment cannot communicate with other segments without proper mentioning of rules is called VLAN and every VLAN has a number called VLAN ID.

62. What is VLAN Tagging? Answer: The practice of inserting VLAN ID into a packet header to identify which VLAN packet it belongs to is called VLAN tagging.

63. What are the three network security policies/modes on vSwitch? Answer: ●Promiscuous mode ●MAC address change ●Forged transmits

64. What is promiscuous mode on vSwitch? Answer: The default mode is reject. If Accept is selected, VM will receive all traffic port groups via vSwitch.

65. What MAC address changes network policy? Answer: The default mode of this policy is Accept. If the reject gets selected then a host will accept the requests for changing the effective MAC address.

66. What is forged transmits network policy? Answer: The default mode is Accept. If the reject gets selected then a host will not be comparing the effective MAC address and source which gets transmitted from a VM vCenter Server.

67. What are the main components of vCenter Server architecture? Answer: There are three main components of vCenter Server architecture.

• vSphere Client and Web Client: This is the component which is a user interface component.
• vCenter Server database: It is the embedded PostgreSQL or SQL server for storing the security roles, inventory, resource pools etc
• SSO: It is the component which is a security domain in a virtual environment.

68. What are PSC and its components? Answer: PSC stands for Platform Services Controller, first introduced in version 6 of VMware vSphere which handles infrastructure security functions. It has three main components.

• Single Sign-On (SSO)
• VMware Certificate Authority (CA)
• Licensing service

69. What are the two main deploying methods of PSC? Answer: You can install PSC in two ways:

• Centralized

70. What are different types of vCenter Server deployment? Answer: It has two deployment types.

• Embedded Deployment
• External deployment

71. What is vRealize Operation (vROP)? Answer: vRealize Operation helps in providing the operation dashboards for the capacity optimization, performance analytics and monitors the virtual environment.

72. What is the basic security step to secure vCenter Server and users? Answer: Authenticate vCenter Server with Active Directory. By using this we can assign specific roles to users and can also manage the virtual environment in an efficient way. Virtual Storage (Datastore)

73. What do you mean by datastore? Answer: Datastore is defined as a storage location where the virtual machine files get stored and accessed. Datastore is based on a file system which is called VMFS, NFS.

74. What is the .vmx file? Answer: It is the configuration file of VM.

75. What information .nvram files store? Answer: It stores BIOS related information of VM.

76. What .vmdk file does and uses? Answer: Vmdk is defined as a VM disk file and helps in storing the data of a VM. The size of the file can be up to 62 Tera Byte in vSphere 6.0 version.

77. How many disk types are in VMware? Answer: There are three disk types in vSphere.

• Thick Provisioned Lazy Zeroes: In this disk format every virtual disk gets created by default. Physical space is allocated to a VMware when a virtual disk gets created. It can’t be converted to a thin disk.
• Thick Provision Eager Zeroes: This is the disk type in the vSphere which is used in the VMware Fault Tolerance. All the required disk spaces are allocated to a VM at time of the creation. It takes more time for creating a virtual disk and comparing to other disk formats.
• Thin provision: It provides an on-demand allocation of disk space to a VM. When the size of data grows, the size of a disk will also grow automatically. Storage capacity utilization with this can be up to 100%.

78. What is Storage vMotion? Answer: Storage vMotion is the vMotion which is similar to the traditional vMotion. In Storage vMotion, a virtual disk of a VM is moved from one datastore to another. During the Storage vMotion, the virtual thick provisioning disk can be transformed to the thin provisioned disk.

79. What is the VM Hardware version for vSphere 6.0? Answer: Version 11

80. What VM hardware version for vSphere 6.5? Answer: Version 13

81. In which version of vSphere PSC was introduced? Answer: Platform Services Controller (PSC) is introduced in vSphere 6.0. vSphere 6.0 version is also termed as Virtual hardware version 11.

82. How many maximum hosts can manage a vCenter Server in vSphere 6.0? Answer: In vSphere 6.0, a single vCenter Server has the ability to manage up to 1000 hosts either in vCenter Appliance (vCSA) or in Windows.

83. How many hosts can be managed by a cluster in vSphere 6.0? Answer: A single cluster has the ability of managing maximum of 64 hosts.

84. How can maximum VMs be managed by a single cluster? Answer: A single cluster has the ability of managing the maximum of 8000 VMs.

85. What is VVol? Answer: Virtual Volume is defined as a new VM disk management concept which is introduced in vSphere 6.0 that enables an array-based operations at the virtual disk level. Virtual Volume gets automatically created for a VM when a virtual disk is created in a virtual environment.

86. How many licensing options exists for vSphere 6.0? Answer: There are three licensing options for vSphere 6.0:

• Standard Edition: Contains 1 vCenter Server Standard license upto 2 vCPUs for Fault Tolerance, vMotion, Storage vMotion, HA, VVols etc.
• Enterprise Edition: Same as Standard Edition but additionally contains APIs for Array Integration and Multipathing, DRS, and DPM.
• Enterprise Plus: Includes all features of Standard and Enterprise Editions with additionally having Fault Tolerance upto 4 vCPUs and 64GB of RAM. It also includes Distributed vSwitch and the most expensive licensing option of vSphere 6.0.

87. How much Maximum RAM can vSphere 6.0 support? Answer: It supports upto 12TB of RAM.

88. What is the Content Library? Answer: Content Library is defined as the central location point between the two different geographical locations with vCenter Servers where we are capable of storing the ISO images, VM templates, scripts etc. and also sharing them between the different geographical locations.

89. What are the main benefits of content libraries? Answer: We are capable of creating the VM templates and can be able to share on another geographical location of a company without the creation of other locations. It has many benefits such as the storage efficiency, sharing and consistency, and secure subscription.

90. How many types of Content Libraries exists? Answer: It has three types:

• Local: library of local control.
• Published: It is the content library which is a local library having contenting (ISO images, VM templates etc) for the subscription.
• Subscribed: A library which syncs with the published library.

91. What is VMFS? Answer: VMFS is defined as a file system for a VM in the VMware vSphere. VMFS is also defined as a datastore which is responsible for the storage of the virtual machine files. The VM file system is also capable of storing the large files having sizes up to 64 Tera Byte in the vSphere 6.0.

92. What is vSAN? Answer: Virtual SAN is a software-defined storage first introduced in vSphere 5.5 and is fully integrated with vSphere. Virtual SAN is used for aggregating the local attached storage of the ESXi hosts which is the part of a cluster and used for creating a distributed shared solution.

93. What is cold migration? Answer: Moving a powered-off VM from the one host to the other is termed as cold migration.

94. What is Storage vMotion? Answer: Moving a powered-on VM from one datastore to the other is termed as Storage vMotion.

95. What are the different configuration options for VSAN? Answer: There are two configuration options for vSAN:

• Hybrid: It is the configuration option which makes use of the both flash-based and magnetic disks for the storage purposes. Flash gets used for the caching while magnetic disks come into use for the capacity or storage.
• All-Flash: It is the configuration option which makes use of the flash for both storage and for caching.

96. Are there VSAN ready nodes available in the market? Answer: Yes, vSAN-ready such as VxRail 4.0 and 4.5 are available in the market. VxRail is defined asthe part of a cluster which is a combination of minimum 3 servers and it can scale up to 64 servers.

97. How many minimum servers/hosts are required to configure vSAN? Answer: To configure a vSAN you should have a minimum of 3 ESXi hosts/servers in the form of a vSAN cluster. If one of the servers fails, a vSAN cluster will fail.

98. How many maximum ESXi hosts are allowed for vSAN? Answer: 64 hosts are max allowed to configure a vSAN cluster.

99. How many disk groups and maximum magnetic disks are allowed in a single disk group? Answer: Maximum 5 disk groups are allowed on an ESXi host which is a part of a vSAN cluster and a maximum of 7 magnetic and 1 SSD per disk group is allowed.

100. How many types of storages can we use in our virtual environment? Answer:

• Direct Attached Storage
• Fiber Channel (FC)
• Network Attached Storage (NAS)

101. What is NFS? Answer: Network File System (NFS) is a file sharing protocol that ESXi hosts uses to communicate with a NAS device. NAS is defined as a specialized storage device which is used for connecting to a network and can provide file access services to the ESXi hosts.

102. What is Raw Device Mapping (RDM)? Answer: Raw Device Mapping (RDM) is defined as a file which is stored in a VMFS volume that acts as a proxy for a raw physical device. Raw Device Mapping enables you to store the virtual machine data directly on a LUN. Raw Device Mapping is recommended when a VM interact with a real disk on the SAN.

103. What is an iSCSI storage? Answer: An iSCSI SAN consist of an iSCSI storage system which contains one or more storage processors. Transfer Control Protocol/Internet Protocol is used for the communication between host and storage array. An iSCSI initiator usually gets configured with the ESXi host. An iSCSI initiator can be defined as a hardware-based either independent or dependent and software-based which is known as the iSCSI software initiator.

104. What is the format of iSCSI addressing? Answer: It makes use of the Transfer Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol for configuration.

105. What are iSCSI naming conventions? Answer: ISCSI names are formatted in two ways:

• the iSCSI qualified name (IQN)
• extended unique identifier (EUI) vApp

106. What is vApp? Answer: vApp is a container or group where more than one VM can be packaged and can manage multi-tiered applications for specific requirements. For example, Web server, database server, and application server can be configured as a vApp and can be defined as their power-on and power-off sequence.

107. What settings can be configured for vApp? Answer: We can configure several settings for the vApp such as IP allocation policy, CPU and memory allocation etc.

108. What is VMware DRS? Answer: DRS stands for Distributed Resource Scheduler that automatically balances available resources among various hosts by using cluster or resource pools. By taking the help of HA, DRS is capable of moving the VMs from one host to the other to balance the available resources among the VMs.

109. What are shares, limits and reservations? Answer:

• Share: A value which is used for specifying the relative priority or the importance of a VM access for a given resource.
• Limit: It is defined as consumption of a CPU cycle or the hosting of physical memory which cannot be crossing the defined value (limit).
• Reservation: This value gets defined in the form of the memory or CPU and that must be available for a VM to start it.

110. What are the alarms and why do we use them? Answer: An alarm is a notification which appears when an event occurs. Many default alarms exist for many inventory objects. Alarms can be modified and created by making use of vSphere Web Client.

111. What are the hot-pluggable devices which can be added while VM is running? Answer: We are capable of adding the HDDs and NIC while the VM is running.

112. What is a Template? Answer: When a VM is converted into a format which can be used to create a VM with predefined settings is termed as a template. We have an option that an installed VM can usually get converted into a template but it cannot be powered-on.

113. What is Snapshot? Answer: To create a copy of a VM with the timestamp as a restore point is called a snapshot. Snapshots are taken when an upgrade or software installation is required. For better performance, a snapshot must be removed after the performance of a particular task.

114. How to convert a physical machine into a VM? Answer: There are three steps which are required for converting a physical machine to a VM:

• An agent needs to be installed on the Physical machine
• VI client needs to be installed with Converter Plug-in
• A server to import/export virtual machines

115. What is vMotion and what is the main purpose to use it in a virtual environment? Answer: It is a very prominent feature of VMware vSphere used to migrate run VMs from one ESXi host to another without any downtime. Data stores and ESXi hosts both can be used.

116. What is the difference between a clone and a template? Answer: A clone is defined as a copy of the virtual machine in VMware. By cloning a VM, it will save the time if the multiple VMs that have the same configurations are required. While a template is a master copy of an image created from a VM which can be later used to create many clones. After converting a VM to a template, it can’t be powered-on or edited.

117. What type of the monitoring method do we use in vSphere HA? Answer:

• Network Heartbeat
• Datastore Heartbeat

118. How is the master host elected in vSphere HA? Answer: When HA is enabled in a cluster, all the hosts which are taking part in a selection process to be selected as a master host. A host which has the highest number of data stores mounted will be selected as a master host. All other hosts will remain slave hosts.

119. What is the purpose of VMware Tools? Answer: It is defined as a suite of utilities which are generally used to enhance the performance of a VM in the form of network card, graphics, mouse/keyboard movement and other peripheral devices.

120. What is VMware DPM? Answer: A stand for Distributed Power Management is a feature of VMware DRS that is used to monitor required resources in a cluster. When the resources get decreased due to their low usage in the VMware then the VMware DPM used to consolidate the workloads and also used to shut down the hosts which are not being used at that time and when resources are increased then it automatically powers on the unused hosts.

121. What is the ESXi Shell? Answer: It is defined as a command-line interface which is used for running repair and diagnostics of ESXi hosts. It is the shell which can be easily accessible via vCenter Server enable/disable, DCUI and also via SSH.

122. How to run ESXTOP on ESXi host? Answer: For running ESXTOP on an ESXi host, we’ll require two prerequisites and they are as follows:

• We should install vSphere Client on a host where we need to configure.
• We should also enable SSH from DCUI by making use of the “Troubleshooting Options” link.

123. What is the difference when you use viclient connect to VC and directly to ESX server itself? Answer: When you are connecting to the VC you are capable of managing the ESX server via vpxa (Agent on esx server). Then Vpxa is used to pass those requests to the hostd (management service on esx server). When you connect to the ESX server directly, you are also connected to the hostd (bypass vpxa). You are capable of extending this to a troubleshooting case where you are connected to esx for seeing one thing and connected to VC for seeing another. So the problem is more likely out of sync between the hostd and vpxa, “service vmware-vpxa restart” should take care of this.

124. What was the most difficult VMware related problem/issue you faced in a production environment and what were the specific steps you took to resolve it? Answer:

• HA issues – because of the dns problems, the hosts are not able to communicate between each other or together. It is corrected by adding all servers ip’s in each server’s /etc/hosts file
• The VM was not powered up – because the swap file was locked by another host, when I try to power on the VM it doesn’t on. After releasing the lock it’s powered on.

125. When was the last time you called VM Support and what was the issue? Answer: There were some licensing related issues.

126. What was the most performance intensive production app that you supported in VMware and what were some of the challenges that it posed? Answer: In exchange for a share point demo project, getting a lot of VLAN issues.

127. Can Host Profiles be used with a cluster running both ESX and ESXi hosts? Answer: Yes, but we should remember that we should use an ESX host and not an ESXi host for creating a profile. In theory, Host Profiles should be working with the mixed host clusters as it used to translate ESX to ESXi but we should be careful as we must know that there are enough differences between ESX and ESXi that can be leading to make self-inflicted errors when applying for the Host Profiles. The easiest method for us is to create the clusters which are homogeneous in nature and maintaining two different profiles for these two types of clusters.

128. Can Host Profiles work when using the Cisco Nexus 1000v? Answer: No, the Host Profiles does not work when we are using the Cisco Nexus 1000v because Host Profiles are generally used to design with the generic vNetwork Distributed Switch. The Cisco Nexus 1000v switch used to give administrators finer-grained control of the networking beyond what the Host Profiles can be applied.

129. What are host profiles? Answer: These are defined as a set of best practice configuration rules that are applied to the whole cluster or to an individual host. So that all the hosts are in sync with each other. This will avoid the vmotion, DRS and HA problems.

130. What are the available Storage options for virtual machines? Answer: Raw device mappings, VMFS

131. What are the differences between Virtual and Physical compatibility modes when mapping the Raw Devices to virtual machines? Answer: You can configure RDM in two ways: Virtual compatibility mode—this compatibility mode is used to fully virtualize the mapped device which used to appear to the guest operating system as a kind of virtual disk file on a VMFS volume. Virtual mode provides us with such benefits of VMFS as using snapshots and advanced file locking for data protection. Physical compatibility mode—this compatibility mode used to provide us to access the most of the hardware characteristics of the mapped device. VMkernel is usually passing all the SCSI commands to the device with one exception, thereby exposing all the physical characteristics of the underlying hardware. In this compatibility mode the mapping is done by the following method when we create a mapping, the configuration is stored in a file and that file is stored along with the vm files in the datastore. This file points to the raw device and also makes it accessible to the vm.

132. What are Raw Data Mapping Limitations? Answer: Raw Data Mapping limitations are as follows: There are mainly two types of Raw Data Mappings: they are virtual compatibility mode Raw Data Mappings and physical compatibility mode Raw Data Mappings. Physical mode Raw Data Mappings, in particular have some fairly significant limitations which are as follows:

• No VMware snapshots.
• There is no VCB support in this because VCB needs the VMware snapshots.
• There is no cloning VMs which is making use of the physical mode RDMs.
• There is also no migration of the VMs with the physical mode RDMs if the migration involves copying the disk.
• No VMotion with physical mode RDMs.

Virtual mode Raw Data Mappings address some of these issue, allowing raw LUNs to be treated very much like virtual disks and enabling functionality like VMotion, snap shooting, and cloning. Virtual mode Raw Data Mappings are mostly acceptable in most of the cases where there is a requirement of Raw Data Mappings. For example, we can make use of the virtual mode Raw Data Mappings in case of virtual-to-virtual clusters across the physical hosts. We should note that the physical-to-virtual clusters across the boxes, though, need the physical mode Raw Data Mappings.

While the virtual disks will be working for the large majority of applications and for the workloads in a VI environment, the using of the Raw Data Mappings–either the virtual mode Raw Data Mappings or physical mode Raw Data Mappings can help in eliminating potential compatibility issues or allowing the applications for running the virtualized without any loss of the functionality.

133. When users are logged in to their Virtual Machines via View Client when they wish to end the session should they choose the “disconnect” or “disconnect and log off” option? Answer: The first option is Disconnect. With Disconnect, the user remains logged on. Any programs that the user is running then one must continue to run and no other users (except for an Administrator) can be connected to this desktop. If an administrator chooses to log in they may be logging into the desktop but will automatically log out the user and also force any programs that the user is running to end. The second option is disconnecting and Logging off. This option allows the user to log off and it allows other users to access this desktop.

134. What is the purpose of the cache lifetime setting for the offline desktop? Answer: The data on the each offline system is having an encryption and a cache lifetime controlled through the policy. If the client is losing the contact with the View Connection Server, the cache lifetime is the period in which the user can continue to use the desktop before they are refused to access. This countdown is resettled once the connection is re-established.

135. Does Offline Desktop support are tunneled or non tunneled communications? Answer: Offline Desktop support the tunneled or non tunneled communications for LAN based data transfers. When tunneling is enabled then all traffic gets routed through the View Connection Server.

136. What is the rationale behind utilizing virtual machines instead of original hardware? Answer: Purchasing additional pieces of hardware such as computer systems shoots up the budget of a company. Buying a new unit also necessitates allocating funds separately for their maintenance. Virtualization is addressing all these needs after providing some of the reliable solutions to the companies for efficient working. Among other things, it reduces the requirement to invest in additional units by splitting up a physical server into multiple servers.

137. Is there any specific requirement for running ESXi in the BIOS of the server? Answer: Yes, one needs to activate the NX/XD bit in order to ensure the smooth installation of the software programs that are necessary to run ESXi in the server.

138. Can the .nvram be recovered after accidental deletion from a virtual machine? Answer: .Nvram helps a virtual machine to store its BIOS component. If it gets deleted for some reason it can be again recovered after powering on the virtual machine using a battery.

139. What are the four core elements of the VMkernel networking layer? Answer: VMkernel networkings are the constructs that are tailor-made to facilitate vSphere to interact with the outside world. Its four core elements include the following: Virtual SAN Fault Tolerance Science storage vMotion

140. What ports are needed if an administrator wants to connect vSphere net consumers with ESXi directly? Answer: It may be necessary to use multiple ports for connecting vSphere net consumers with ESXi. These include 443 TCP, 902 TCP and UDP, and 903 TCP ports. An administrator can open these ports for operation from a security profile.

141. What valid identity supply is necessary for the configuration of vCenter SSO? Answer: It is important to ensure the supply of a valid identity for the configuration of vCenter SSO without any issue. The valid identity supply necessary for the configuration of vCenter SSO is Open LDAP.

142. How does vCenter differ from vSphere? Answer: vCenter is installed on a server that either runs on UNIX or Windows. This can either be a desktop or a laptop. On the other hand, vSphere is an application management system that can be managed in a centralized manner. It controls virtual machines centrally.

143. What is vLockstep Technology? Answer: It is defined as a technology which is used for transferring the data from a primary virtual machine to a secondary virtual machine. The data includes events, movements, and inputs. This technology helps to capture these elements on a primary server and send them to the secondary server.

144. What is FT Logging? Answer: FT Logging stands for Fault Tolerance Logging. At the time of configuring the Fault Tolerance, two ESXi hosts interact or communicate with each other.

145. Does FT work if the vCenter server goes down? Answer: Yes, FT can work even as vCenter goes down. All a user needs to do is run fault tolerance (FT) on a virtual server. One of the downsides of vCenter going down is that it leads to a failover between primary and secondary machines.

146. What is Server Virtualization? Answer: It allows the different operating systems to run on a single server that is highly efficient for the virtual machine. It provides ideal benefits to the industry.

• It improves the efficiency of IT business operation
• It minimizes the cost of operation
• It is suitable for quick workload deployment
• It is better to improve the performance of the application
• It reduces server damage and complexity.

147. What is Network Virtualization? Answer: It lets an application run on a virtual server if the application is running on the physical network. It gives greater operational benefit to the industry. This one is used for different purposes like:

• Running protocol analyzer
• Logical Ports
• Load Balancer
• Firewalls and others

148. What is Application Virtualization? Answer: Application runs on the host and installed in different forms. It is the application virtualization which could be accomplished by the streaming of application, desktop virtualization or VDI. It is also best-suited for increasing the mobility of various applications and permitting migration of VM from the host. It minimizes downtime of applications.

149. What is Presentation Virtualization? Answer: It is the virtualization by which ICA protocol and Microsoft terminal services are developed. Any application can run on the host and allows the client to view on the screen and gain details of running the place.

150. What is Storage Virtualization? Answer: The disk storage of data is combined and maintained by the virtual storage system. It also offers the abstraction layer which is ideal for the physical storage for maintaining and optimizing in virtual deployment.

151. What Are The Solutions Offered by VMware? Answer: VMware is considered as the best standard for virtualization. It provides the widest range of solutions that are better for the business to improve the growth in a simple way. Here are some of the popular solutions that are offered by the Vmware:

(i) VMware Vcenter Site Recovery Manager: This is very useful to keep the system running in case any failure occurs in hardware components. If the physical server gets damaged then all the data and the files are automatically shifted to the other server. It provides constant system availability and never minimizes uptime when waiting for any resource to fix the issues in the crashed server.

(ii) VMware Vcenter Server: The solution helps you to minimize a number of the physical servers that a business needs to have. With the virtualization of the various servers this will be reducing the requirement of the services and decreasing the storage space in the server. It is better to lower the energy bill.

(iii) VMware Vcenter Lab Manager: It lets anyone test different things like system configuration, software, and updates without compromising time and effort to change workstation.

(iv) VMware View: It is a simple solution which maintains the desktop workstation and also creates a workstation virtual. Updates and software installations are handled at a single place. This will help you to save money. It is simply and easy to manage, support and provides complete control of the workstation.

152. What is the purpose of VM Tools? Answer: VMware Tools are considered as a house of utilities that are aiming for enhancing the Virtual Machine’s performance of guest operating systems and for improving Virtual Machine’s management. Following issues are getting either removed or eliminated after the installment of the VMware Tools, which are as follows-

• Low video resolution
• Incorrect display of network speed
• Inability to copy and paste and drag & drop files
• Synchronization of time in the guest operating system with the time on the host and more.

153. What does VMware DRS mean? Answer: VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler is defined as a tool which is used to dynamically balance the available resources across the various hosts by taking the help of Cluster or resource pool. VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler permits the users to formulate the rules and policies that fix the manner in which VMs will be sharing all the resources and how these resources are getting prioritized among the multiple VMs.

154. What does VMware DPM mean? Answer: Distributed Power Management or DPM is defined as a tool which is used for monitoring required resources in a cluster. At times when resources get decreased due to low usage, VMware DPM merges workloads and shuts down the hosts that are unused and when the resources are increased, it automatically will on the unused hosts.

155. What does VMware HA mean? Answer: VMware HA or High Availability is used for working on the host level and configuring on the Clusters. In case of any host level failure, a Cluster configured with HA will automatically migrate and restart all the VMs running under any of the hosts to another host below the identical Cluster. ALL ESX Server hosts in a cluster are monitored by VMware HA and they also detect failures.

156. Define promiscuous mode in VMware? Answer: Promiscuous mode in VMware is defined as a security policy which is describable at the port group level or virtual switch. Use of promiscuous mode in a virtual machine, Service Console or VMKernel network interface in a port group helps it to see all network traffic traversing the virtual switch. If the promiscuous mode is set for rejection then the packets are to be sent to the intended port so that the targeted virtual machine will only be capable of seeing the communication.

157. Define VMware vMotion? Answer: VMware VMotion helps in live migration of running virtual machines from one physical server to another with zero downtime. The entire pool of resources is automatically optimized and allocated by VMotion to get maximum hardware utilization and to perform hardware maintenance function without any scheduled downtime. It proactively migrates virtual machines away from failing or underperforming servers.

158. How does VMware HA differ from vMotion? Answer: When any of the hosts inside a cluster fails then all the virtual machines running under it are restarted on different hosts under the same cluster with the help of VMware HA. For this migration of VMs to different hosts, VMware HA is completely dependent on vMotion. So the only use of vMotion is to assist in the migration process between multiple hosts. vMotion is defined as Laos which is capable enough for migrating any VM to any of the hosts which are inside the cluster without getting interrupted.

159. In a cluster of more than 3 hosts can a person tell Fault Tolerance where to put the Fault Tolerance virtual machine or does it choose on its own? Answer: A person is capable of only placing the original or the Primary virtual machine. He has full control with DRS or vMotion for assigning it to any node. When the Secondary virtual machine gets created then it is placed automatically on the basis of the hosts that are available. But at the time of the creation and placement of the Secondary VM the person can move it to the preferring host.

160. What does VDI mean? Answer: VDI is an acronym for Virtual Desktop Infrastructure where end user physical machines such as desktop or laptop are visualized because of which VDI is described as “delivering drops from the data center” by VMware. Once VDI is used with the help of a device called thin client, the end user can connect to their desktops.

161. Write the methods of converting a physical machine into a VM? Answer: There are mainly 3 steps are essential for the conversion of a physical machine to a VM:

• We should take care that there should be having an installed agent on the Physical machine.
• We should remember that the VI client must be installed along with the Converter Plug-in.
• A server should be there for exporting/importing the virtual machines.

162. What do you mean by Template? Answer: At the time of converting a VM into a format which is basically used for building a VM with predefined settings is known as a template.

163. What do you mean by alarms? Answer: An alarm is a kind of notification produced when any event happens. For inventory objects, default alarms exit.

164. Why do we use alarms? Answer: We use alarms because it can be easily modified and created with the help of it. Alarms can be created with vSphere Web Client.

165. Define share? Answer: Share is a value which postulates the relative priority or requirement of a VM access to the specified resource.

166. Define limit? Answer: Consumption of a host physical memory or CPU cycle which is not able to cross the defined value is known as Limit.

167. What do you mean by reservation? Answer: This value is described in the form of memory or CPU. Its presence is mandatory to be available to start a VM.

168. What are iSCSI naming conventions? Answer: There are 2 ways of formatting iSCSI names which are mentioned below:

• Extended unique identifier (EUI)
• The iSCSI qualified name (IQN)

169. What are DRS? What are types of DRS? Answer:

• Distributed Resource Scheduler
• It is a feature of a cluster
• DRS continuously monitors utilization across the hosts and moves virtual machines to balance the computing capacity
• DRS uses vMotion for its functioning

Types of DRS

• Fully automated – In this type of DRS the VMs are moved across the hosts in an automated manner. No admin intervention is required in this.
• Partially automated – In this type of DRS the VMs are moved across the hosts in an automated manner during the time of VM booting up. But once up, vCenter will provide the DRS recommendations to the admin and has to perform it in a manual way.
• Manual – In this, admin should have to act according to the recommendations of the DRS. DRS prerequisites
• Shared storage.
• Processor compatibility of the hosts in the cluster of the DRS.
• vMotion prerequisites.

170. vMotion is not working. What are the possible reasons? Answer:

• Ensure vMotion is enabled on all ESX/ESXi hosts.
• One must also ensure that all VMware prerequisites should meet well.
• Verify if the ESXi/ESX host can be reconnected or if reconnecting the ESX/ESXi host resolves the issue.
• Verify that time is synchronized across the environment.
• One must also verify that the required spacing of the disk is also available.

171. What happens if a host is taken to maintenance mode? Answer: a. Hosts are taken to maintenance mode during the course of maintenance b. In a single ESX/ESXi setup, all the VMs need to be shutdown before getting into maintenance mode c. In a vCenter setup if DRS is enabled, the VMs will be migrated to other hosts automatically.

172. How will you clone a VM in an ESXi without vCenter? Answer: a. Using vmkf tools b. Copy the vmdk file and attach to a new VM c. Using VMware converter

173. Recommended iSCSI configuration? Answer: A separate vSwitch and a separate network other than VMtraffic network for iSCSI traffic. We must know that the dedicated physical NICs should be connected to the vSwitch configuration for the iSCSI traffic.

174. What is iSCSI port binding? Answer: Port binding comes into use in iSCSI when the multiple VMkernel ports for iSCSI are residing in the same broadcast domain and IP subnet for allowing the multiple paths to an iSCSI array which broadcast a single IP address.

175. iSCSI port binding considerations? Answer: a. Array Target iSCSI ports must reside in the same broadcast domain and IP subnet as the VMkernel port. b. All VMkernel ports used for iSCSI connectivity must reside in the same broadcast domain and IP subnet. c. All VMkernel ports used for iSCSI connectivity must reside in the same vSwitch. d. Currently port binding does not support network routing.

176. Recommended iSCSI configuration of a 6 NIC infrastructure? Answer: a. 2 NICs for VM traffic b. 2 NICs for iSCSI traffic c. 1 NIC for vMotion d. 1 NIC for management network

177. What are the post conversion steps in P2V? Answer: a. Adjust the virtual hardware settings as required b. Remove non present device drivers c. Remove all unnecessary devices such as serial ports, USB controllers, floppy drives etc. d. Install VMware tools

178. Which esxtop metric will you use to confirm latency issues of storage? Answer: esxtop –> d –> DAVG

179. What are standby NICs? Answer: These are the adapters which will be used to become active if the so called defined active adapters have failed.

180. What are the path selection policies in ESXi? Answer: a. Most Recently Used (MRU) b. Fixed c. Round Robin

181. Which networking features are recommended while using iSCSI traffic? Answer: a. iSCSI port binding b. Jumbo Frames

182. What are the Ports used by vCenter? Answer: 80,443,902.

183. What is the ‘No Access’ role? Answer: Users assigned with the ‘No Access’ role for an object are not capable of viewing or changing the object in any way.

184. When is a swap file created? Answer: The swap file gets created when the guest Operating System is first installed in the VMware.

185. What is the active directory group, where the members of ESXi administrators will be by default? Answer: ESX Admins

186. Which is the command used in ESXi to manage and retrieve information from virtual machines? Answer: Vmware-command

187. Which is the command used in ESXi to view live performance data? Answer: esxtop

188. Which command line tool is used in ESXi to manage virtual disk files? Answer: vmkfstools

189. Which Port is used for vMotion? Answer: 8000

190. What is the Log file location of the VMware host? Answer: \var\log\vmware

191. Can you map a single physical NIC to multiple virtual switches? Answer: No

192. Can you map a single virtual switch to multiple physical NICs? Answer: Yes. This method is called NIC teaming.

193. VMKernel port group can be used for which purpose? Answer: a. vMotion b. Fault Tolerance Logging c. Management traffic

194. Define the major difference between ESXi 5.1 and ESXi 5.5 free versions? Answer: Till ESXi 5.1 free version we know that there has been a limit to the maximum physical memory and that is 32 GB. But from 5.5 onwards this limit has been lifted.

195. What is the maximum number of LUNs that can be attached to a host (ESXi 5.0)? Answer: 256

196. What is the maximum number of vCPUs that can be assigned to a VM (ESXi 5.0)? Answer: 32

197. How can you edit a VM template? Answer: a. The VM templates cannot be modified as such b. First , the VM template must be converted to a virtual machine c. After making necessary machines in the virtual machine, convert the virtual machine back to template

198. How do you use the VMware tool? Answer: Installing of the VMware tool to eliminate or enhance the issues like

• Inadequate color depth.
• Restricted mouse movement.
• Low video resolution.
• Incorrect Network display speed.
• Inability to drag-n-drop files or copy-paste.
• Syncing the time of the guest operating system and the host.
• Support the guest-bound calls.
• Ability to take the quested snapshots of the guest Operating System.

199. How do you justify that VMware is for easy access? Answer: VMware comes with the several features making the user easy to access and maintain.

• Easy to use wizard for settings configuration.
• Web browser interface.
• Tools to create and maintain hosts.
• Easy maintenance of virtual machines.
• Configure VMware settings with easy graphics.

200. What is the use of VMware Workstation? Answer:

• It is used to facilitate the user to run more than one operating system on a single system simultaneously.
• It is used to save the existing operating system configuration in the form of virtual machines.
• Users may be working on various Operating Systems even without switching between the Operating Systems.

201. Explain The Physical Topology Of Virtual Infrastructure 3 Data Centre? Answer: A typical VMware Infrastructure center of data consists of the basic physical building blocks such as x86 storage networks and arrays, computing servers, IP networks, a management server and the desktop clients.

202. What Are Resource Pools & what’s the Advantage of implementing them? Answer: A VMware ESX Resource pool is defined as a pool of memory resources and CPU. Inside the resources, pools are getting allocated based on the memory and CPU used for sharing as defined. This pool can be associated with access control and the permissions and the clear management of resources to the virtual machines.

203. What options are available in the edit setting menu of virtual machines? Answer: By right clicking the virtual machines, we can choose edit settings and modify one or more of the following metrics: CPU Memory Hard disk SCSI controller Network adapter CD/DVD Drive USB controller Video card VMCI device SATA controller other device

204. I right click my virtual machine, choose the power option. I see that Shutdown Guest OS and restart Guest OS options are grayed out. The virtual machine is up and running. Power off, suspend reset options are available. What is the reason? Answer: The options Shutdown Guest OS, restart Guest OS grayed out in Spite of virtual machines in power on , up and running status means that the vm tools that have been installed in this virtual machine are idle. To make use of these options, open console log into the virtual machine and perform tasks for few minutes to make sure the session is live. This will change the status of the idle vmware tools.

205. If the shutdown guest OS is grayed out what should I do? Answer: We can power off the virtual machine or choose to restart the virtual machines. Shutdown guest OS is a graceful power off option but the above mentioned two options are equally good.

206. Restart Guest OS is in gray mode. I can’t change it. What should I do? Answer: By pressing the restart button that performs the restart of the virtual machine as a whole.

207. What are the services that can be enabled in VMKernel port settings? Answer: One or more of the following available services that can be enabled while configuring VMKernel port settings: vMotion Provisioning Fault Tolerance Logging Management vSphere Replication vSphere Replication NFC Virtual SAN

208. When you are tasked to configure the Virtual adapter what are the different settings that need to be configured? Answer: We must know that following settings that are needed to be configured as a part of VMKernel creation in the vsphere web client: Port Properties – In this page TCP/IP stack is configured. In addition to these most important enabled services listing is available on this page. Depending on the project we need to choose one or more of following enabling services to make them available and they are fault tolerance logging, vsphere replication, vmotion, provisioning, management, vsphere replication nfc, virtual san NIC settings. IPv4 settings – This can be a static IPv4 address wherein we specify network IP address, MAC address, choose default gateway. In case of DHCP this can be dynamic IP as well. analyze impact page – It is the final validation page before we are finishing the creation of the virtual adapter.

209. What are the main options available in the navigator pane of a vSphere web client? Answer: The four main vSphere ruling options are available by default as part of the navigator pane in the vSphere web client. This is available on the left side of the screen. The options are: Hosts and clusters VM’s and folders Datastore networking These options can be pulled from the home menu tab as well.

210. Try launching the console when the virtual machine is powered off. What happens? Answer: An error stating that the server is not available is displayed. The consoling could not be shown because the VM machine has been powered off (disconnected or suspended). Power on and connect the VM and re-launch the console for the reconnection. Click the vsphere web client logs for details. This can also take place when the consoling was open previously then the VM was powered off in-between.

211. What are the many different VM/Host rules types that can be chosen in DRS? Answer: The VM/Host rules in the virtual machine DRS can be one of the following types which are as follows: Keeping the virtual machines together – The virtual machines which get chosen are always maintained in the same host. Separate virtual machines – The virtual machines which get chosen are distributed in the separate hosts. Virtual machines to hosts – Chosen virtual machines are tied to hosts. This is very useful with the resource intensive virtual machines like ERP, SAP etc. Virtual machines to virtual machines – In case of websites there are stack of vm’s that are dependent on each other and dependency need to be maintained.

212. What options are available in vcenter support server summary page? Answer: Backup – Vcenter server database which can be default database as well as custom databases like oracle sql server can be backed up onto folder, FTP location etc. By creating the supporting bundle – This will be creating the bundle in zipped format needed for the issue investigation by the vmware. Reboot – vcenter reboot. Shutdown – Shutdown vcenter.

213. What is the use of lockdown mode? Answer: Lockdown mode prevents the remote users from directly logging into the hosts. The default option is disabled. There are two more options like normal, strict.

214. Where do you look for resource reservations in the ES cluster environment? Answer: From the vcenter server, we can be monitoring the resource reservation of an ESX cluster. The information is available in the cluster monitoring tab. Following resource reservations can be monitored from here.

215. What are the many different monitoring options available in web sphere clients while cluster configuration is in place? Answer: Following details can be monitored in ESX cluster environment are:

• Performance
• Profile Compliance
• Tasks & Events
• Resource Reservation
• Utilization

216. From where can you schedule a patch install in the ESX environment? Answer: Each and every host in the vsphere web client is having an option for remediating the patching schedule. This task can be done immediately and can be scheduled as a task to be run in future. The Remediate button can be accessed from the update manager.

217. Can we install patches in the ESX environment while virtual machines are on? Answer: Typically we try to remediate a patch install as a scheduled task. This will fail if virtual machines are on. If we are manually applying the patch again all the virtual machines in the host should be off for the patch installation to be a success.

218. What error message is displayed in the update manager when an attempt is made to install patches with virtual machines in one state? Answer: A message which says Overall compliance status – Non-compliant is displayed in the update manager panel. We can click on the scan for updates button to make sure the overall compliance status is a success.

219. What is the main item that can be authored using vapp settings? Answer: The starting sequence of the virtual machines can be configured in the starting order option of the vapp page. We can be specifying startup operation, startup sequence delaying which by default is 120ms. This value can be changed. Shutdown action can also be specified in this location.

220. What details can be accessed from within vSphere HA summary page? Answer: When a vSphere HA (High availability) configuration is in its place, details of the same can be accessed from the vSphere High Availability summary page: Standby Mode Maintenance Mode vSphere HA agent un configuration failures Virtual machines – protected mode, unprotected mode.

221. What vSphere HA items can be monitored from the vSphere web client page? Answer: Following parameters that can be monitored are as: Summary – mode the hosts are in like standby mode, maintenance mode, virtual machines in protected mode, unprotected mode Heartbeat Configuration issues Data stores under APD or PDL – This option talks about all path down (or) permanent datastore loss, the main condition under which failover happens in a vmware host.

222. What is a slot in virtual environment terminology? Answer: In day to day life while we are making use of the vmware, slot is used invariably. Slot refers to a virtual machine and not the host.

223. Does vsphere HA and DRS supplement to each other or complement to each other? Answer: In the environment of vmware, DRS is defined as the distributed resource scheduling. As the name suggest High Availability is for making sure vmware systems are always up and running. DRS are related to performance in vmware environment. vSphere HA – In case of host failure, failover is possible. Once the failed host comes back this is not made to master again. DRS – Depending on the hosts which are the part of DRS, affinity and non-affinity are ruling the virtual machines which are distributed across the various hosts. The summary shows the state which in most cases is balanced. Now DRS can supplement vsphere. vSphere High Availability is independent of the DRS. Ideally they complement each other. In most real-time cases both are in place. If the host fails vmotion of machines happens owing to vsphere. Once the host which has failed comes back then the resources are distributed with the DRS implementation.

224. In which scenario the vSphere HA will never work? Answer: When there occurs a scenario wherein the storage of data is not accessible vSphere High Availability will not be working. There are more reasons from VMkernel networking etc.

225. I see some vmsn files in my datastore folder. What are those? Answer: Snapshots which are created in the virtual machines are getting stored as snapshot files vmsn in the datastore. Snapshots creation and storing will be given a name which is reflected in these vmsn files.

226. Is vmware supported in MAC? Answer: Yes, with the latest versions vmware is also supported in MAC. It is to be noted that there are some hardware specific issues related to MAC. To address these issues more information needs to be added to the vmx file.

227. What is the operating system requirement for running vcenter? Answer: In case of the virtual machines windows 2008, windows 2012 Operating System are required for running the vcenter. In the case of a physical box with windows 2008 or windows 2012 OS vcenter is supported. Vcenter is supported on the top of vmware virtual appliances as well.

228. What is a virtual appliance? Answer: Virtual appliance is a pre-configured virtual machine that can be used for many different purposes. One common usage is vcenter virtual appliance being the latest replication software from vmware.

229. Why do we make use of vcenter in a virtualized environment? Answer: Vcenter is defined as the centralized management platform which is used for administering hosts, implementing features like high availability, DRS etc. Though there are many of the tasks that can be accomplished directly from within esx host client, a central inventory manages and maintains all hosts.

230. My database team feels that vm tools cause performance problems. Can I remove them? Answer: Nope. Vm tools are 100% recommended to run in virtual machines. For the best practices all the virtual machines should be having the vm tools in place.

231. Is a syslog collector in vSphere the same as a syslog in ESXi host? Answer: In ESXi host while we are launching the DCUI tool there is an option for accessing the system logs termed as syslog. This is a Linux implementation. Vmware photon OS is based on Linux only. This is different from syslog collectors in vsphere.

232. What is stored in the vcenter database? Answer: vCenter database acts as a centralized repository for storing information about the hosts that are added to the vcenter inventory. In addition to this real-time performance metrics, statistics is stored in this database.

233. What are templates? Answer: Templates are owned and stored within vcenter. Templates are protected entities within vcenter. Virtual machines need to be powered off to be created as the templates that are stored in the vcenter. These templates are deployed for replicating these virtual machines.

234. What happens to distributed virtual switches when vcenter is down? Answer: Distributed virtual switches are owned by vcenter. Once the vcenter goes down then the vmware network remains unaffected. Changes to switches can’t be made until the vcenter server is backed up and running.

235. What is a vSphere client? Answer: This is defined as a new browser based tool in the vmware 6.5 version. The traditional tool used for managing the hosts is vSphere web clients.

236. What is vmware CEIP? Answer: CEIP is a vmware customer experience improvement program.

237. What is a server template? Answer: In an environment typically it is defined as a startup setup without any product in the place, vmware templates are created after the installment of the operating system, installation of patches etc. This is a template with no applications installed. These templates can be easily deployed and customized using the sysprep tool. These are called server templates.

238. How do you choose the LUN while creating NFS datastore? Answer: In the vmware environment, while we are trying to create NFS datastore by making use of vSphere web clients, there is no provision for choosing LUN or disks from the drop-down menu. In a NFS setup this is a configuration that is taken care of by the NFS file server. This is not the case while we create VMFS datastore.

239. What is a vswp file? Answer: Swap files in the traditional systems are stored in the shared storage. Now, the swap files are getting stored in a local SSD. The vswp file is the swap file.

240. What is ballooning? Answer: Vmware tools need virtual machines for swap out. This is termed as ballooning.

241. What is the number of cores? Answer: Cores in virtual machines translate to the number of cpu’s in real-time.

242. You log into the datastore of a virtual machine. What are the entire files you see there? Can you explain the significance of each one of them? Answer: Virtual machine configuration file – .vmx file. This file as the name suggests stores the configuration information of virtual machines. In case of MAC to fix the hardware issues this file needs to be modified and additional information needs to be included. Virtual machine BIOS – .nvram Virtual machine swap file – .vswp Virtual machine suspended state file – .vmss

243. What is Promiscuous Mode on vSwitch? What happens if it sets to accept? Answer: If the promiscuous mode is settled for accepting all the communication is visible to all the virtual machines. In other words all the packets are to be sent to all the ports on vSwitch. If the promiscuous mode settled for rejecting then the packets are sent to the intended port, so that the intended virtual machine would be capable to see the communication.

244. What are MAC address Changes? What happens if it is set to accept? Answer: When we create a virtual machine the configuration wizard generates a MAC address for that machine, you can see it in the .vmx (VM Config) file. If it is not matching with the MAC address in the Operating System this setting does not allow the incoming traffic to the VM. So by setting the reject Option both MAC addresses will remaine the same and the incoming traffic will be allowed for the VM.

245. What are Forged Transmits? What happens if it is set to accept? Answer: When we create a virtual machine the configuration wizard generates a MAC address for that machine, you can see it in the .vmx (VM Config) file. If it doesn’t match with the MAC address in the OS this setting does not allow outgoing traffic from the VM. So by setting Reject Option both MAC addresses will remain the same and the outgoing traffic will be allowed from the VM.

246. How to fix HA errors in VMware ESX Server? Answer: 1. Make sure that all the hosts in the cluster are capable of resolving each other by the host name. 2. If they are not able to do so, check the DNS settings. 3. Best solution is to add all the hosts names and ip addresses into /etc/hosts file on all ESX servers in the cluster. We should put the ESX server in maintenance mode before making any changes to it. 4. Exit from the maintenance mode and try to reconfigure the High Availability on all the ESX hosts one by one, that’s it and your problem will be fixed.

247. What is VMware Consolidated Backup? Answer: VMware Consolidate Backup is defined as a Backup framework which has been developed by the VMware Company. It has been installed on the Windows Server box as a proxy. By making use of the third party backup tools like Veeam Backup software, Veritas Netback up we can take the backups of the virtual machines that are hosted on the ESX hosts. Simple VMware Consolidate Backups are used as mediators between the Virtual machines / ESX hosts and the backup software. It enables the backup operators for taking the backup at file level from the .vmdk files and also enables to taking the snapshots. And one more important feature is that it’s a LAN free backup solution considered as the Backup Proxy server which is directly connected to the SAN environment.

248. How is it used? Answer: 1. As you must know that the backup proxy (Windows server with the VM Consolidated Backup and the VM Backup Agent) server which is directly connected to the SAN. 2. The Backup agent (for ex: Veritas Netbackup / Veeam Backup) used to initiate the backup request through the VMware Consolidated Backup, it immediately used to take a snapshot of the VM from the storage of SAN and mounting the .vmdk file on the proxy server and taking the backup of the files inside the .vmdk 3. Those files are getting stored on a backup disk/tape drive.

249. Unable to power on the Virtual Machine, How to fix it? Answer: If the virtual machine used to run in an esx hosts cluster, sometimes it won’t power on. Because the files which are associated with that VM are locked by the host at the time of running. So when you are trying to vmotion the vm from one host to another host, the first host releases those files and again gets locked by the second host.

250. So what is meant by locking here and why does it happen? Answer: Locking is simply defined as the registration of a vm with a host. This happens every time when the vm is hosted on a host. This is helpful for preventing the access to the same vm for the remaining hosts in the cluster.

251. Why does the VM fail when trying to power it on? Answer: When the files are associated with that VM, it is locked by a host and it won’t power on. At that time one must be unregistering the vm from the host by making use of the vmware-cmd utility.

252. Define VMware Storage Vmotion as Virtual Machine Relocation? Answer: In this answer I would like to discuss and share my views about the new and outstanding technology that is “Storage VMotion”. Till now we have heard about what we understand by VMotion? How did that happen? With this knowledge we are going forward to learn about the new feature in vSphere. Storage VMotion is very similar to the VMotion in the means of migration of Virtual Machines from one location to the other without disturbance or without downtime in the services. When we are initiating the VMotion then the reference of the Virtual Machine is moving from one host to the other but not the data which is related to that of VM. With the Storage VMotion reference of the Virtual Machine remaining in the same location but the data is moving from the one location to another.

253. What is the task of Platform Services Controller (PSC)? Answer: Platform Services Controller Interface is defined as a fully HTML5-based interface to administer and used to configure many of the services that are running on the Platform Services Controller. By making use of the Platform Services Controller Interface you can be performing the tasks, such as: Adding and Editing the Users and Groups for Single Sign-On Adding Single Sign-On Identity Sources Configuring Single Sign-On Policies (e.g. Password Policies) Adding Certificate Stores Adding and Revoking the Certificates.

254. What is the difference between hostd, Vpxa and vpxd. Answer: VPXD-It simply means the Vcenter Server Service. If this service has been stopped then we will not be capable to connect to the Vcenter Server via Vsphere client. VPXA-It is considered as the agent of Vcenter server. It is also termed as mini vcenter server which has been installed on the every esx server that is managed by the Vcenter server. HOSTD- This is considered as the agent of ESX server, here VPXA uses to pass the information to the HOSTD and hostd uses to pass the information to the ESX server.

255. What is a content library and different types of libraries? Answer: Content libraries are defined as the container objects for templates of VM, vApp templates and also for other types of files. vSphere administrators are capable of using the templates in the library for deploying the virtual machines and vApps in the vSphere inventory. Sharing of templates and files across the various multiple vCenter Server instances in same or different locations is used to bring out compliance, consistency, efficiency, and automation in the deployment of workloads at scale. You are capable of creating and managing a content library from a single vCenter Server instance but you can also be sharing the library items to the other vCenter Server instances if HTTP(S) traffic is to be allowed between them. You are capable of creating two types of libraries: local or subscribed library.

• Local Libraries You can make use of a local library for storing the items in a single vCenter Server instance. You can also be publishing the local library so that the users from other vCenter Server systems have the capacity to subscribe to it. When you use to publish a content library externally, you can be configuring a password for the authentication. vApps templates and VM templates have been stored as the OVF file formats in the content library. You are also capable of uploading other file types, such as the text files, ISO images, and so on in a content library.
• Subscribed Libraries You are also having an option of creating a subscribed library and populating its content by synchronizing to a local library. A subscribed library contains the copies of just the metadata of the library items or the local library files. The local library can have its location on the same vCenter Server instance as the subscribed library or the subscribed library can be referencing a local library on a different vCenter Server instance.

256. Explain Cross vCenter vMotion. Answer:

• Prior to vSphere 6.0, we were not allowed to perform the live migration between the vSphere Distributed Switches. It had been limited within the vSwitch. After vSphere 6.0, vMotion is allowed across the vSwitches and even the vCenter Servers.
• For enabling the migration across the vCenter Server instances your environment should be meeting to these requirements:
• The source and destination vCenter Server instances and ESXi hosts must be running version 6.0 or later.
• The long distance vMotion and cross vCenter Server features need an Enterprise plus license.
• When we make use of the vSphere Web Client then the both vCenter Server instances should be in Enhanced Linked Mode and should be in the same vCenter Single Sign-On domain so that the source vCenter Server can be authenticated to the destination vCenter Server.
• Both vCenter Server instances should be time-synchronized with each other for the correction of vCenter Single Sign-On token verification.
• For the migration of the computing resources only both vCenter Server instances should have the connection to the shared virtual machine storage.

257. What is Cross-vSwitch vMotion? Answer: With vSphere 6.0, It is possible to perform the migration across the Virtual switches (Distributed Switch or Standard switch), which transfers all the VDS port metadata during the migration. It is completely transparent to the Guest VM’s and there is no requirement of downtime for performing this operation across vSwitches. Only one requirement that should be met for the migration across vSwitches is that you should be having the L2 VM Connectivity. Virtual Networking Migration

258. What is Long-Distance vMotion? Answer: Long distance vMotion can be referred to as the cross country vmotion. VMware vSphere 6.0 adds functionality for migrating the virtual machines over the long distances. You are now capable of performing the reliable migrations between the hosts and sites. For supporting the long distance vmotion you need an Enterprise plus license. Requirements:

• You should be having a RTT (round-trip time) latency of the 150 milliseconds or less, between the hosts.
• Your license must be covering the vMotion across the long distances. The cross vCenter and long distance vMotion features must be requiring an Enterprise plus license.
• vMotion Network ( L2 network).
• Virtual Machine Network
• vCenter Server 6.0 on Both Location
• Both vCenter Server instances must be time-synchronized.
• In vSphere Web Client, both vCenter Server instances must be in the same vCenter Single Sign-On domain and must be in the Enhanced Linked Mode.
• vMotion network has at least 250 Mbps Possible to move VMs on below scenarios
• From VSS to VSS
• From VSS to VDS
• From VDS to VDS

We must note that: Source and the Destination VDS should be in the same version. In VSS, network labels which are used for the virtual machine port groups are consistent in nature across the hosts.

259. What is Cross-vCenter Mixed-Version vMotion? Answer: Cross-vCenter Mixed-Version vMotion used to support cloning or migrating a VM across the different versions of vSphere 6.x, for example a vSphere 6.5 and a vSphere 6.0 Update 3 environment. You can even perform these operations across completely different vCenter Single Sign-On Domains. Notes:

• This includes all the VMware Cloud on AWS versions and vSphere 6.7.
• VM that require the encrypted vMotion cannot make use of vMotion with a destination vCenter version prior to the vSphere 6.5 GA.
• VMs that make use of the vSphere HA restart the priority properties introduced in vSphere 6.5 and cannot make use of vMotion and cold relocating with a destination vCenter version prior to the vSphere 6.5 GA
• vSphere Encryption is not supported with cross vCenter Server cloning and motioning of the virtual machines.
• Cross vCenter Server vMotion is not supported with 3rd party switches.

260. What is Per-VM Enhanced vMotion? Answer: Enhanced vMotion Compatibility (EVC) is defined as a cluster feature that ensures CPU compatibility between hosts in a cluster, so that you can seamlessly migrate the virtual machines within the EVC cluster. Starting with vSphere 6.7, you can also enable, disable, or change the EVC mode at the virtual machine level. The per-VM EVC feature facilitates the migration of the virtual machine beyond the clusters and across the data centers and vCenter Server systems that are having different processors. Unlike the cluster-based EVC, you can be changing the per-VM EVC mode only when the virtual machine has been powered off.

261. What are the differences between clone and template in VMware? Answer:

262. Comparison between ESX and ESXi Answer:

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263. Write about the disk types in VMware vSphere? Answer: There are mainly three disk types in the VMware vSphere which are as follows: Eager Zeroes (Thick Provision): It is used in the VMware Fault Tolerance. The disk space requirement is allocated at the time of creation to VMs. When we compare it to other disk formats, this Eager Zeroed thick provision takes a lot of time in creating a virtual disk. Lazy Zeroes (Thick Provision): In this disk format, every virtual disk can be created by default. There is an allocation of physical space for Virtual machines when the disk is created. We can convert this Lazy Zeroed thick provision into thick eager zeroed. Thin Provision: Thin provision provides the disk space allocation to Virtual Machines. The disk size will increase in proportion to the data size.

264. Define VVoL, RDM, and NFS? Answer: VVoL (Virtual Volume): It is defined as a concept of new disk management of the Virtual Machine in vSphere 6.0 version which enables the operations of array-based at the virtual disk level. Virtual Volume can be created automatically when the virtual disk is created. RDM (Raw Device Mapping): Raw Device Mapping is a file which is stored in the VMFS volume acts as a proxy for the devices which are in natural physical form. RDM is used for storing the data of the virtual machines on LUN. NFS (Network File System): NFS is defined as a file-sharing protocol that is used for communication with NAS (Network Attached Storage) devices. It connects to a network and gives file access services to the hosts of the ESXI.

265. Define configuration options in VSAN? Answer: There are two configuration options in VSAN:

Hybrid: Uses both magnetic and flash-based disks for storage. The magnetic disks are used for storage or capacity, while flash-based drives are used for cash.

All-Flash: It uses flash for both storage and caching.

266. What are the steps in converting a physical machine into a virtual machine? Answer: The following are the three steps required to convert a physical machine into a virtual machine:

• One should remember that at initial, an agent should be installed on the physical machine.
• One must also take care that along with the Converter plug-in there is also the installment of a VI client.
• Needs a server to Export/Import the virtual machine.

267. Define VMware DPM and ESXi Shell. Answer: VMware DPM: VMware DPM (Distributed Power Management) is defined as a feature of VMware DRS which is used for monitoring the cluster resources. VMware DPM is used to shut down the unused hosts and also consolidate the workloads when the resources are getting decreased. If the resources get increased, then it automatically powers-on the hosts that are not being used. ESXi Shell: ESXi Shell is defined as a command-line which is used for repairing the ESXi hosts. It can be accessed through vCenter Server disable/enable, DCUI, and SSH.

268. What are the prerequisites needed in running ESXTOP on an ESXi host? Answer: We require two pre-requisites for the running of ESXTOP on ESXi:

• Initially, install a vSphere client in which you want to configure the host.
• By making use of the Troubleshooting options and enabling SSH.

269. Define Limit, Share, and Reservation in VMware? Answer:

• Limit: It is defined as the Host cycle consumption without crossing the defined value.
• Share: It specifies the importance or relative priority of virtual machine access in a given resource.
• Reservation: It is a value that is defined in the form of memory or CPU that can be available for the virtual machine to start.

270. What is vApp, and how is it useful? Answer: vApp is defined as a group or container in which more than one virtual machine can be managed in multi tired apps for specific requirements like a database server, Web server, and application server. It also defines the power-off and power-on sequences of the virtual machine. By using vApp we can configure several settings like memory allocation and Internet Protocol allocation policy.

271. What is meant by iSCSI storage, and what are its naming conventions? Answer: An iSCSI storage system holds in iSCSI SAN that contains more than one storage processor. The communication between storage arrays and hosts can be made possible through the TCP/IP protocol. The configuration of iSCSI initiator is done with ESXi host. The iSCSI initiator is the initiator which is not either dependent or independent; that’s why it is termed as the iSCSI software initiator. The names iSCSI can be formatted in two ways:

• Extended Unique Identifier (EUI)
• ISCSI Qualified Name (IQN)

272. What are the types of Content Libraries? Answer: There are three types of Content Libraries: Published: It is the local library that consist of VM templates, ISO images for the subscription. Local: Local control library. Subscribed: It syncs with the library published.

273. What are the limitations and requirements of a Content Library? Answer: The following are the limitations and requirements of a Content library: ●Every library consists of a maximum of 256 items. ●The size of single storage is up to 64TB. ●For every 24 hours, the sync is happening.

274. What are the types of extensions in VMware? Answer: .nvram: It is used for stocking the virtual machine state BIOS of an organization. .vmsd: It provisions the metadata and information of the snapshots in an organization. .vmss: It supplies the virtual machine postponed state. .vmx: It accumulates the primary formations in the virtual machine. .log: It is used for saving log files for VMware for seeing the glitches during the process of installation. .vmdk: It is used to simulate the disk file to stock the virtual machine gratify. .vmsn: It is used for the storing of the snap state. It can supply both consecutive states and the occupied period.

275. Define the components that are used in vCenter Server architecture? Answer: There are three main components in the architecture of the vCenter Server: Web Client and vSphere Client: It is a user interface. vCenter Server Database: Embedded PostgreSQL or SQL server is used to store security roles, inventory, and resource pools. SSO: It is a security domain.

276. What is meant by VCB, and what are its benefits? Answer: VMware Consolidated Backup (VCB) is referred to as the backup framework which is enabling the third-party tools to get backups. VCB is very much helpful to back up the virtual servers of VMware ESX. VCB is also known as ‘’Backup Proxy Server” and is not considered as backup software. While using this VCB also, one must need backup software.

The Benefits of VCB:

• It also provides the VMware ESX backups that are both incremental and full of file-level availability.
• It prevents a backup loading agent on the virtual machines.
• VCB is used for the centralization of VMware ESX backups.
• It also provides the backups of image level.
• It prevents the shut down of virtual machines.
• VCB provides LAN-free backups because the connection of the VCB server to the SAN is made through the adapter of the fiber channel.
• It also provides the virtual server centralized storage backups on the VCB server.
• It also helps in reducing the VMware ESX server load without having a third party backup agent.
• VCB utilizes the snapshots of VMware.

277. What are the types of deployments in vCenter Server? Answer: There are two types of deployments in vCenter Server

• External Deployment

278. What is VMware vMotion and what are its requirements? Answer: VMware VMotion enable the live migration of the running virtual machines from one physical server to the other with downtime zero. VMotion lets you:

•  It automatically optimizes and allocates the entire pools of the resources for maximum hardware utilization.
•  It is used for performing the hardware maintenance without any scheduled downtime.
•  It is used proactively for migrating virtual machines away from underperforming servers or Failing. Below are the prerequisites for configuring vMotion
• One must take care that each host should be fairly licensed for the vMotion
• Each host must meet shared storage requirements
• vMotion migrates the VM from one host to another which is only possible with both the host sharing common storage or to any storage accessible by both the source and target hosts.
• A shared storage can be on a Fibre Channel storage area network (SAN) or can be implemented using iSCSI SAN and NAS.
• If you make use of vMotion for migrating the virtual machines with raw device mapping (RDM) files by making sure to maintain consistent LUN IDs for raw device mapping across all the participating hosts.
• Each host must meet the networking requirements
• Configure a VMkernel port on each host.
• It is dedicated to at least one GigE adapter for the vMotion.
• Use at least one 10 GigE adapters if you migrate workloads that have many memory operations.
• Use jumbo frames for best vMotion performance.
• It is also ensuring that the jumbo frames are enabled on all network devices that are on the path of vMotion including the physical NICs, virtual switches and physical switches.

279. Clone Vs Template in VMware? Answer:           Clone – A Copy of a virtual machine

• Can’t restore the cloned Virtual Machine.
• The cloning of a Virtual Machine also is created while the Virtual Machine has been switched on.
• Cloning can be done in two ways namely Full Clone and Linked Clone.
• A full type of cloning is considered as an independent copy of a virtual machine that is sharing nothing with the parent virtual machine after  the cloning operation. Ongoing operation of a full cloning is completely separated from the parent virtual machine.
• A linked cloning is defined as a copying of a virtual machine which is sharing the virtual disks with the parent virtual machine in an ongoing manner. This is conserving the disk space and allowing the multiple virtual machines for using the same software installation.
• Cloning a virtual machine can save time if you are deploying too many similar virtual machines. You are having an option of creating, configuring, and installing software on a single virtual machine, and then cloning it multiple times, rather than for creating and configuring each virtual machine individually. Template – It is defined as a baseline image or master copy of a virtual machine that can be used for creating many clones.
• Templates cannot be powered on or edited and are more difficult for altering than an ordinary virtual machine.
• You can convert the template back to Virtual Machine in order to update the base template with the latest released patches and updates and to install or upgrade any software and again convert back to the template which is to be used for the future deployment of the Virtual Machines with the latest patches.
• It is helpful in converting the virtual Machine to a template that can’t be performed, when Virtual machine is powered on. Only Clone to the Template can be performed when the Virtual Machine is powering on.
• A template offers a more secure way of preserving a virtual machine configuration that you wanted to deploy many times.
• While you are cloning a virtual machine or deploying a virtual machine by a template the resulting cloned virtual machine will be independent of the original template or virtual machine.

280. What is the difference between Thick provision Lazy Zeroed, Thick provision Eager Zeroed and Thin provision? Answer: Thick Provision Lazy Zeroes

• It is advantageous in creating a virtual disk in a default thick format.
• The spacing which is required for the virtual disk is allocated when the virtual disk is created.
• The data that is remaining on the physical device is not usually erased during the creation but is zeroed out on-demand at a later time on the first writing from the virtual machine.
• By making use of the default flat virtual disk format which does not zero out or eliminate the possibility of the recovering deleted files or restoring old data that may be present in this allocated space.
• You are not capable of converting a flat disk to a thin disk.

Thick Provision Eager Zeroes

• It is a type of thick virtual disk that supports the clustering features such as Fault Tolerance.
• The spacing that is required for the virtual disk is allocated at the time of creation.
• In contrast to the flat format, the data that is remaining on the physical device is zeroed out when the virtual disk has been created.
• It might take much longer create the disks in this format than other types of disks.

Thin Provision

• It provides on-demand allocation of blocks of data.
• All the space allocated at the time of the creation of a virtual disk is not utilized on the hard disk, rather only the size with utilized data is locked and the size increases as the amount of data is increased on the disk.
• With the help of the thin provisioning the storage capacity utilization efficiency can be automatically driven up towards the 100% with very little administrative overhead.

281. What is the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 Hypervisor? Type 1 Hypervisor

• This is also termed as the Native Hypervisor or Bare Metal or Embedded Hypervisor.
• It works directly on the hardware of the host and can monitor the operating systems that are running above the hypervisor.
• It is completely independent of the Operating System.
• The hypervisor is small as its basic task is to share and manage the hardware resources between the different operating systems.
• The main advantage is that any problems that are having one guest operating system or virtual machine do not affect the other guest operating systems which are running on the hypervisor.
• Examples are – Microsoft Hyper-V, VMware ESXi Server, Citrix/Xen Server

Type 2 Hypervisor

• This is also termed as the Hosted Hypervisor.
• In this case, the hypervisor is installed on an operating system and then it is supports other operating systems above it.
• It is completely dependent on the host Operating System for its operations.
• While it is having a base operating system it allows the better specification of the policies, any problems in the base operating system is affecting the entire system as well as the hypervisor which is running above the base Operating System is secured.
• Examples are – VMware Workstation, Microsoft Virtual PC, and Oracle Virtual Box.

The above listed 281 Frequently asked  VMWare interview questions were compiled with an objective to help freshers and experienced VMWare professionals in their job interviews. Please go through these TOP VMWare interview questions to get better prepared for your next interview.

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Kiara Kevin

Kiara is a career consultant focused on helping professionals get into job positions in the tech industry. She is also a skilled copywriter who has created well-crafted content for a wide range of online publications in the career and education industry.

VMware Interview Questions and How to Answer Them

When it comes to virtualization software, few names can be compared to VMware in terms of industry dominance. Let’s have a look at VMware interview questions so that you have a better idea of what to expect when interviewing with the company. 

The company offers products designed to provide businesses with more efficient utilization of computing resources by facilitating the use of virtual machines by saving energy and space.

Used by data centers and companies around the world, the company offers desktop and server-level virtualization solutions trusted by millions of users due to its innovation, stability, and accessibility, as well as the reputation the company has established for itself.

This reputation is one of the main reasons why thousands of developers, engineers, analysts, and managers around the world apply for jobs at VMware, as the company is sure to provide a valuable professional experience to grow as they provide their expertise to the leading company in the industry.

However, as with most companies with such a reputation, the interview process requires applicants to outshine the opposition to be selected for the position they are applying for. 

Simulate your next interview

Prepare for the questions that are really going to be asked in your next interview.

This can be done with a good curriculum, great answers to VMware’s interview questions, good presentation skills, and creating rapport with the person who is taking care of your application process.

If you are reading this article, you were likely already contacted to schedule an interview and have taken the first steps to get that job, as researching and preparing for the interview is one of the most important aspects of any application process. Congratulations!

Doesn’t matter which position you are applying for, we will provide you with VMware interview questions and information on how to answer them so you can get your dream job in this company. 

We will be looking at specific questions for different positions but keep in mind that new questions can be asked at any moment, so the most important thing is to be confident!

As there is not a specific answer that is being expected by interviewers, we will not focus on providing you with a script on what you should say but on what you should consider at the time of answering to show that you are the right person for the job. 

Let’s jump straight to it!

Get started with Interview School:

Vmware roles and what questions to expect.

As we already said, VMware is the leading company in the virtualization industry.

This means it has multiple teams working to provide companies and individuals around the world with improved features, bug resolution, security updates, etc…all of which required a team of professionals working together to provide the best software possible.

As such, there are several roles you might be interested in applying for in VMware, each of them with its requirements and interview questions. Let’s talk about some of the roles you might find when looking for a new job in Vmware.

The VMware interview questions you will need to practice will vary based on the job you want, but it is a good idea to identify some of the common things that the company wants to know. 

Software Engineer

As a software engineer in VMware, you will be expected to work as part of a team, collaborating not only with them but also with clients. As so, you are expected to have good product instincts, great communication skills, technical fluency, empathy, and curiosity to learn and understand different design values and practices.

Software engineers are in charge of the development of the different products VMware offers its clients and as such, you must be familiar with what virtualization is, its benefits, and how it works to facilitate communication and product development.

Let’s look at some of the common questions you might be asked if applying for this position:

How do you work with a superior that requires you to commit to unrealistic or unobtainable goals? This question is designed to find out how you react to both authority and unrealistic expectations you can’t fulfill. As with all interview questions, there is no “correct” answer, but you should aim to show you have critical thinking and can reach a consensus or propose alternatives to your superiors after making sure you are not misunderstanding their request.

What are the differences between a process and a thread? Sure, you could limit yourself to recite the differences you saw in your computer science resource of choice but that will not show dominate the topic. To do this, make sure to provide specific cases that exemplify not only the differences between the two but also their advantages and disadvantages.

How do you debug a server process which crashes randomly? Writing code is all about getting it to work as well as possible, how does this candidate approach the debugging process? Are you methodical in the way you test your code or just review all of it? Do you run each line after the other until you find it? Let the interviewer know that you have one or more processes of debugging that are both reliable and efficient depending on the scenario.

Tell me about a time when you couldn’t fix your bug. Continuing with the debugging process, this question will allow the interviewer to know how you deal with frustration. Concentrate on reflecting that you can keep a calm head on those situations and are flexible in the way you approach the unresolvable issue ( for example using a different debugging method or getting help from a teammate).

Member of Technical Staff

Members of technical staff in VMware are in charge of optimizing the products provided by the company and as such, required technical knowledge just as software engineers. However, while software engineers will usually be developing software to put in operation, members of technical staff are focused on research/testing to improve it.

To get this position, you will not only need to prove that you can create software that serves its purpose but also able to improve existing software to optimize its performance in different areas. Showing that you think ahead, go the extra millet to increase the quality of your work, and can think creatively on how to approach issues, are important skills for you to highlight.

Let’s look at some of the common questions you might be asked when applying for this position:

What role do you see yourself filling in the team? You probably were not going to answer that but make sure not to say “Member of Technical Staff”. The recruiter wants to know how do you interact with a team. Are you the leader, tutor, brain, debugger, or something else? Make sure to convey that you know your role in a team and directly associate with your strengths, weaknesses, and experience.

How would you store a sparse matrix? These sort of technical questions are designed to test your knowledge of the fundamentals and your approach to their implementation. In the case of sparse matrixes, there are different ways to store them depending on space or time complexity, as well as the language you are using. Make sure that your answer reflects that you understand the concept, the different ways of implementing it, and the advantages of one over the other, as well as that you don’t rush to answer but make sure to understand the requirements of the scenario.

What is the difference between merge sort and quick sort? Another question on the fundamentals that every developer should know. Don’t limit yourself to talking about the worst-case complexity efficiency or what type of sorting mode it is. In what cases would you use merge sort instead of a quick sort? Why (stability, type of variables, size of the data, etc)?

Technical Support Engineer

While Software Engineers and Members of Technical Staff apply their technical knowledge to creating software, as a Technical Support Engineer you will be dealing with the human factor. Any issue that the software presents to its users will be addressed by yourself, allowing customers to make use of the solutions they acquire efficiently.

This position not only requires that you have technical knowledge about the product you will be supporting and its related technologies but also have problem-solving and researching skills to find the best solution or answer user inquiries. Prove that you are capable of putting yourself in someone else’s shoes and resolve their inquiries, and you will be closer to getting the position.

Here are some of the common questions you might be asked when applying for this position:

Your machine stops recording error logs and it crashed how will you troubleshoot? This question is designed to test your approach to problem-solving in a technical scenario. As the question is pretty general in terms of how you can reply, you want to avoid getting into specifics but discuss your general strategy toward solving problems in which no information beyond the existence of the issue is available.

How would you describe visualization or the cloud to your grandparents? This question is all about how effectively you communicate with people that might not have your technical expertise. The most important thing to keep in mind when answering this type of question is to avoid using technical jargon. By using analogies you can facilitate the explanation process such as by comparing hardware to a car and an OS to the driver.

Two computers on a network can’t share files with each other, list the steps you’d take to resolve this issue? While this question is similar to the first one, in this case, you have a specific issue you must address and as such, your answer should be more algorithmically in nature. Try to provide a specific set of steps you would take to identify the issue, resolve it, and most importantly, prevent the issue from occurring in the future if possible, as providing technical support is as much as preventing issues in the future as to fix them.

Inside Sales Representative

Inside Sales Representatives (ISRs) are the ones in charge of maintaining the relationship with assigned customers, developing account plans to address their needs, and achieve their targets with the assistance of VMware software.

While you certainly need to understand the technical aspects of the software and the requirements of the industry, this role will require you to deal with people in different manners to ensure the satisfaction of users and their acquisition of the right products for their needs. 

Showing that you are outgoing, understand other’s needs, can offer the right solution for the right problem, and can work well with internal and external teams, will surely help you during the process.

Let’s take a peek at some sample questions for this position: 

What kind of sales experience do you have? While this question seems simple, don’t forget that your interviewer already knows what sales experience you have. This means that you should avoid listing your previous positions but focus on elaborating how that experience improved your capacity to close sales and how those lessons apply to the position you are applying for in VMware.

Who is your favorite comedian? Why? This type of personal question is some of the hardest to answer for most people. You should avoid forcing a connection between your answer and the job position but instead, make your answer an opportunity to comment on your strengths. Do you like political humor because you are analytical and like being up to date with the latest news? Antijokes due to how they subvert the expectations? Do you identify with a specific comedian’s worldview?

Tell me about the last time you competed for something and the outcome. It is easy to go with a time when you won the competition against someone else. However, you need to keep in mind that the outcome of the competition is not the most important piece of information for the interviewer. Focus on providing an example that highlights what your priorities are and what the company can expect from you as being too or not competitive at all can both be a bad thing.

QA Engineer

QA Engineers play a fundamental wrong in the development process in VMware by creating testing strategies and scenarios to make sure the software created by other teams fulfills the business and functional requirements it was designed for.

As such, this role requires the ability to identify potential problems in different products through a creative approach that can be replicated to identify the specific problems causing any issues. When applying for this role, you want to demonstrate you are analytical, methodical, have technical skills, and you can efficiently communicate your findings.

Project Manager

Project Managers are leaders who guide their group by managing the scope of projects, directing their efforts, identifying critical elements in all steps of the development process, and adapting the game plan as circumstances change.

This position requires strong leadership and communication skills, as well as a technical understanding of the products and an understanding of different delivery models. Make sure to show that you are a great communicator, can easily adapt to changing situations, can make a plan and stick to it, and can identify the strengths of team members.

Systems Engineer

Systems Engineers in VMware work with regional account managers to facilitate the selling of VMware’s software by providing technical and IT operation consultancy to clients, as well as recognizing sales opportunities.

The role requires you to have strong knowledge of IT infrastructure and great communication skills to communicate with key individuals in different organizations. 

Make sure to prove you can recognize the potential for improvements in IT operations as well as your knowledge of that industry, while also showing that you can recognize and connect with key members of an IT operation.

Start acing interviews:

What are the benefits of becoming a vmware employee.

As you can see, answering VMware interview questions is all about considering the subtext that can be extracted from your answers and the way you provide it, as most of them do not have a correct answer to start with.

This fact is a reflection of the type of mentality that VMware has in regards to how they operate, not only by offering its employees a space to grow personally and professionally but by also subverting the expectations of the industry to innovate.

VMware has won several awards such as the Fast Company Most Innovative Companies, THE JUST 100 by Forbes, and Best Places to Work, due to the range of benefits it offers its employees.

Working for VMware will not only allow you to work alongside some of the top experts in the industry but also with some of the most important companies in the world, which will prove to be useful in expanding your professional network.

Start Practicing Interview Questions Now!

According to Glassdoor, every corporate job attracts 250 applicants on average. Gain an edge over these other applicants by learning from previous interviewees.

Are you the kind of person who aims to innovate, understand the black box, and improve your skills to apply them for the common good? Then VMware might be the perfect place for you!

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VMware’s Interview Process & Questions

Vmware's interview process for software engineers: 3 steps.

Mid to senior-level engineers interviewing at VMware can (usually) expect the following process:

• Recruiter call (30 minutes)
• Technical phone screen (1 hour)
• Onsite (5-6 hours)

That said, VMware’s interview process is very decentralized. You interview for a specific team from the get-go, and not only the content of the interviews, but the types of interviews themselves, vary significantly from team to team, so take the list above with a grain of salt.

One other somewhat unique aspect of VMware’s process is their commitment to the Rooney Rule, i.e., committing to interviewing at least one woman and one minority candidate for every open position . In practice, sometimes the entire process for a role will get stalled until recruiting can find those candidates, and all candidates who are not from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds may end up in an indefinite holding pattern.

Finally, a word about VMware’s eng culture. VMware wants to find very technical people who are interested in solving hard problems but also want to go home at the end of the day. VMware’s sales cycles are slow – there’s just one big release every year, so they don't need to find people who are willing to work really long hours or people whose job is to make sure that the build tool chain is on the cutting edge (and in fact, most of their customers, who tend to be huge enterprise organizations, don't want cutting edge).

Step 1: Recruiter Call

This is a typical recruiter call, where they’ll ask about previous experience, relevant projects, and why you’re interested in VMware. They’ll also elaborate on the role and confirm that your experience and expectations are a good match.

It’s really important, at this stage, not to reveal your salary expectations, your salary history, or where you are in the process with other companies. We wrote a detailed post about salary negotiation that lays out exactly what to say when recruiters pressure you to name the first number . Just don’t do it – when you give out information this early in the process, you’re painting future you into a corner.

Step 2: Technical Phone Screen

This is a 1-hour long algorithmic interview. You will likely be using CoderPad in your technical phone screen, but tools vary from team to team.

Step 3: Onsite

Depending on the role, you may have a virtual onsite or an in-person onsite. In either event they follow similar formats. The exact composition will vary not only with the team but with your seniority – if you’re a mid-level engineer they will be more focused on coding. If you’re very senior, your interview will be much more about what you’ve done in the past — your work history, your work style, technical decisions you’ve made and so on. At the highest levels, the interview will feel more like an exchange of stories rather than vetting for a specific skill.

Some of your questions will invariably involve VMware-specific products and knowledge, so make sure you do some background research before heading in.‘

That said, VMware’s onsite lasts between 5 and 6 hours and consists of the following rounds:

• Coding (1 hour)
• (For niche roles) Domain-specific coding (1 hour)
• System design (1 hour)
• Technical communication (1 hour)
• Behavioral (1 hour)

The order of these rounds can vary, as well as the number of coding interviews required. Depending on your score for various portions of the onsite, you may be required to complete an extra system design, object oriented design, or algorithms interview. There may be extra rounds for certain teams and roles as well. Given that VMware’s interview process is centralized, you generally won’t be interviewing with engineers or managers from the team you’ll end up on.

At minimum there will be two algorithms and data structures interviews in your onsite loop. Your interview will happen in CoderPad if it’s remote, but if it’s in person, it’ll be on a physical whiteboard.

System Design

There will be one or two design rounds depending on your specific role and focus.

(Potential) Hiring manage round

The main purpose of this round is to chat about your past projects and work experience, and they’re very focused on your ability to communicate technical details clearly and concisely. Try to come prepared to talk about projects that are relevant to VMware and its values.

This call’s aim is to assess your fit for VMware and will focus heavily on the company’s values and mission.

Types of Interview Questions to Expect at VMware

Coding questions will focus on algorithms and data structures, and while the questions asked can vary depending on the role, you’ll likely see medium to hard-difficulty LeetCode style problems.

To figure out what types of questions to expect in your VMWare interviews, we did two things. First, we spoke to some current and former VMWare interviewers in our community. Then we cross-referenced all the anecdotes we heard with our own data-set of mock interviews. Based on all of the above, here are the types of questions you’re likely to encounter:

These rounds tend to ask you to build or design something team-specific, and they’re really looking at your ability to clearly explain your approach and choices.

Common VMware Interview Questions

Below are common questions that interviewers from VMware ask on our platform. Since our data comes from mock interviews, questions may not be exactly the same as what you'd see in real interviews.

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VM Ware Interview Questions And Answers

VMware Interview Questions and Answers Here are the top 40 interview questions and the tips in facing the interview.

1. What is VMKernel and Explain the importance

Ans: VMkernel is a virtualization interface between the ESXi host and a Virtual Machine which stores VMs. It is responsible to allocate all available resources of ESXi host to VMs such as CPU, storage, memory, etc. It also controls special services such as Fault tolerance, NFS, vMotion, traffic management, and iSCSI. To access these services, VMkernel port can be configured on the ESXi server using a distributed or standard vSwitch. Hosted VMs cannot communicate with ESXi server in the absence of VMkernel

2. Explain VMware FT?

Ans: FT stands for Fault Tolerance very important and prominent component of  VMware  vSphere. It provides continuous availability for Virtual Machines when an ESXi host fails. It supports up to 64 GB memory and 4 vCPUs. Fault Tolerance is very bandwidth-intensive and 10GB NIC is recommended to configure it. It creates a complete copy of an entire VM such as compute, memory, and storage.

3. What is datastore?

Ans: Datastore is a storage location where VMs files are stored and accessed. Datastore is based on a file system which is called NFS, VMFS.

4. What is Fault Tolerant Logging?

Ans: The communication between two ESXi hosts is called Fault Tolerant T logging when FT is configured between them. The pre-requisite for configuring Fault Tolerant is to configure the VMKernel port

5. What is the .vmx file?

Ans: It is the configuration file of a Virtual Machine

6. What information .nvram file stores?

Ans: It stores BIOS related information of a Virtual Machine.

7.What .vmdk file does and used?

Ans: Vmdk is a Virtual Machine disk file and stores data of a VM. It can be up to 62 TB in size in the vSphere 6.0 version.

8. What is virtual networking?

Ans: A network of Virtual Machines running on a physical server that are connected logically with each other is called virtual networking.

9. Explain VSS?

Ans: vSS stands for Virtual Standard Switch and It is responsible for communication of VMs hosted on a single physical host. it works like a physical switch automatically detects a VM which wants to communicate with other VM on the same physical server.

10. Explain vDS?

Ans: vDS stands for Virtual Distributed Switch and It acts as a single switch in the whole virtual environment and is also responsible to provide administration, central provisioning, and monitoring of the virtual network.

11. Explain hypervisor and its types?

Ans: Hypervisor is a virtualization layer that enables multiple operating systems to share a single hardware host. Each VM or operating system is allocated physical resources such as CPU, memory, storage, etc by the host. Below are the two types of hypervisors Hosted hypervisor (works as VMware Workstation(application)) Bare-metal (is virtualization VMvisor (software), Hyper-V which is installed directly onto the hardware and controls all physical resources).

12. which is the basic security step to secure vCenter Server and users?

Ans: Authenticate vCenter Server with Active Directory. By using this we can efficiently manage the virtual environment and can also assign specific roles to users.

13. What is Virtualization?

Ans: The process of creating virtual versions of physical components such as Storage Devices and Servers, Network Devices on a physical host is called virtualization. Virtualization lets you run multiple virtual machines on a single physical machine which is also called ESXi host.

14. What are the different types of virtualization?

Ans: Below are the 5 basic types of virtualization Application Virtualization: increased mobility of applications and allows migration of Virtual Machines from the host on another with minimal downtime. Desktop Virtualization: virtualize desktop to increase service and reduce cost Server virtualization: consolidates the multiple OS and physical server can be run on a single server. Network Virtualization: Provides complete reproduction of a physical network into a software-defined network. Storage Virtualization: Provides an abstraction layer for physical storage resources to optimize and manage in virtual deployment.

15. How many vCPUs can be used for a Virtual Machine in FT?

Ans: In vSphere 6.0, there can be up to 4 vCPUs and 64 GB RAM can be used.

16. Which is the new technology used by  VMware  FT?

17. what happens to FT if vCenter Server goes down?

Ans: vCenter server is only required to enable Fault Tolerance on a Virtual Machine. Once it is configured, vCenter is not required to be online for FT to continue to work. Fault Tolerance failover between primary and secondary will occur even if the vCenter is down.

18. What is the difference between VMware FT and HA?

Ans: The main difference between VMware FT and HA is: FT is enabled per VM and HA is enabled per cluster and VMware. In FT, there is no downtime, because the second copy will be activated in case of any host failure. while in HA, VMs will be re-started and powered-on on another host in case of a host failure,

19. How many maximum standard ports per host available?

Ans: 4096 ports per host are available either in the distributed switch or standard switch.

20. What are the main benefits of a distributed switch (vDS)?

Ans: vDS can provide:  Central provision, The central administration for a data center, and Monitoring

21. What is the VMKernal adapter and explain its uses?

Ans: VMKernel adapter provides network connectivity to the ESXi host to handle network traffic for IP Storage, NAS, Fault Tolerance, vMotion, and vSAN. For each type of traffic such as vSAN, vMotion, etc. separate VMKernal adapter should be created and configured.

22. Explain the use of port groups in data center virtualization?

Ans: It is used to segregate network traffic such as vMotion, FT, management traffic, etc.

23. Explain the port groups are configured in ESXi networking?

Ans: Virtual Machine Port Group – Used for VM Network Service Console Port Group – Used for Service Console Communications VMKernel Port Group – Used for iSCSI, VMotion, NFS Communications

24. Explain VLAN and its uses in virtual networking?

Ans: A logical configuration on the switch port to segment the IP Traffic where each segment cannot communicate with other segments without proper rules mentioned is called VLAN and every VLAN has a defined number called VLAN ID.

25. Explain VLAN Tagging?

Ans: The process of inserting VLAN ID into a packet header to identify which VLAN packet belongs to is called VLAN tagging.

26. Explain promiscuous mode on vSwitch?

Ans: The default mode is Reject. If Accept mode is selected, VM will receive all traffic port groups via vSwitch.

27. What is MAC address changes network policy?

Ans: The default mode of this network policy is Reject. If the Accept is selected, the host will accept the requests to change the MAC address effectively

28. Explain vRealize Operation (vROP)

Ans: vROP provides the operation dashboards for capacity optimization, performance analytics, and monitoring of the virtual environment.

29. Which is the VM Hardware version for vSphere 6.0?

Ans: Version 11

30. Which is the VM hardware version for vSphere 6.5?

Ans: Version 13

31. Platform Services Controller ( PSC ) was introduced in which version of vSphere?

Ans: PSC was introduced in vSphere 6.0. vSphere 6.0 is also called as Virtual hardware version 11.

32. Explain Forged transmits network policy?

Ans: The default mode is Reject. If Accept is selected, the host will not compare the source and effective MAC address transmitted from a Virtual Machine

33. What are the important components of vCenter Server architecture?

Ans: Below is the three main components of vCenter Server architecture.

•  vSphere Client and Web Client: a user interface.
•  vCenter Server database: Embedded PostgreSQL or SQL server to store inventory, resource pools security roles, etc.
•  a security domain in the virtual environment

34. What is PSC and explain its components?

Ans: PSC stands for Platform Services Controller and it is first introduced in version 6 of VMware vSphere which handles infrastructure security functions. The three main components are  

• VMware Certificate Authority (CA)
•  Licensing service
•  Single Sign-On (SSO)

35. What are the main deploying methods of PSC 

Ans: We can install PSC in two ways. They are Embedded, and Centralized

36. What are the three network security policies/modes on vSwitch?

Ans:  Forged transmits, Promiscuous mode, MAC address change

37. What are the two different types of vCenter Server deployment?

Ans: The two deployment types are mentioned as below:  Embedded deployment.

38. How many hosts can manage avCenter Server in vSphere 6.0?

Ans: In vSphere 6.0, a single vCenter Server can manage up to 1000 hosts either invCenter or Windows Appliance

39. How many hosts can be managed by a cluster in vSphere 6.0?

Ans: A single cluster can manage up to 64 hosts (Maximum)

40. What are the disk types are in VMware?

Ans: There are three disk types in vSphere. They are: Thick Provisioned Lazy Zeroes: every virtual disk is created by default in this disk format. Physical space is allocated to a Virtual Machine when a virtual disk is created. It can’t be converted to a thin disk. Thick Provision Eager Zeroes: this disk type is used in VMware FT. All required disk space is allocated to a Virtual Machine at the time of creation. It takes more time to create a virtual disk compare to any other disk formats. hin provision: It provides on-demand allocation of disk space to a Virtual Machine. When data size grows, the size of the disk will grow with that. Storage capacity utilization can be up to 100% with thin provisioning.

Few other interview questions:

•  What are your future goals?
•  What do are your interests outside of work?
•  What could you offer to this job differently?
•  How do you deal with pressure?
•  you be ready if the job requires frequent travelling?
•  What type of work environment do you prefer?

The key to acing any job interview is to make sure that all your answers are tailored to be in line with the company values, its goals and the specifics pertaining to the job you are applying for.

Study Tips and VMware Certification Interview Questions:

The certification of having VMware qualification is considered one of the best certificates among information technologies, which proves competence in virtualization and cloud computing technology. As you prepare for your VMware interview, you need to be familiar with the relevant theoretical and practical issues associated with VMware Certified Professional Training (VCP) and VCP certification.

Below are some typical interview questions and study hints for your VMware Certification voyage.

Common Interview Questions:

• Differentiating VMware virtualization from conventional server virtualization.

Learn about the fundamentals of virtualization such as server virtualization, Desktop virtualization, and network virtualization.

• Discuss the idea of a VMware hypervisor.

Learn about different hypervisors such as Type 1 (bare metal) and Type 2 (hosted).

• What are the best practices for configuring and managing virtual networks in VMware contexts?

Get familiar with the concept and management of virtual switches (VMs), VLANs, and network configurations in VMware settings.

• How about we first take a look at VMware’s vSphere, which refers to what exactly?

Pay attention to VMware vSphere components including ESXi host, vCenter server, and virtual machines management.

• Outline the VMware HA and FT features.

The need for HA and FT with regards to the availability of virtualized applications.

• How does a virtual machine migrate with vMotion VMware?

Learn about live migration techniques such as vMotion and the advantages and challenges they involve.

• What is NSX and how does it provide better security for virtual networks?

Get to know network virtualizations and security details that come with VMware NSX, including micro-segmentation.

• Know how to Troubleshooting common problems in VMware virtualized setups.

Troubleshoot practice scenarios and familiarize yourself with the vSphere Client, vCenter server alarms, and logs.

Study Tips:

• Hands-On Practice: Hands-on experience is crucial. Create a VMware laboratory to prepare for setting up and configuring virtual machine, network, and storage environments.
• Official VMware Documentation: Study VMware’s official documentation and guides.
• The seminars offer detailed insights into various VMware tools and approaches.
• Online Courses and Tutorials: Obtain relevant training on VMware products such as taking part in VMware training classes or online tutorials.
• Various options include advanced exam training programs in virtual machines and software.
• Practice Exams: Reviewing helps you test what you know and pinpoint mistakes too.
• Taking mock tests will prepare you for the actual exam settings and learn to control time.
• Join VMware Communities: Join VMware communities and forums. Connecting with experts may offer great ideas about the certification tests as well.

Practical knowledge of VMware concepts and constant learning is essential for success in a certificate interview.

Common Mistakes to Avoid in VMware Interviews

Preparing for a VMware interview requires taking note of some common mistakes that may hinder your progress. It is important to showcase that you have mastered VMware technologies following the right VMware training and certification.

Here are some common mistakes to avoid during VMware interviews:

1. Lack of VMware Training and Certification:

Among the most critical blunders individuals commit is failing to buy appropriate VMware education and accreditation. Formal training and certification like VMware Certified Professional (VCP), and VMware Certified Advanced Professional (VCAP) add weight to your abilities and make you a qualified applicant for this position.

2. Lack of Practical Experience:

Practical experience is as important as theoretical knowledge. Employers usually try to search for people with experience, not only knowledge that can be applied to practical life situations. If possible, it is advisable to enroll in practical hands-on labs, simulations, and some projects as these will really sharpen your practical skills.

3. Inability to Troubleshoot VMware Issues:

The role of a VMware professional is to identify and resolve different problems associated with virtualized platforms. Work on troubleshooting typical cases of poor performance, network problems, and storage failures. Having the ability to showcase your problem-solving skills, will put you ahead of other job seekers.

4. Poor Communication Skills:

Effective communication forms the basis of a successful job, and VMware positions are no exception. To make this simple, you have to simplify intricate technical elements into layman’s terms. Try briefing and narrating your VMware projects and experiences in an organized and clear manner.

5. Lack of Knowledge about Latest Updates:

The updates and new feature releases by VMware are quite common. It is a clear sign that one does have an interest but no serious passion for it or is reluctant to catch up with all the latest developments in VMware technologies. Keep up-to-date with recent developments and prepare to share ideas on how they may advantage prospective employers.

Taking courses on formal VMware training should be coupled with relevant certifications, practical experience, strong communication skills, soft skills, and troubleshooting capabilities, as well as keeping up-to-date with new trends, which can greatly help improve your odds in an interview. Evading these typical blunders will even prove that you are an expert and someone interested in VMware-associated jobs.

Tips on How to Pass a VMware Technical interview

Knowledge on such virtualization technologies as VMware in a rapidly changing technological environment determines modern success in IT. The technical questions in the VMware interview require extensive knowledge about virtualization principles, practical skills, and a deep understanding of VMware commodities. Success in such interviews requires full preparations.

Importance of VMware training and certification

Understanding VMware Basics:

In order to pass an interview for VMware, you need to begin with basics. You can learn the basics of virtualization such as hypervisors, virtual machines, snapshots, and clusters. Become acquainted with critical VMware goods such as vSphere, vCenter, ESXi, and NSX.

Hands-on Experience:

Practical experience is invaluable. Make an effort to do something at home with a VMware Workstation, Fusion in order to gather practical skills. The practice activities comprise of virtual machine creation and management, network configuration, and high availability deployment. Solving real world problems develops your problem solving skills; these are very important in technical interviews.

VMware Training:

Join recognized VMware learning programs like Apponix. Our programs are focused and offer well-strung learning paths that cover the basics of each topic comprehensively. Our company proposes multiple training programs ranging from beginner’s level courses geared toward specific job titles or expertise levels. Our courses contribute to your self-confidence when you are being interviewed thereby making your knowledge even bigger and better.

VMware Certification:

The ability to attain VMware certifications will ensure that you are highly competent in virtualization as a specialist. There are many certifications available to suit varying skills such as VMware Certified Professional (VCP) and VMware Certified Advanced Professional (VCAP) offered by VMware. Listing certificates on a resume and highlighting them at interview denotes your dedication to lifelong learning as an expert in VMware skills.

Problem-Solving Scenarios:

Be ready with technical situations and questioning issues on technology. Get to know how you can solve the most common VMware trouble spots quickly. This shows that you can present your problem-solving strategy during an interview, analytical abilities and practical knowledge.

Technical interview with VMware requires a mixture of theory, practice, and problem solving. Apponix provides VMware training plus certification that not only gives understanding but you will be certified and that makes you different in IT job field. Staying committed to this routine should give you adequate preparation that will make you ready to pass VMware technical interviews, setting you on a path leading to a job in the area of virtualization.

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14 Vmware Engineer Interview Questions (With Example Answers)

It's important to prepare for an interview in order to improve your chances of getting the job. Researching questions beforehand can help you give better answers during the interview. Most interviews will include questions about your personality, qualifications, experience and how well you would fit the job. In this article, we review examples of various vmware engineer interview questions and sample answers to some of the most common questions.

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Common Vmware Engineer Interview Questions

How have you become a vmware engineer, what are your current responsibilities, what led you to pursue a career in vmware engineering, what are the biggest challenges that you face in your role, what is the most rewarding aspect of your job, what are the biggest trends that you see emerging in the field of vmware engineering, what is the most important skill that you bring to the table as a vmware engineer, what are your thoughts on the future of vmware engineering, what are the biggest challenges that you see facing the industry in the future, what are your thoughts on the role of technology in the future of vmware engineering, what are your thoughts on the future of the industry in general, are there any specific skills or knowledge that you feel are essential for success in the field of vmware engineering, what are your thoughts on the importance of continuing education and professional development for vmware engineers, what advice would you give to someone who is considering a career in vmware engineering.

The interviewer is trying to gauge the level of experience and expertise the Vmware Engineer has in their field. It is important to know how the Vmware Engineer has become knowledgeable and skilled in order to understand how they can best contribute to the company.

Example: “ I have become a Vmware Engineer by studying hard and working my way up the ladder. I started out as a junior engineer and worked my way up to senior engineer. I have also been involved in many Vmware projects, which has helped me gain a lot of experience. ”

There are a few reasons why an interviewer might ask about an engineer's current responsibilities. First, it can give the interviewer a sense of the engineer's overall experience and expertise. Second, it can help the interviewer understand how the engineer's current role might relate to the position they are interviewing for. Finally, it can give the interviewer some insight into the engineer's work ethic and how they handle responsibility. Ultimately, it is important for the interviewer to get a sense of the engineer's qualifications and whether they would be a good fit for the position.

Example: “ My current responsibilities as a VMware Engineer include maintaining and administering VMware vSphere 6.5 virtualization infrastructure and providing support to end users. I am also responsible for installing, configuring, and managing VMware vCenter Server 6.5 and ESXi 6.5 hosts. In addition, I troubleshoot issues related to virtual machine (VM) performance, network connectivity, storage, and security. ”

There are a few reasons why an interviewer might ask this question. It could be to get a sense of the engineer's motivations and whether they are a good fit for the company. It could also be to gauge the engineer's level of experience and expertise. Additionally, the interviewer may be trying to determine if the engineer is passionate about their work and if they would be a good advocate for the company's products.

Example: “ I have always been interested in computers and technology, and Vmware Engineering seemed like a natural fit. I enjoy working with computers and solving complex problems, and Vmware Engineering provides an opportunity to do both. Additionally, I believe that Vmware will continue to grow in popularity and importance, making it a great field to be a part of. ”

There are a few reasons why an interviewer might ask this question to a VMware Engineer. First, it allows the interviewer to get a sense of what challenges the engineer faces on a day-to-day basis. This can give the interviewer insight into the engineer's work process and how they handle adversity. Additionally, this question can help the interviewer gauge the engineer's self-awareness and ability to identify areas of improvement. Finally, this question can also help the interviewer understand what motivates the engineer and what challenges they are looking to overcome in their role.

Example: “ The biggest challenge that I face in my role is keeping up with the constant changes in technology. As a vmware engineer, I need to be constantly learning new things and keeping up to date with the latest releases in order to provide the best possible service to my clients. This can be a challenge at times, but it is also one of the things that I enjoy most about my job. ”

There are a few reasons why an interviewer might ask a VMware engineer about the most rewarding aspect of their job. First, it helps the interviewer get a sense of what motivates the engineer and what they value in their work. Additionally, understanding what is most rewarding to the engineer can help the interviewer identify areas where the engineer might be able to contribute more to the company. Finally, this question can also help the interviewer gauge the engineer's level of satisfaction with their current position and whether they are likely to stay with the company in the long-term.

Example: “ There are many rewarding aspects to my job as a VMware engineer. I enjoy working with cutting-edge technologies and being able to design and implement solutions that can have a real impact on an organization. I also enjoy the challenge of troubleshooting complex technical issues and finding creative solutions to problems. ”

There are a few reasons why an interviewer might ask this question:

1. They want to know if you are keeping up with the latest trends in the field. If you are not, it may reflect poorly on your ability to do your job effectively.

2. They want to know if you are able to identify trends that could potentially impact your work. For example, if a new trend emerges that makes it easier to virtualize resources, that could have a big impact on the way VMware engineers do their jobs.

3. They want to gauge your level of interest in the field. If you are not interested in staying up-to-date with the latest trends, it may indicate that you are not as passionate about your work as the interviewer would like.

Example: “ There are a few key trends that we see emerging in the field of Vmware Engineering. Firstly, there is an increasing focus on automation and orchestration, as this can help to improve efficiency and reduce errors. Secondly, there is a trend towards using more open source tools and technologies, as these can often be more cost-effective and offer more flexibility. Finally, there is an increasing focus on cloud-based solutions, as these can offer many benefits in terms of scalability and flexibility. ”

The most important skill that a Vmware Engineer brings to the table is their ability to troubleshoot and resolve issues with Vmware environments. This is important because Vmware environments can be complex and often require expert knowledge to resolve issues.

Example: “ The most important skill that I bring to the table as a Vmware Engineer is my ability to troubleshoot and resolve complex technical issues. I have a strong understanding of the Vmware product suite and how it integrates with other technologies. I am also able to effectively communicate with other team members and stakeholders to resolve issues in a timely manner. ”

The interviewer is asking for the engineer's opinion on the future of Vmware engineering in order to gauge their level of expertise and knowledge on the subject. It is important to know the engineer's thoughts on the future of Vmware engineering because it will give insight on how they will approach their work in the future and what challenges they may face. Additionally, this question allows the interviewer to get to know the engineer on a personal level and understand their motivations for working in the field.

Example: “ The future of Vmware engineering is very exciting. With the release of new products and features, the company is continuing to innovate and push the boundaries of what is possible with virtualization technology. I believe that Vmware will continue to be a leader in the industry, and that their products will only get better and better. I am looking forward to seeing what the future holds for Vmware engineering! ”

The interviewer is trying to gauge the Vmware Engineer's understanding of the industry and its future trends. This question allows the interviewer to see if the Vmware Engineer is keeping up with current industry news and has a good understanding of where the industry is headed. Additionally, this question allows the interviewer to get a sense of the Vmware Engineer's long-term goals and whether they align with the company's.

Example: “ The biggest challenges facing the industry in the future are: 1. The increasing complexity of virtualization technologies and the need to keep up with the latest advancements in order to maintain a competitive edge. 2. The need to constantly evolve and innovate in order to stay ahead of the competition and meet the ever-changing needs of customers. 3. The challenge of managing and regulating an ever-growing number of virtual machines and networks. 4. The need to ensure high levels of security and compliance in virtualized environments. ”

The interviewer is asking this question to gauge the Vmware Engineer's thoughts on how technology will impact their field in the future. As technology advances, it is important for Vmware Engineers to stay up-to-date on new developments that could potentially impact their work. This question allows the interviewer to get a sense of the Vmware Engineer's awareness of current trends and their ability to adapt to change.

Example: “ Technology will continue to play a vital role in the future of Vmware Engineering. With the ever-changing landscape of technology, it is important for Vmware Engineers to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and advancements. Additionally, technology can help Vmware Engineers automate tasks and processes, which can improve efficiency and productivity. ”

The interviewer is asking this question to get a sense of the Vmware Engineer's understanding of the industry and their ability to think critically about its future. This question is important because it allows the interviewer to gauge the Vmware Engineer's ability to think strategically about the future of their career and the industry as a whole. Additionally, this question can help the interviewer understand the Vmware Engineer's motivations for pursuing a career in this field.

Example: “ The future of the industry looks promising. With the advancement of technology, more and more businesses are turning to virtualization to save on costs and increase efficiency. Additionally, the demand for skilled professionals in this field is expected to grow. ”

There are a few reasons why an interviewer might ask this question to a Vmware Engineer. Firstly, they may be trying to gauge whether the Engineer has the necessary skills and knowledge to be successful in their role. Secondly, they may be trying to identify any areas where the Engineer may need additional training or development. Finally, this question may be used to assess the Engineer's commitment to their career and their ability to stay current in their field.

Example: “ There are several key skills and areas of knowledge that are essential for success in the field of VMware engineering. Firstly, a strong understanding of virtualization technology and how it works is critical. Secondly, in-depth knowledge of VMware products and features is necessary in order to be able to effectively design and implement solutions. Thirdly, good problem-solving skills are essential in order to troubleshoot issues that may arise. Finally, excellent communication skills are necessary in order to be able to effectively collaborate with other team members and stakeholders. ”

There are a few reasons why an interviewer might ask this question to a VMware Engineer. First, it shows that the interviewer is interested in knowing if the engineer is committed to continued learning and keeping up with new technologies. Second, it allows the interviewer to gauge the engineer's level of interest in professional development and continuing education. Finally, it gives the interviewer an opportunity to find out if the engineer has any specific thoughts or ideas on how important continuing education and professional development is for VMware Engineers.

Example: “ I think continuing education and professional development are important for Vmware Engineers for several reasons. First, as technology advances, it is important to keep up with new developments in order to be able to effectively design and manage VMware environments. Additionally, continuing education can help Vmware Engineers stay current on best practices and industry trends. Finally, professional development can help Vmware Engineers advance their careers by expanding their skillsets and knowledge. ”

The interviewer is likely asking this question to get a sense of the engineer's experience and expertise in the field. It is important to know what advice the engineer would give to someone considering a career in VMware engineering because it can help the interviewer gauge the engineer's level of knowledge and experience.

Example: “ There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as the best advice for someone considering a career in VMware engineering will vary depending on that person's individual circumstances and goals. However, some general advice that could be useful for someone in this situation includes: 1. Research the field and make sure it is a good fit for your skills and interests. A career in VMware engineering can be extremely rewarding, but it is not right for everyone. It is important to make sure you have a good understanding of what the job entails before making any decisions. 2. Get experience working with VMware products. This can be done through taking courses, working with a personal or business subscription, or even just using the free trial versions of products. The more experience you have, the better prepared you will be for a career in VMware engineering. 3. Stay up to date on new products and features. The VMware landscape is constantly changing, and new products and features are released on a regular basis. Keeping up with these changes will help you be more successful in your career. 4. Network with other VMware professionals. Connecting with other professionals in the field can help you learn about new opportunities, stay up to date on industry news, ”

Related Interview Questions

• Vmware Administrator
• Engineering Project Manager
• Engineering Program Manager
• Engineering Teacher
• Engineering Assistant
• Engineering Consultant

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VMware Interview Questions in 2024

VMware is a global leader in cloud infrastructure and digital workspace technology. When interviewing for a position at VMware, you can expect questions designed to assess your technical skills, particularly in areas related to virtualization technologies, as well as your problem-solving abilities and cultural fit. This guide will help you understand typical questions you might face during an interview for a position at VMware and how to prepare for them effectively.

What are VMware Interview Questions?

VMware interview questions often focus on technical expertise, especially knowledge of VMware products like vSphere, ESXi, and NSX. Questions may also delve into networking, storage, and system administration, as well as scenarios to assess how you handle specific challenges.

Most Common VMware Interview Questions

Can you explain what VMkernel is and how it interacts with ESXi?

This technical question tests your understanding of core VMware components. Example Response: “VMkernel is an operating system that manages the hardware resources in a VMware ESXi server. It is responsible for memory management, process scheduling, and device control. The VMkernel allows ESXi to run multiple virtual machines by efficiently allocating resources among them. It interacts directly with the physical hardware and is pivotal in virtualization for managing connections between VMs, storage, and networks.”

Describe a scenario where you had to troubleshoot a performance issue in a VMware environment.

This question assesses your problem-solving skills and your approach to troubleshooting in virtual environments. Example Response: “In a previous role, I encountered a situation where several VMs were experiencing slow performance. My first step was to check the resource allocation; I discovered that the VMs were under-provisioned in terms of CPU resources compared to the workload they were handling. After analyzing performance metrics and logs, I adjusted the resource settings and also optimized the applications running on the VMs for better performance. Following these adjustments, the performance issues were resolved.”

How do you ensure the security of your virtual machines in a VMware environment?

Security is crucial, and this question explores your knowledge of best practices for securing VMs. Example Response: “To ensure the security of virtual machines in a VMware environment, I adhere to several best practices. Firstly, I isolate networks using VMware NSX to control traffic and prevent unauthorized access. I also implement role-based access control to restrict who can interact with the VMs. Regularly updating the VMware tools and guest operating systems to patch vulnerabilities is another critical practice. Additionally, I use encryption for data at rest and in transit to secure sensitive data.”

What is vMotion and how would you use it in a VMware environment?

This question tests your knowledge of specific VMware technologies and features. Example Response: “vMotion is a VMware feature that allows the live migration of running virtual machines from one physical server to another with no downtime. It’s used for load balancing, maintenance, and upgrading operations without disrupting services. In practice, I use vMotion to move VMs off a host that needs to be serviced or when a host is overutilized, helping maintain optimal performance and availability of applications.”

Can you describe the difference between VMware vSphere and vCenter?

This question evaluates your technical understanding of VMware’s product suite. Example Response: “VMware vSphere is a platform for virtualizing hardware, including CPUs, storage, and networking, which allows you to run various virtual machines on a single physical server. It includes the ESXi hypervisor and other components to provide a robust infrastructure for virtualization. VMware vCenter, on the other hand, is a management tool that oversees vSphere environments. It allows for centralized management of multiple ESXi hosts and VMs, facilitating tasks like resource allocation, performance monitoring, and automation across the data center.”

How do you keep up with the latest trends and updates in virtualization technology?

This question checks your commitment to continuous learning in a rapidly evolving field. Example Response: “I keep up with the latest trends and updates in virtualization technology by subscribing to key industry blogs, following VMware’s official blog and forums, and participating in community discussions. I also attend webinars and industry conferences, such as VMworld, to learn about new technologies and best practices directly from VMware professionals and peers. Additionally, I gain certificates from online courses and certification programs to deepen my technical skills and stay current with the latest developments.”

How to Get Prepared for VMware Interview Questions

Review VMware Technologies

Brush up on your knowledge of VMware’s product line, focusing on areas relevant to the job you’re applying for.

Understand the Basics

Ensure you have a solid understanding of fundamental virtualization concepts, including networking and storage as they relate to VMware environments.

Practical Experience

If possible, gain hands-on experience with VMware products through labs or practice setups to deepen your understanding and ability to discuss relevant experiences.

Prepare Problem-Solving Scenarios

Think about past scenarios where you successfully implemented or troubleshooted VMware solutions. Be ready to discuss these in detail.

Stay Updated

Keep abreast of new VMware releases and updates to discuss the latest features and how they might impact future deployments.

Prepare Thoughtful Questions

Develop questions about VMware’s future initiatives, team dynamics, or specific projects you might be working on. This shows your interest and engagement with the interviewer.

Preparing for an interview at VMware involves demonstrating your technical proficiency with their products and your broader understanding of virtualization principles. By effectively preparing for these common questions, you can showcase your qualifications and readiness for a role at VMware.

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VMware Interview Questions

VMware is a multi-million dollar cloud computing, virtualisation, and enterprise software firm. It is headquartered in California, USA. The company is renowned for the multitude of technology products and services it offers. It has partnerships with other well-known companies such as Cisco Systems and Amazon web services. VMware’s most popular products are Hypervisor, VMware cloud, VMware Tanzu, and vSphere VMware. 

The company provides a variety of services which include security solutions and products, workspace products (Desktop and App virtualization), and networking solutions and products. It regularly recruits candidates for various technology roles, with the most common ones being that of a developer and software engineer. Since the firm receives a lot of applications, it is essential to be well-prepared for the interview. 

In this article, we will take a look at the recruitment process and the VMware interview questions.

Interview Process

The recruiters at VMware aim to evaluate your problem-solving skills and your ability to code using the appropriate concepts. Usually, the interview process consists of four to five rounds depending on the role applied for. They are: 

• Online assessment
• Technical rounds ( 2 to 3 rounds)
• Managerial interview
• HR interview

Online Assessment:

Before the interview process begins, an initial phone screening will be conducted. Here, the recruiter will assess whether you meet the requirements of the role that you are applying for. If you fulfill the requisites, then you will have to take an online assessment test. While there is no negative marking for the test, it is time-bound. It will cover topics such as : 

• Aptitude and Logical Reasoning
• Computer Science – Data Structures, Microprocessors, and OS, among others.
• Coding – C, C++, JAVA, UNIX, LINUX etc.

Next, you will be invited for the on-site interview or technical rounds. They comprise a coding round, design round, and behavioral round.

Technical  Rounds:

• Coding Round

In the coding round, you will be asked questions on algorithms and data structures. The  VMware questions  for the coding interview will be from topics such as sorting algorithms, recursion, trees and graphs, dynamic programming and arrays, strings, and linked lists.

• Design Round

The questions on design are meant to test your approach to solving a given design problem. 

• Behavioural Round 

The questions in this round are aimed at evaluating your response to workplace situations, which will provide the interviewer with a better understanding of your behavioural traits. Keep in mind that the design and behavioural rounds are crucial for senior developer roles, and the coding round is important for junior and mid-level roles. 

Managerial Round: 

The interview with a manager will be an extension of your technical round and you may be asked to write more codes. They may give you specific instances and ask you to write code for the same. You may also be asked general questions on software terminology as well (Eg. Explain about the Software Development Life cycle).

HR Round: 

The questions in the HR round are usually general and are based on the information provided on your resume such as your achievements, interests, and certifications. They may also want to know about your preferences related to the work location. You will have the opportunity to interact with the HR and seek answers to queries about your career growth with the organisation, your role, and responsibilities, among others.

Tips to Crack VMware Interview

While the interview process may seem challenging, it is good to have a well-planned preparation strategy in place in order to clear the interview process. We recommend that you practice solving the VMware top interview questions with answers. Ensure that you are familiar with the whiteboard coding process. You can also attempt mock interviews in order to familiarise yourself with the interview process.

We hope the information provided in this article has given you a better understanding of the interview process at VMware.

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25 Challenging VMware Interview Questions with Detailed Answers (2024)

As the backbone of modern virtualization, VMware Vsphere expertise is in high demand. VMware interview questions are designed to assess a candidate’s in-depth knowledge and problem-solving skills. In this blog, we’ll delve into 25 VMware interview questions for L3 Support and provide comprehensive answers to help you ace your VMware interview.

VMware interview questions and answers

1. What is the purpose of Transparent Page Sharing (TPS) in VMware, and how does it impact memory management?

• Answer : TPS identifies identical memory pages across virtual machines and shares them, reducing overall memory consumption. This is particularly beneficial in environments with multiple similar VMs.

2. Explain the implications of CPU Ready Time in a VMware environment and how it influences virtual machine performance.

• Answer : CPU Ready Time measures the time a virtual machine is ready to run but is waiting for CPU resources. High CPU Ready Time can indicate resource contention, negatively impacting VM performance.

3. Discuss the considerations and steps involved in upgrading VMware Tools across a large vSphere environment.

• Answer : Upgrading VMware Tools involves a systematic approach, including assessing compatibility, planning for potential downtime, and utilizing tools like vSphere Update Manager for streamlined upgrades.

4. What is a vCenter Linked Mode, and how does it simplify the management of multiple vCenter instances?

• Answer : vCenter Linked Mode allows centralized management of multiple vCenter instances. It provides a unified view, simplifying administration tasks and ensuring consistency across different vCenter deployments.

5. In a vSphere environment, how do you troubleshoot and resolve network performance issues affecting virtual machines?

• Answer : Troubleshooting network performance involves analyzing virtual switches, checking for network misconfigurations, utilizing tools like esxtop, and monitoring network traffic patterns to identify and resolve bottlenecks.

6. Explain the benefits and challenges of implementing Network I/O Control (NIOC) in a VMware environment.

• Answer : NIOC allows prioritization of network traffic, ensuring that critical workloads receive the necessary bandwidth. Challenges may include proper configuration to avoid impacting other VMs and potential complexities in highly dynamic environments.

7. Describe the role of ESXi Dump Collector in troubleshooting and diagnosing issues in a VMware environment.

Answer : ESXi Dump Collector captures diagnostic information from ESXi hosts during critical events. Analyzing these dumps can help identify the root cause of issues, aiding in effective troubleshooting.

8. What is the significance of Storage DRS in a VMware vSphere environment, and how does it optimize storage resources?

• Answer : Storage DRS automates the load balancing of virtual machine storage across datastores, optimizing performance and preventing storage overcommitment. It ensures efficient use of storage resources.

9. Explain the purpose and functionality of VMware Fault Tolerance, and discuss any limitations associated with its implementation.

• Answer : Fault Tolerance provides continuous availability by creating a secondary VM that mirrors the primary. Limitations include restrictions on the number of vCPUs and the necessity for shared storage.

10. How do you secure vCenter Server in a VMware environment, and what best practices would you recommend for ensuring its integrity?

• Answer : Securing vCenter involves measures like using secure connections, implementing strong authentication, regularly updating the server, and restricting access based on the principle of least privilege.

11. In a vSAN environment, what factors should be considered when designing storage policies for virtual machines?

• Answer : Designing vSAN storage policies involves considering factors like performance requirements, data protection levels, and ensuring alignment with business objectives. Striking the right balance is crucial.

12. Discuss the considerations and steps involved in scaling up a vSphere cluster to accommodate increased workloads.

• Answer : Scaling up a vSphere cluster requires adding new hosts, adjusting resource allocations, and ensuring compatibility. Comprehensive testing in a non-production environment is essential to mitigate potential risks.

13. How does VMware NSX contribute to micro-segmentation, and what are the benefits of implementing micro-segmentation in a virtualized environment?

• Answer : NSX enables micro-segmentation by providing granular control over network traffic. Benefits include improved security, isolation of workloads, and enhanced visibility into network communication patterns.

14. Discuss the role of the vSphere Client (HTML5) in managing and monitoring VMware environments, and how it differs from the legacy vSphere Web Client.

• Answer : The vSphere Client (HTML5) is the modern interface for managing vSphere environments, offering improved performance and user experience compared to the legacy vSphere Web Client.

15. How does vRealize Orchestrator enhance automation and orchestration in a VMware environment, and provide an example of a workflow it can automate?

• Answer : vRealize Orchestrator automates tasks and workflows in vSphere. An example workflow could be automating the provisioning of virtual machines based on predefined criteria, and streamlining the deployment process.

16. Explain the concept of Affinity and Anti-Affinity Rules in VMware DRS, and how they impact the placement of virtual machines.

• Answer : Affinity and Anti-Affinity Rules influence the placement of VMs on hosts. Affinity rules ensure VMs run on specific hosts, while Anti-Affinity rules prevent VMs from running on the same host, enhancing availability and resource distribution.

17. In a multi-cloud environment, how does VMware Cloud Director (VCD) simplify the deployment and management of virtualized resources?

• Answer : VCD streamlines the deployment and management of virtualized resources in multi-cloud environments. It provides a consistent platform for managing workloads across different clouds, offering agility and flexibility.

18. What is the purpose of the Content Library in vSphere, and how does it facilitate the distribution of VM templates and other content across hosts?

• Answer : The Content Library centralizes VM templates, ISO images, and scripts, simplifying content distribution across hosts. It ensures consistency and efficiency in deploying virtualized configurations.

19. Explain the steps involved in migrating a virtual machine from one vSphere cluster to another, considering compatibility and potential disruptions.

• Answer : Migrating a VM between vSphere clusters requires careful planning, ensuring compatibility between clusters, addressing network configurations, and minimizing downtime for critical workloads.

20. How does vSphere Replication contribute to disaster recovery strategies in a VMware environment, and what are its key features?

• Answer : vSphere Replication provides asynchronous replication of VMs to a secondary site, enhancing disaster recovery capabilities. It offers features like point-in-time recovery and integration with VMware Site Recovery Manager.

21. Discuss the considerations and steps involved in implementing vSphere Auto Deploy for provisioning ESXi hosts in a VMware environment.

• Answer : Auto Deploy automates the deployment of ESXi hosts, streamlining the provisioning process. Considerations include configuring DHCP settings, creating deployment rules, and ensuring network connectivity for new hosts.

22. How does vRealize Log Insight enhance log management and analysis in a VMware environment, and what are its key features?

• Answer : vRealize Log Insight centralizes log management, offering real-time analysis and alerts. It features robust querying capabilities, dashboards for visualization, and integration with other VMware solutions.

23. Explain the concept of Storage Policies in VMware vSphere, and how they contribute to optimizing storage resources for virtual machines.

• Answer : Storage Policies allow the definition of specific storage requirements for VMs, including performance and data protection characteristics. They streamline storage management and ensure VMs align with business policies.

24. How do you design and implement a vSphere environment that adheres to the principles of the Zero Trust security model?

• Answer : Designing a Zero Trust vSphere environment involves strict access controls, micro-segmentation, continuous monitoring, and encryption. It aims to secure virtualized workloads regardless of their location within the network.

25. In a large-scale vSphere deployment, how do you manage and optimize the allocation of resources across clusters, considering business priorities and workload requirements?

• Answer : Managing resources in a large-scale deployment involves strategic resource allocation, prioritizing workloads based on business priorities, and leveraging features like vRealize Operations Manager for proactive monitoring and optimization.

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VMware: Selection and Interview process, Questions/Answers

VMware, a subsidiary of Broadcom, is a leading provider of virtualization software and cloud computing solutions. Here’s a quick snapshot to refresh your memory:

• Virtualization Powerhouse: VMware’s core product, vSphere, allows businesses to consolidate multiple physical servers onto fewer machines, improving efficiency and resource utilization.
• Cloud Innovation: They offer a comprehensive suite of cloud solutions, helping businesses migrate to the cloud, manage hybrid cloud environments, and build modern applications.
• Global Presence: VMware operates worldwide, supporting businesses of all sizes in their digital transformation journeys.

Table of Contents

What are the selection and Interview process of VMware?

The selection process at VMware can vary depending on the specific role (sales engineer, software engineer, cloud architect, technical support) and location. Here’s a roadmap for what you might encounter:

1. Application: Submit your resume and cover letter through VMware’s careers website.

2. Screening and Review: Recruiters will assess applications for qualifications and experience outlined in the job description. They’ll focus on skills relevant to the technology industry and the specific role (e.g., sales experience and knowledge of virtualization technology for sales engineer roles, strong programming skills for software engineer roles).

3. Interview Stages (may vary):

• Phone Interview (for some roles): An initial conversation with an HR representative or hiring manager to discuss your background, motivations, and interest in the cloud computing and virtualization industry. Be prepared to talk about your passion for technology and VMware’s innovative solutions.
• Technical Screen (for some roles): This might involve online coding assessments or technical questions to evaluate your programming skills and problem-solving abilities (especially for software engineer roles).
• Sales Engineer Roles: Be prepared for discussions about your sales experience, understanding of VMware’s cloud and virtualization products, ability to build relationships with clients, and technical knowledge to address customer needs. You might encounter role-playing exercises to assess your sales skills and ability to present technical solutions.
• Software Engineer Roles: Expect discussions about your programming experience, knowledge of relevant programming languages and technologies (mentioned in the job description), and problem-solving abilities. You might encounter whiteboard coding challenges or technical discussions about specific software engineering concepts.
• Cloud Architect Roles: These roles will likely involve discussions about your cloud computing experience, understanding of cloud architecture principles, and ability to design and implement secure and scalable cloud solutions. You might encounter case studies or scenario-based questions about cloud architecture challenges.
• Technical Support Roles: These positions may involve discussions about your technical knowledge of VMware products, ability to troubleshoot customer issues, and strong communication and interpersonal skills to provide excellent customer service. You might encounter scenario-based questions about handling technical support situations.

4. Additional Assessments (for some roles): Some positions may involve written assessments to evaluate your understanding of cloud computing concepts (for some roles) or specific technical skills relevant to the role.

5. Background Check: Successful candidates will typically undergo a background check before receiving a job offer.

Tips for Success:

• Research VMware thoroughly, understanding their industry leadership in virtualization and cloud computing solutions. Tailor your resume and cover letter to highlight relevant skills and experiences that demonstrate a strong fit for the specific role.
• Be prepared for discussions about the technology industry and your passion for innovation in cloud and virtualization technologies. Highlight any relevant sales experience (for sales roles), strong programming skills (for software engineer roles), knowledge of cloud computing concepts (for cloud architect roles), or technical support expertise (for technical support roles).
• Practice your behavioral interview skills using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result).
• Project a positive attitude, strong work ethic, and a willingness to learn (valuable in all roles!), excellent communication and interpersonal skills (especially for client-facing roles), and a passion for technology (important in all roles at VMware).

By understanding VMware’s selection process and showcasing your qualifications and interest in the world of virtualization and cloud computing, you can increase your chances of landing an interview and a successful career at this innovative company.

How many rounds of interview conducted in VMware?

The interview process at VMware can vary depending on the specific role and team you’re applying for. However, generally, you can expect somewhere between 3 and 5 rounds:

• This might involve a phone or video call with a recruiter to discuss your background, interest in the role, and basic qualifications.
• Sometimes, there might be a technical screening round to assess your relevant skills for the position.
• You might meet with various team members, including the hiring manager, potential colleagues, and specialists depending on the role. They will assess your fit for the company culture, technical skills, and problem-solving abilities. There could be multiple rounds of on-site interviews focusing on different aspects.

Here’s what can affect the number of rounds:

• Position Level: Senior positions or those requiring specialized skills might have an additional technical interview round.
• Team Needs: The specific team you are applying to might have a slightly different process with additional steps.

Tips to Find Out More About Interview Rounds:

• Job Postings: Review the job description on VMware’s careers website or job boards. They might mention the typical interview stages involved for the specific role you’re interested in.
• Contact with Recruiter: If you have a phone screening with a recruiter, ask about the number of interview rounds for the position.
• Online Resources: Look for interview experiences shared by candidates on platforms like Glassdoor or Indeed. While not guaranteed to reflect the current process, these can provide insights into the typical number of rounds for different positions at VMware.

What is the salary for freshers in VMware?

I have an exact salary information for freshers at VMware can be difficult to pinpoint, but here are some resources to help you estimate the range:

Salary Websites:

• Levels.fyi: This website allows users to report their salaries. Search for “VMware” and filter by “Entry Level” or “New Grad” to see what others have reported (keep in mind this data may not be verified by the company).
• Salary Comparison Websites: Websites like Glassdoor or Payscale might have salary information for entry-level positions at VMware, though it may not be entirely specific to freshers with no experience glassdoor.com, payscale.com.

VMware Resources:

• Job Postings: Check the descriptions for entry-level positions you’re interested in on VMware’s careers website. Sometimes, they might mention salary ranges.
• Contact VMware HR: The HR department at VMware might be able to provide more specific information about freshers’ salaries for the role you’re interested in.
• Industry Averages: Research salaries for entry-level positions in the software engineering or cloud computing industry. This can give you a general idea of what freshers might expect at VMware.
• Location Matters: Remember, salaries can vary significantly depending on the location and cost of living. Research typical salaries for entry-level positions in your desired field within your target city or region.

By combining information from these resources and conducting further research, you can develop a more informed estimate of the salary range for freshers in your target role at VMware. Remember, the actual offer can vary depending on factors like your specific skills, educational background, and the location of the position.

Top questions Asked for freshers in VMware

While VMware doesn’t release an official list of top interview questions for freshers, here’s a breakdown of what you might encounter during an interview, along with tips for finding more specific questions and how to apply:

General Interview Questions for Freshers:

• Tell me about yourself and your career goals in the IT industry (or a related field like computer science, engineering, or business). (Tailor your answer to show interest in cloud computing, virtualization technologies, and VMware’s industry leadership)
• Why are you interested in VMware specifically? (Research their focus on innovation, global reach, and fostering a culture of learning)
• What are your strengths and weaknesses? (Be honest but focus on framing weaknesses as areas for development)
• Describe a time you demonstrated excellent problem-solving or technical skills. (Highlight relevant skills, even if non-technical, and showcase your ability to learn)
• Do you have any questions for us? (Prepare insightful questions to show your interest and initiative)

Possible Role-Specific Questions (Depending on the Position):

• Technical Support Associate: Be prepared for questions about your understanding of basic computer troubleshooting principles, eagerness to learn new technologies, and ability to work effectively with customers. You might also be asked about your experience with relevant software (familiarity with Windows and basic troubleshooting is a plus).
• Sales Associate Associate: These roles might involve questions about your communication skills, ability to build relationships with potential clients, and understanding of the IT industry and cloud computing (basic level is okay for freshers).
• Software Development Engineer Associate: These roles could involve questions about your programming abilities (highlight relevant coursework or projects), problem-solving skills, and knowledge of computer science fundamentals.

Finding More Specific Questions:

• VMware Careers Website: Explore the careers section of VMware’s website, particularly under “FAQs” or “Interview Tips.” They might have resources for new hires in your desired field.
• VMware Interview Reviews: Look for interview reviews on websites like Glassdoor to get insights from past interviewees, keeping in mind that experiences may vary.
• Informational Interviews: Consider reaching out to VMware employees on LinkedIn for informational interviews (brief conversations to learn more about the company and specific roles).

How to apply for job in VMware?

1. Search for Open Positions:

• Head to VMware’s careers website: VMware’s careers page.

2. Target Your Search:

• Utilize filters to find “Entry Level” or “Associate” positions that align with your skills and interests. You can also filter by Location, Department (e.g., Technical Support, Sales, Software Development), or Keyword (e.g., technical support associate, sales associate associate, software development engineer associate).

3. Apply Online:

• Resume: Tailor your resume to highlight relevant coursework, projects, or internship experiences (if applicable) in computer science, engineering, business, or a related field. Focus on transferable skills like communication, problem-solving, ability to learn quickly, and a strong work ethic. Quantify your achievements whenever possible (e.g., improved customer satisfaction by X%).
• Cover Letter (Optional, but Recommended): Craft a compelling cover letter that showcases your genuine interest in VMware and the specific role. Tailor it to the position and highlight why you’re a strong fit (mention transferable skills if experience is limited). Express your interest in cloud computing, virtualization technologies, and VMware’s innovative work.
• Highlight Transferable Skills: Even without direct experience in IT, focus on transferable skills like communication, problem-solving, a willingness to learn quickly, and a strong work ethic.
• Research VMware’s Products and Services: Gain a basic understanding of what VMware offers (e.g., virtualization software, cloud computing solutions) and how they contribute to the IT industry.
• Prepare for Technical Assessments: Some roles, especially technical ones, might involve taking online assessments to evaluate your technical skills.
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Top 20 Problem Solving Interview Questions (Example Answers Included)

Mike Simpson 0 Comments

By Mike Simpson

When candidates prepare for interviews, they usually focus on highlighting their leadership, communication, teamwork, and similar crucial soft skills . However, not everyone gets ready for problem-solving interview questions. And that can be a big mistake.

Problem-solving is relevant to nearly any job on the planet. Yes, it’s more prevalent in certain industries, but it’s helpful almost everywhere.

Regardless of the role you want to land, you may be asked to provide problem-solving examples or describe how you would deal with specific situations. That’s why being ready to showcase your problem-solving skills is so vital.

If you aren’t sure who to tackle problem-solving questions, don’t worry, we have your back. Come with us as we explore this exciting part of the interview process, as well as some problem-solving interview questions and example answers.

What Is Problem-Solving?

When you’re trying to land a position, there’s a good chance you’ll face some problem-solving interview questions. But what exactly is problem-solving? And why is it so important to hiring managers?

Well, the good folks at Merriam-Webster define problem-solving as “the process or act of finding a solution to a problem.” While that may seem like common sense, there’s a critical part to that definition that should catch your eye.

What part is that? The word “process.”

In the end, problem-solving is an activity. It’s your ability to take appropriate steps to find answers, determine how to proceed, or otherwise overcome the challenge.

Being great at it usually means having a range of helpful problem-solving skills and traits. Research, diligence, patience, attention-to-detail , collaboration… they can all play a role. So can analytical thinking , creativity, and open-mindedness.

But why do hiring managers worry about your problem-solving skills? Well, mainly, because every job comes with its fair share of problems.

While problem-solving is relevant to scientific, technical, legal, medical, and a whole slew of other careers. It helps you overcome challenges and deal with the unexpected. It plays a role in troubleshooting and innovation. That’s why it matters to hiring managers.

How to Answer Problem-Solving Interview Questions

Okay, before we get to our examples, let’s take a quick second to talk about strategy. Knowing how to answer problem-solving interview questions is crucial. Why? Because the hiring manager might ask you something that you don’t anticipate.

Problem-solving interview questions are all about seeing how you think. As a result, they can be a bit… unconventional.

These aren’t your run-of-the-mill job interview questions . Instead, they are tricky behavioral interview questions . After all, the goal is to find out how you approach problem-solving, so most are going to feature scenarios, brainteasers, or something similar.

So, having a great strategy means knowing how to deal with behavioral questions. Luckily, there are a couple of tools that can help.

First, when it comes to the classic approach to behavioral interview questions, look no further than the STAR Method . With the STAR method, you learn how to turn your answers into captivating stories. This makes your responses tons more engaging, ensuring you keep the hiring manager’s attention from beginning to end.

Now, should you stop with the STAR Method? Of course not. If you want to take your answers to the next level, spend some time with the Tailoring Method , too.

With the Tailoring Method, it’s all about relevance. So, if you get a chance to choose an example that demonstrates your problem-solving skills, this is really the way to go.

We also wanted to let you know that we created an amazing free cheat sheet that will give you word-for-word answers for some of the toughest interview questions you are going to face in your upcoming interview. After all, hiring managers will often ask you more generalized interview questions!

Click below to get your free PDF now:

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FREE BONUS PDF CHEAT SHEET: Get our " Job Interview Questions & Answers PDF Cheat Sheet " that gives you " word-word sample answers to the most common job interview questions you'll face at your next interview .

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Top 3 Problem-Solving-Based Interview Questions

Alright, here is what you’ve been waiting for: the problem-solving questions and sample answers.

While many questions in this category are job-specific, these tend to apply to nearly any job. That means there’s a good chance you’ll come across them at some point in your career, making them a great starting point when you’re practicing for an interview.

So, let’s dive in, shall we? Here’s a look at the top three problem-solving interview questions and example responses.

1. Can you tell me about a time when you had to solve a challenging problem?

In the land of problem-solving questions, this one might be your best-case scenario. It lets you choose your own problem-solving examples to highlight, putting you in complete control.

When you choose an example, go with one that is relevant to what you’ll face in the role. The closer the match, the better the answer is in the eyes of the hiring manager.

EXAMPLE ANSWER:

“While working as a mobile telecom support specialist for a large organization, we had to transition our MDM service from one vendor to another within 45 days. This personally physically handling 500 devices within the agency. Devices had to be gathered from the headquarters and satellite offices, which were located all across the state, something that was challenging even without the tight deadline. I approached the situation by identifying the location assignment of all personnel within the organization, enabling me to estimate transit times for receiving the devices. Next, I timed out how many devices I could personally update in a day. Together, this allowed me to create a general timeline. After that, I coordinated with each location, both expressing the urgency of adhering to deadlines and scheduling bulk shipping options. While there were occasional bouts of resistance, I worked with location leaders to calm concerns and facilitate action. While performing all of the updates was daunting, my approach to organizing the event made it a success. Ultimately, the entire transition was finished five days before the deadline, exceeding the expectations of many.”

2. Describe a time where you made a mistake. What did you do to fix it?

While this might not look like it’s based on problem-solving on the surface, it actually is. When you make a mistake, it creates a challenge, one you have to work your way through. At a minimum, it’s an opportunity to highlight problem-solving skills, even if you don’t address the topic directly.

When you choose an example, you want to go with a situation where the end was positive. However, the issue still has to be significant, causing something negative to happen in the moment that you, ideally, overcame.

“When I first began in a supervisory role, I had trouble setting down my individual contributor hat. I tried to keep up with my past duties while also taking on the responsibilities of my new role. As a result, I began rushing and introduced an error into the code of the software my team was updating. The error led to a memory leak. We became aware of the issue when the performance was hindered, though we didn’t immediately know the cause. I dove back into the code, reviewing recent changes, and, ultimately, determined the issue was a mistake on my end. When I made that discovery, I took several steps. First, I let my team know that the error was mine and let them know its nature. Second, I worked with my team to correct the issue, resolving the memory leak. Finally, I took this as a lesson about delegation. I began assigning work to my team more effectively, a move that allowed me to excel as a manager and help them thrive as contributors. It was a crucial learning moment, one that I have valued every day since.”

3. If you identify a potential risk in a project, what steps do you take to prevent it?

Yes, this is also a problem-solving question. The difference is, with this one, it’s not about fixing an issue; it’s about stopping it from happening. Still, you use problem-solving skills along the way, so it falls in this question category.

If you can, use an example of a moment when you mitigated risk in the past. If you haven’t had that opportunity, approach it theoretically, discussing the steps you would take to prevent an issue from developing.

“If I identify a potential risk in a project, my first step is to assess the various factors that could lead to a poor outcome. Prevention requires analysis. Ensuring I fully understand what can trigger the undesired event creates the right foundation, allowing me to figure out how to reduce the likelihood of those events occurring. Once I have the right level of understanding, I come up with a mitigation plan. Exactly what this includes varies depending on the nature of the issue, though it usually involves various steps and checks designed to monitor the project as it progresses to spot paths that may make the problem more likely to happen. I find this approach effective as it combines knowledge and ongoing vigilance. That way, if the project begins to head into risky territory, I can correct its trajectory.”

17 More Problem-Solving-Based Interview Questions

In the world of problem-solving questions, some apply to a wide range of jobs, while others are more niche. For example, customer service reps and IT helpdesk professionals both encounter challenges, but not usually the same kind.

As a result, some of the questions in this list may be more relevant to certain careers than others. However, they all give you insights into what this kind of question looks like, making them worth reviewing.

Here are 17 more problem-solving interview questions you might face off against during your job search:

• How would you describe your problem-solving skills?
• Can you tell me about a time when you had to use creativity to deal with an obstacle?
• Describe a time when you discovered an unmet customer need while assisting a customer and found a way to meet it.
• If you were faced with an upset customer, how would you diffuse the situation?
• Tell me about a time when you had to troubleshoot a complex issue.
• Imagine you were overseeing a project and needed a particular item. You have two choices of vendors: one that can deliver on time but would be over budget, and one that’s under budget but would deliver one week later than you need it. How do you figure out which approach to use?
• Your manager wants to upgrade a tool you regularly use for your job and wants your recommendation. How do you formulate one?
• A supplier has said that an item you need for a project isn’t going to be delivered as scheduled, something that would cause your project to fall behind schedule. What do you do to try and keep the timeline on target?
• Can you share an example of a moment where you encountered a unique problem you and your colleagues had never seen before? How did you figure out what to do?
• Imagine you were scheduled to give a presentation with a colleague, and your colleague called in sick right before it was set to begin. What would you do?
• If you are given two urgent tasks from different members of the leadership team, both with the same tight deadline, how do you choose which to tackle first?
• Tell me about a time you and a colleague didn’t see eye-to-eye. How did you decide what to do?
• Describe your troubleshooting process.
• Tell me about a time where there was a problem that you weren’t able to solve. What happened?
• In your opening, what skills or traits make a person an exceptional problem-solver?
• When you face a problem that requires action, do you usually jump in or take a moment to carefully assess the situation?
• When you encounter a new problem you’ve never seen before, what is the first step that you take?

Putting It All Together

At this point, you should have a solid idea of how to approach problem-solving interview questions. Use the tips above to your advantage. That way, you can thrive during your next interview.

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Co-Founder and CEO of TheInterviewGuys.com. Mike is a job interview and career expert and the head writer at TheInterviewGuys.com. His advice and insights have been shared and featured by publications such as Forbes , Entrepreneur , CNBC and more as well as educational institutions such as the University of Michigan , Penn State , Northeastern and others. Learn more about The Interview Guys on our About Us page .

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UPDATED 15:57 EDT / AUGUST 29 2024

Moving to the endpoints: VMware positions Edge Compute Stack for the enterprise AI future

by Mark Albertson

One of the clear messages to emerge from the VMware Explore conference in Las Vegas this week is that VMware remains fully committed to providing infrastructure solutions, and one of the most critical areas where enterprises will be looking for those solutions is at the edge.

VMware LLC announced several new developments across its product portfolio this week, including enhancements for its Edge Compute Stack , which is emerging as a central element in VMware’s overall endpoint strategy.

Broadcom’s Sanjay Uppal talks with theCUBE about VMware’s Edge Compute Stack.

“There’s many physical locations … [that] tend to be extremely distributed, but they’re extremely heterogeneous as well,” said Sanjay Uppal (pictured), senior vice president and general manager for the software-defined edge division at Broadcom Inc. “You need to provide access from those locations to the applications that are sitting in the data center. A lot of the data is being generated at the endpoints of the enterprise. If you locate information and compute close to where the endpoints are generating data, then the logical conclusion is that you’ve got to take a stack and then put it at these edge locations, and that’s what our Edge Compute Stack does.”

Uppal spoke with theCUBE Research’s Dave Vellante and John Furrier at VMware Explore , during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed VMware’s edge strategy and the impact of growing AI use cases on enterprise compute solutions. (* Disclosure below.)

Edge Compute Stack on top of modernized infrastructure

Uppal uses the analogy of a cookie to describe VMware’s evolving edge offerings. At the bottom layer is the VMware Telco Cloud Platform , where clients can modernize their infrastructure. At the top is the Edge Compute Stack for running workloads in different environments. And the middle is VeloCloud for connecting branches together and providing context for applications, including generative AI.

“You have this cookie, and what we’re doing now is we are telling people, ‘Take a bite out of the whole cookie,’” Uppal said. “Deploy Edge Compute Stack, you have Velo underneath, and then your Telco Cloud Platform. You have all the intelligence to optimize these generative AI workloads. Edge AI is coming, the big tsunami is here.”

The wave of generative AI will also bring the use of agents , intelligent pieces of software that can autonomously perform tasks. VMware is preparing for this new opportunity, according to Uppal, where many agents will be driven by small language models or SLMs.

“We play solidly in the infrastructure, so we will be able to support the SLMs,” Uppal said. “In fact, we have created three SLMs to run on the Edge Compute Stack. My belief is that the agentic approach is actually going to take over, because it makes the most sense for how human beings want their questions to be answered.”

Growing use of AI agents could also have a major impact on the telecommunications industry. VMware and other key players in the telco arena will be looking ahead to the major MWC trade show in Barcelona next year for signals on where this key development could be headed.

“If we can achieve a breakthrough by MWC, it will be using this AI agentic approach to get some new monetizable services because that’s where the whole industry is stuck,” Uppal explained. “We’ve been talking for I don’t know how many decades about a common API which will make the applications write to the API. This layer in the middle is the key to solving that problem, a layer that recognizes, understands the application … and translates what the application wants down to the network.”

VMware’s strategy for the edge is based on a belief that AI will drive multimodal interfaces, where intelligent models will communicate with each other using data from different locations.

“If you just take this conversation we’re having, if it’s stretched out to one hour, that would be 1 million tokens,” Uppal said. “Those one million tokens would be sent to the cloud, and then we would ask, ‘What’s the most interest part of this conversation?’ Everywhere that we’re sitting is an edge and it’s becoming multimodal. That’s what the future’s going to bring, everything multimodal, everything upstream so that it’s made intelligent by small language models and large language models that are talking peer-to-peer with one another.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE Research’s coverage of VMware Explore :

(* Disclosure: Broadcom Inc. sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither Broadcom nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE

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[2024] Linux System Admin Scenario-Based Interview Questions

Explore essential scenario-based interview questions for linux system administrators. this comprehensive guide covers troubleshooting techniques, problem-solving strategies, and practical solutions for common linux server issues. perfect for interview preparation and enhancing your linux admin skills..

1.Scenario: System Boot Failure

2.scenario: disk space running out, 3.scenario: high cpu usage, 4.scenario: network connectivity issues, 5.scenario: failed package installation, 6.scenario: file corruption, 7.scenario: unauthorized access attempt, 8.scenario: performance degradation after an update, 9.scenario: data loss, 10.scenario: service migration, 11.scenario: application failure due to memory leak, 12.scenario: inconsistent time across servers, 13.scenario: selinux blocking application functionality, 14.scenario: high load average, 15.scenario: sudden increase in log file size, 16.scenario: file permission issues, 17.scenario: kernel panic, 18.scenario: user account compromise, 19.scenario: ssh key mismanagement, 20.scenario: sudden service outage.

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PROBLEM OF THE DAY : 26/08/2024 | Wildcard Pattern Matching

Welcome to the daily solving of our PROBLEM OF THE DAY with Saurabh Bansal We will discuss the entire problem step-by-step and work towards developing an optimized solution. This will not only help you brush up on your concepts of Dynamic Programming but also build up problem-solving skills. Given two strings  pattern and  str which may be of different size, You have to return 1 if the wildcard pattern i.e. pattern, matches with str else return 0 . All characters of the string str and pattern always belong to the Alphanumeric characters.

The wildcard pattern can include the characters ? and * ‘?’ – matches any single character. ‘*’ – Matches any sequence of characters (including the empty sequence).

Note:  The matching should cover the entire str (not partial str).

Input: pattern = "ba*a?", str = "baaabab" Output: 1 Explanation: replace '*' with "aab" and '?' with 'b'.

Give the problem a try before going through the video. All the best!!! Problem Link: https://practice.geeksforgeeks.org/problems/wildcard-pattern-matching/1