1. Course Introduction

• Introductions and course logistics
• Course objectives

2. Assessment

• Define customer business objectives
• Gather and analyze business and application requirements
• Document design requirements, constraints, assumptions, and risks
• Use a systematic method to evaluate and document design decisions
• Create a conceptual design

3. Core Management Infrastructure

• Determine the number of vCenter Server instances to include in a design
• Choose appropriate platforms for vCenter Server components and databases
• Design a vCenter Server deployment topology that is appropriate for the size and requirements of the data center
• Deploy core management components for the given vSphere design

4. Virtual Data Center Infrastructure

• Calculate total capacity requirements for a design
• Create a virtual data center cluster design that meets business and workload requirements
• Evaluate the use of various management services, such as VMware vSphere High Availability and VMware vSphere Distributed Resource Scheduler, in the virtual data center design
• Deploy virtual data center components for the given vSphere design

5. Compute Infrastructure

• Create a compute infrastructure design that includes the appropriate ESXi boot, installation, and configuration options
• Choose the ESXi host hardware for the compute infrastructure
• Deploy and configure ESXi hosts for the given vSphere design
• Perform a scripted installation of an ESXi host

6. Storage Infrastructure

• Calculate storage capacity requirements for a design
• Create a storage infrastructure design that includes the appropriate storage platform and storage management solutions
• Deploy components of the storage architecture for the given vSphere design

7. Network Infrastructure

• Create a network component design that includes virtual switch specifications, port group configuration settings, and physical network attributes
• Evaluate network management and monitoring design options
• Deploy components of the network architecture for the given vSphere design

8. Virtual Machine Infrastructure

• Create a virtual machine design that considers application requirements and maximizes performance
• Deploy virtual machines for the given vSphere design

9. Infrastructure Security

• Evaluate security options for ESXi hosts, vCenter Server, storage, networking, and virtual machines
• Create a security design based on VMware best practices
• Deploy security components for the given vSphere design

10. Infrastructure Management

• Evaluate management tools and solutions
• Create a design that includes the management of ESXi hosts, templates, virtual machine snapshots, and events
• Create a design for the VMware vSphere® Update Manager™ architecture
• Deploy management components for the given vSphere design

11. Infrastructure Recoverability

• Evaluate ways to provide recoverability in a vSphere environment
• Create a design that includes the recoverability of ESXi hosts, vCenter Server, networks, and virtual machines
• Deploy components that enable the recoverability of the vSphere environment in the given vSphere design