The VMware infrastructure monitoring encyclopedia

Last updated:August 2013

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Editor's note

VMware vSphere and vCloud performance can steadily decline without diligent infrastructure monitoring. Virtual machines, hosts, hypervisors, applications and physical hardware all represent potential bottlenecks and areas of resource contention. Routine infrastructure checkups and active monitoring can help prevent VM sprawl, security breaches and system downtime, as well as ensure your environment stays healthy and functions properly.

You have the ability to monitor your vSphere and vCloud infrastructures from vCenter, through supported tools and unsupported flings, through various third-party products and via command-line scripting. Familiarize yourself with all the options at your disposal to learn which will provide you with the most useful data, fit your budget and mesh with your data center most seamlessly.   

1Keeping an eye on your vCloud infrastructure

One barrier to cloud computing adoption is performance monitoring. Though you can apply some of the same virtual infrastructure performance-monitoring tactics to your vCloud environment, you'll also need cloud-specific tools. VMware offers a number of applications and flings for cloud management, but third-party products are also available. The following links will give you a solid understanding of what you need to monitor in your vCloud infrastructure, which tools will serve you best and how those integrate in your existing vSphere environment.

Virtual Desktop
Data Center
Cloud Computing
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