The Provider \ Correct it? dashboard complements the main vSphere configuration dashboards by displaying the actual vSphere objects, with their relevant information. The dashboard is designed for vSphere administrators and the platform team. The Provider \ Correct it? dashboard is one of the eight dashboards that check the environment for optimization opportunities.

Design Considerations

The Provider \ Correct it? dashboard follows the same design considerations specified in the Consumer \ Correct it? dashboard. The eight Configuration > Review dashboards form an optimization flow and are designed as a set. Use them together, as you go through the optimization review process.

How to Use the Dashboard

The dashboard is organized into three sections for ease of use.

  • The first section covers vSphere cluster configurations.
    • A cluster is the smallest logical building block for compute. Consider it as a single computer with physically independent components. As a result, consistency matters.
    • Clusters with DRS set to manual. This means that DRS initiated vMotion does not take place unless the administrator manually approves it. Since DRS calculates every five minutes, your quick approval is required to prevent a change of condition.
    • Clusters with HA disabled. Without high availability provided by the infrastructure, each application must protect itself from an infrastructure failure.
    • Clusters with DRS disabled. DRS focuses on performance and capacity, while HA focuses on availability. Without DRS, you must build a buffer on every ESXi host to cope with peak demand.
    • Clusters with Admission Control disabled. Reservation is respected only when Admission Control is enabled.
  • The second section covers the ESXi host configurations.
    • ESXi with Network Time Protocol disabled. Logs are a critical component of operations, and are the main source of information in troubleshooting. While troubleshooting performance across objects, the sequence of logs determines which event is the likely root cause, as the oldest event starts the chain of events.
    • A disconnected ESXi host indicates that the ESXi host is not participating in HA and you cannot migrate any VM on it.
    • An ESXi host that is in maintenance mode does not contribute resources to the cluster or the data center if there is a standalone ESXi.
  • The third section covers ESXi host configurations that must be consistent within a cluster.
    • BIOS version and ESXi versions.
    • BIOS Power Management, ESXi: Power Management. Ideally, should be set to OS controlled. The ESXi level should be set to balance level.
    • ESXi Storage Path. Ensure that the number of paths and the path policies are identical.
    • ESXi hardware specifications. Different specifications can result in inconsistent performances experienced by the VM.

Points to Note

  • See the Points to Note section as specified in the Consumer \ Correct it? dashboard. This dashboard follows the same design considerations, and as a result, shares limitations and customization ideas.
  • If you have a standalone ESXi, and you plan to replace it with a clustered ESXi host, add a table to list them.
  • Based on your security settings, add a table to check the Distributed Switch and Port Group to ensure that security settings such as promiscuous mode, are used correctly.