VMware Interview Questions
VMware Interview Questions
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Table of contents
1.
About VMware
2.
VMware Interview Questions for Freshers
1/23
2.1.
1. What does VMware refer to?
2.2.
2. What is the primary purpose of using virtual
machines?
2.3.
3. What is Virtualization, and why is it important?
2.4.
4. Explain different types of Virtualization.
2.5.
5. What is the server software provided by
VMware?
2.6.
6. What are the core elements of the VMkernel
networking layer?
2.7.
7. What is Hypervisor? Name its types.
2.8.
8. What do you mean by NFS and VMFS?
2.9.
9. Can you name some VMware products?
2/23
2.10.
10. Which components constitute the VMware
infrastructure?
2.11.
11. What is a ".vmdk" file?
2.12.
12. What is ESXi?
2.13.
13. What do you mean by Port-group?
2.14.
14. What do you mean by Cluster?
2.15.
15. What is the concept of vMotion?
3.
VMware Interview Questions for
Intermediate
3.1.
16. What do you mean by iSCSI storage?
3.2.
17. What are the "port-groups" that are
configured in ESXi networking?
3/23
3.3.
18. What do you mean by VVol?
3.4.
19. What do you mean by Cold Migration and
Hot Migration?
3.5.
20. Explain type 1 and type 2 hypervisors.
3.6.
21. What is the main advantage of a Virtual
Machine running under a type 1 hypervisor over
a type 2 hypervisor?
3.7.
22. What is RDM?
3.8.
23. Explain the clone and template in VMware.
3.9.
24. Explain VMware HA and Vmware FT.
3.10.
25. What is meant by virtual monitoring?
3.11.
4/23
26. How does NFS differ from VMFS data-
stores?
3.12.
27. What is the functionality of multipathing?
3.13.
28. Differentiate between VMware HA and
VMware FT.
4.
VMware Interview Questions for
Experienced
4.1.
29. What do you mean by FT logging traffic?
4.2.
30. Differentiate between vSphere and vCenter.
4.3.
31. Will the Fault Tolerance feature work in case
the vCenter Server has gone down?
4.4.
32. What is the usage of vMotion?
4.5.
33. What will happen in case of failure of
vMotion?
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4.6.
34. What do you mean by Promiscuous mode?
4.7.
35. Why are snapshots important in VMware?
4.8.
36. What do you mean by VDI?
4.9.
37. What is vCloud Suite?
4.10.
38. What does disable storage DRS for this
virtual machine mean?
4.11.
39. How many CPUs can be used for a VM in FT
in vSphere 7.0?
4.12.
40. What is the use of VMware Workstation?
5.
Tips to Prepare for VMware Interview
6.
VMware MCQs
6/23
6.1.
41. What is the primary function of VMware
vSphere?
6.2.
42. Which VMware product is used for managing
multiple ESXi hosts and VMs?
6.3.
43. What is the role of VMware ESXi in a virtual
environment?
6.4.
44. Which feature of VMware helps in balancing
workloads across hosts?
6.5.
45. What does VMware vMotion do?
6.6.
46. In VMware, what is a datastore?
6.7.
47. What is VMware vSAN used for?
6.8.
48. Which of the following is a key feature of
VMware NSX?
6.9.
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49. What is the purpose of VMware’s High
Availability (HA) feature?
6.10.
50. Which tool would you use to automate the
deployment of VMware environments?
7.
Conclusion
Last Updated: Sep 3, 2024
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About VMware
VMware, Inc. is an American cloud computing and virtualization technology business. Its
corporate headquarters are in Palo Alto, California. The x86 architecture was first
successfully virtualized by VMware. Microsoft Windows, Linux, and macOS all support
VMware's desktop applications.
8/23
Preparing for a VMware interview? Boost your chances of success with these essential
tips and commonly asked VMware interview questions.
The primary purpose of virtual machines (VMs) is to enable the efficient utilization of
physical hardware resources by creating multiple isolated and independent virtual
instances of a computer system on a single physical machine. VMs allow different
operating systems (OS) and applications to coexist on the same hardware. VMs are the
foundation for cloud computing, enabling cloud providers to offer virtualized resources to
users.
9/23
Virtualization is a process in which you can create a virtual version of a physical device,
such as a storage device, network device, or Server on a physical host. You can operate
several virtual machines or VMs and multiple operating systems and applications on a
single server or machine known as an ESXi or ESX integrated host. It has many
advantages, which are as follows:
It helps increase IT agility, scalability, and flexibility while reducing the price.
10/23
VMware offers us with:
VMkernel networking allows the vSphere to interact with the outside environment. It is
made up of four core elements, which are as follows:
1. Virtual SAN,
2. Science storage,
3. Fault Tolerance, and
4. VMotion.
Hypervisors are also known as VM monitors or VMMs. Hypervisors are software that
helps in creating and running virtual machines or VMs. It also helps in managing and
allocating resources to the VMs. By sharing the resources such as memory and
processing in virtual ways, a host can run multiple guest Virtual Machines. The main
feature of a hypervisor is that it helps several virtual machines or VMs to run on a single
physical machine.
Space efficiency,
Energy usage.
NFS stands for Network File System. This file-sharing protocol is used by ESXi hosts to
share files with NAS devices. Network-connected storage units, like NAS, give ESXi
hosts access to files.
VMFS stands for Virtual Machine File System. Virtual machine files are kept in a block-
level file system in VMware vSphere. It can also hold huge files up to 64TB in size in
vSphere 6.0.
11/23
9. Can you name some VMware products?
VMware has offered many products. Some of the examples are as follows:
VMware Mirage,
VMware Thinapp,
VMware vRealize,
Virtual Machine Disk (VMDK) is an open file format by VMware that stores the content of
virtual hard disks. In vSphere 5.5 and later versions, it can be up to 62 TB in size.
Previously, VMware products used the extension .dsk to store content, data, or virtual
disk files.
12/23
ESXi (Elastic Sky X Integrated) is a virtualization platform created by VMware for
installing and managing virtual machines. ESXi was formerly known as ESX. You have an
extremely safe OS architecture with ESXi that consists of crucial OS elements like the
Kernel. It is the best option in terms of performance, efficiency, and reliability. ESXi splits
hardware by directly accessing and managing underlying resources, consolidating
applications and lowering expenses. It is a hypervisor that works by using bare-metal
virtualization technology.
The term "cluster" in the context of VMware refers to a logical collection of various ESXi
hosts. It enables the addition and deletion of hosts from clusters. The Cluster offers HA
and DRS as well.
vMotion is a technology introduced by VMware that allows for the live migration of running
virtual machines (VMs) between physical hosts without any downtime or disruption to the
VM's operation. This technology is a key component of VMware's vSphere virtualization
platform and is designed to enhance flexibility, resource optimization, and availability
within data centers. It is used for various purposes such as load balancing across hosts,
hardware maintenance without affecting service availability, and optimizing resource
utilization by reallocating VMs based on changing workload demands.
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iSCSI SANs typically include an iSCSI storage system that contains one or more storage
processors. ESXi hosts are configured with an iSCSI initiator, and communication
between the host and array takes place over the TCP/IP protocol. Either hardware or
software is used in such an initiator. The software-based initiators are referred to as iSCSI
software initiators, whereas the hardware-based ones can be dependent or independent.
17. What are the "port-groups" that are configured in ESXi networking?
The following are the three main "port groups" configured in ESXi networking:
1. Service Console Port Group: These are used for Service Console
Communications.
2. Virtual Machine Port Group: These are used for Virtual Machine Networks.
3. VMKernel Port Group: These are used for vMotion, iSCSI, and NFS (Network File
System) Communications.
For managing virtual discs, vSphere 6.0 provides the concept of Virtual Volume,
commonly known as VVol. VVol is automatically created each time a virtual disc is
created in a virtual environment. It makes array-based operations possible at the level of
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the virtual disc.
Hot migration is the process of moving a running virtual machine or VM from one host to
another. Since the VM doesn't need to be shut down, it is sometimes referred to as live
migration.
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.
21. What is the main advantage of a Virtual Machine running under a type
1 hypervisor over a type 2 hypervisor?
The following are the advantages of using Type-1 over Type-2 Hypervisor:
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snapshots, VM-to-VM, and physical-to-VM cluster arrangements are all often
advantageous. But it has some restrictions, such as the incapacity to map disc partitions
and perhaps the incapacity to support direct-attached block devices.
VMware clone: This is an exact replica of a virtual machine (referred to as the parent VM
because it is the one from which you produced the clone). However, the MAC addresses
and UUIDs for the parent and cloned VMs will be different. No modifications made to the
cloned VM will have an effect on the parent VM or original VM and vice versa.
VMware template is a golden image or master copy of a VM or virtual machine that can
create and provision virtual machines. It can later be used to create several clones.
VMware FT (Fault Tolerance): It typically operates at the VM level. When the ESXi host
cannot offer continuous availability of VMs, a secondary VM identical to the original is
produced, maintained, and ready to take its place. A VM's whole copy is created,
including all of its storage, processing, and memory. It is advised to use a 10GB NIC
when configuring FT.
The following are some crucial differences between NFS and VMFS data-stores:-
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Difference NFS VMFS
Multipathing is a technology used to manage and optimize the connections between ESXi
hosts (virtualization servers) and the underlying storage arrays. This technology
enhances the reliability, availability, and performance of storage for VMs. In a VMware
environment, each ESXi host typically has multiple physical connections (paths) to the
storage arrays. Multipathing ensures that there are redundant paths between the ESXi
hosts and the storage devices. If one path fails due to a hardware issue or connectivity
problem, VMs can continue accessing storage through alternate paths, minimizing
downtime and ensuring high availability.
17/23
29. What do you mean by FT logging traffic?
The second network need for VMware FT is fault tolerance logging traffic. Fault Tolerance
employs FT logging for ongoing data synchronization between primary and secondary
VMs. This is a connection type that the VMkernel uses to transfer nondeterministic events
from primary to secondary VMs.
31. Will the Fault Tolerance feature work in case the vCenter Server has
gone down?
Only the vCenter Server can enable fault tolerance on a virtual machine. Once
configured, FT does not require vCenter to be online. Due to this, if vCenter is down,
there won't be any FT failures between the primary and secondary.
You can move already running virtual machines from one ESX host to another using
VMware's VMotion technology without affecting their functionality or availability. Zero
downtime, continuous service availability, and total transaction integrity are maintained
during this process. The development of a dynamic, automated, self-optimizing data
center and the excellent flexibility it offers for virtual environments are both made possible
by vMotion technology. Make sure that the cloud provider complies with the necessary
hardware and software standards. If powered-off VMs are transferred, the compatibility
requirements are decreased.
18/23
A promiscuous mode is a network security, monitoring, and administration method that
enables every network adapter set up on a host system to view all network data packets.
In vSphere ESX/ESXi, you can declare it at the virtual switch or at the port group level.
Promiscuous mode is essentially a technique for sniffing (observing) network data. Accept
or reject are the two options available. If the promiscuous mode is on "accept," all
communication will be visible to all virtual computers.
VDI stands for Virtual Desktop Infrastructure. It helps users host a desktop operating
system (OS) on a server and access Virtual Machine-based desktops remotely from
different locations. VDI is a type of IaaS or Infrastructure as a Service that can be run in a
private cloud or public cloud. When Virtual Desktop Infrastructure is used, the end-user
can easily access their desktops via a device which is known as a thin client.
38. What does disable storage DRS for this virtual machine mean?
Storage DRS is a feature in VMware vSphere that automates the management of storage
resources within a cluster of ESXi hosts. It monitors storage usage and performance, and
it can automatically balance the storage load by migrating VM disks between data stores
within the same cluster. When you disable it, you need to manage the placement and
distribution of VM disks across data stores manually, which might involve moving VM
disks between data stores to balance storage usage and performance, and storage DRS
won't perform automatic load balancing for the VM's storage disks. If the data stores the
VM uses become imbalanced in capacity or performance, you'll need to address these
imbalances manually.
In VMware vSphere 7.0, Fault Tolerance (FT) provides continuous availability for virtual
machines (VMs) by creating a real-time replica of a VM on another host. vSphere 7.0
supports Fault Tolerance with the following CPU configuration - Each virtual machine
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(primary VM) in a Fault Tolerance pair can have up to 4 vCPUs (virtual CPUs). This
means that you can create a Fault Tolerance pair where the primary VM has up to 4
vCPUs, and its replica VM (secondary VM) will also have the same number of vCPUs.
The following are three main reasons why the VMware workstation is useful:
1. It allows the user to run multiple operating systems or OS on the same host
computer.
2. It helps in saving the current OS configuration as virtual machines.
3. You can work across many different Operating Systems without switching.
Hands-On Practice: Set up a home lab or use VMware Hands-on Labs to gain
practical experience. Practice tasks like setting up virtual machines, managing
virtual networks, and configuring storage.
20/23
VMware MCQs
a) Desktop virtualization
b) Server virtualization
c) Network virtualization
d) Application virtualization
42. Which VMware product is used for managing multiple ESXi hosts and
VMs?
a) vSphere
b) vCenter Server
c) NSX
d) vSAN
21/23
46. In VMware, what is a datastore?
a) Network virtualization
b) Storage virtualization
c) Application virtualization
d) Backup and recovery
a) Software-defined networking
b) Virtual machine backup
c) Application performance monitoring
d) Storage replication
50. Which tool would you use to automate the deployment of VMware
environments?
a) VMware Orchestrator
b) VMware Converter
c) VMware Workstation
d) VMware Fusion
22/23
Conclusion
In this article, we covered the top VMware interview questions, including the most
commonly asked ones. The questions span from basic to intermediate and advanced
levels, providing a well-rounded preparation for your VMware interview.
Are you planning to ace the interviews of reputed product-based companies like Amazon,
Google, Microsoft, and more?
Merry Coding!
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