Use the ESXi Configuration dashboard to view the overall configuration of the ESXi hosts in your environment, especially the configurations that need attention.

Design Considerations

See the Configuration Dashboards page for common design considerations among all the dashboards for configuration management.

As there are many configurations to be verified, if you have a larger screen, add additional checks as you deem fit, or add legends to the pie-charts.

How to Use the Dashboard

The ESXi Configuration dashboard is organized into sections for ease of use.
  • The upper section of the dashboard displays basic ESXi configurations that should be standardized for ease of operations.
    • There are six pie-charts that are displayed as one set because there is a relationship between their values. There should be a correlation between them. Ideally, the ESXi version, the ESXi build, and the BIOS must be identical across all ESXi hosts in a cluster. Keep the variations of the hardware model, NIC speed, and storage path minimal. The more complex the pie-chart, the more variants you have. This results in complex operations, that potentially results in higher operating expenses.
    • The configurations should reflect your current architecture standard. Each pie-chart counts the occurrences of a particular value. A large slice signifies that the value is the most common value, and if that is not your current standard, then you must address it.
  • The second section of the dashboard displays configurations that are potentially suboptimal.
    • The three bar-charts display various size dimensions of the ESXi hosts. The bar-charts are designed to be seen as one set. Ensure that there are a minimal number of variations to reduce complexity.
    • Smaller ESXi hosts have a relatively higher overhead, and are limited in running larger VMs. If they have a low core count, they might be using an outdated CPU. Small ESXi hosts are more expensive on a per core, per GB, per rack unit basis than larger ones if they occupy the same space. However, a 4-CPU socket ESXi host is likely to be too large, resulting in a concentration risk (too many VMs in a single ESXi host). Maintain a good balance that balances your budget and risk constraints.
    • Adjust the distribution chart bucket size to fit your environment.
  • The third section of the dashboard displays configurations that you might want to avoid.
    • The six bar-charts focus on security, availability, and capacity settings that you can set as a standard. For example, you should consider enabling the NTP daemon for a consistent time, which is critical for logging and troubleshooting.
    • The three tables list the actual ESXi hosts that are in a non-productive state. They can be on maintenance mode, powered off, or in a disconnected state.
  • The last section of the dashboard displays all the ESXi hosts in your environment.
    • You can sort the columns and export the results into a spreadsheet for further analysis.
    • Some of the columns are color-coded to facilitate quick reviews. Adjust their threshold to either reflect your current situation or your desired ideal state.

Points to Note

  • The number of buckets in the pie-chart or bar-chart are balanced between the available screen estate, ease of use, and functionality. Modify the buckets to either reflect your current situation or your desired ideal state.
  • No data to display does not imply that there is something wrong with data collection by vRealize Operations. It might signify that none of the objects meet the filtering criteria of the widget, and as a result, there is nothing to display.
  • In a large environment, create a filter for this dashboard. Group by the class of services such as, gold, silver, and bronze. Default the selection to gold. In this way, your monitoring is not cluttered with less critical workloads.
  • For complete visibility, consider adding physical server monitoring by using the appropriate management pack. For more information, see the following page.