VMworld 2013: vSphere 5.5 Web Client Walkthrough

Twitter: #vsvc5436; Ammet Jani (VMware), Justin King (VMware)

This was a great session by Justin King where he conveyed a logical and compelling story why users should migrate to the web client for managing their vSphere infrastructure. Yes, vSphere 5.5 is REALLY the last version to have a Windows C# client. In vSphere v.Next, it shall go the way of the dodo bird. The tweaks in the vSphere 5.5 web client should ease some of the pain points in 5.1, such as slow context menus. Bottom line is: Start learning the web client. Do I hear you asking..what about VUM and SRM in the web client? Those questions are answered in my session notes. Oh and using Linux and want to access the web client? That little nugget is below as well.

Agenda

  • Where the desktop client fell short
  • New face of vSphere administration
  • Multi tiered architecture
  • workflows
  • vSphere web client plug-ins
  • SDK
  • Summary

Web Client

  • Last client release for VI Client (5.5)
  • Why did VMware keep it around? VUM and Host Client
  • There will be a VUM successor that will have a full web interface

Where the Desktop Client Fell Short

  • Single Platform (Windows) – Customers really want Mac access
  • Scalability Limits – Can become very slow in large environments
  • Inconsistent look and feel across VMware solutions
  • Workflow lock – Tivo-like functionality not present like in the web client
  • Upgrades – Client is huge, and requires constant upgrades for new releases

Enhanced  – vSphere Web Client

  • Primary client for administering vSphere 5.1 and later
  • All new 5.1 and later features are web client only
  • In vSphere 5.5 all desktop functionality is in the web client
  • Browser based (IE, FF, Chrome)
  • If you use Linux, check out Chromium which has built-in Flash support. Not officially supported by VMware, but give it whirl.

Multi-Tiered Architecture

  • Inventory service obtains optimized data live from the vCenter server
  • Web server and vCenter components
  • VI client: 100 sessions = 50% CPU
  • Web client: 200 connections = 25% CPU

vSphere Web Client – Availability

  • A single instance of vSphere client can be seen as a single point of failure
  • Make vSphere web client highly available
  • Run web client in a separate VM with HA enabled

Workflows

  • Shows how the web client shows relationships and not the legacy hierarchy view
  • No more scrolling through a long row of tabs
  • Right clicking on objects is now faster in vsphere 5.5 (unlike vSphere 5.1)
  • “Work in progress” state is a paused task in case you find you need to perform another action during a wizard
  • Search is drastically improved – saved searches
  • Tag – Can apply to any object and searchable
  • Tags are stored in the inventory service file system, NOT in the vCenter database
  • Objects can have multiple tags

Web Client Plug-Ins

  • vcOPS
  • vSphere Data Protection
  • Horizon
  • VUM to scan, create baseline, compliance, etc. – Cannot patch
  • No SRM plug-in support
  • HP, EMC, Dell, Cisco, VCE, etc. all have plug-ins
  • Log browser viewer is built-in – Rich user interface for search
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frank
November 15, 2013 12:51 pm

thank you vmware for your solution to "no action required"
And force all customers to use a slow admin solution in all environment from small to big.

what the hell is going on.
Vmware buys more solution than plug ins can fall from the heaven.

But MS shown hybrid solutions or hybrid os for being useless for consumer and enterprise is a growing market. So the solution leader have to follow them.