Overview of System Center 2012 - Virtual Machine Manager

VMM management server

The computer on which the Virtual Machine Manager service runs and which processes commands and controls communications with the VMM database, the library server, and virtual machine hosts.

VMM database

A Microsoft SQL Server database that stores VMM configuration information.

VMM console

The program that allows you to connect to a VMM management server to centrally view and manage physical and virtual resources, such as virtual machine hosts, virtual machines, services, and library resources.

VMM library and VMM library server

The catalog of resources (for example, virtual hard disks, templates, and profiles) that are used to deploy virtual machines and services.

A library server hosts shared folders that are used to store file-based resources in the VMM library.

VMM command shell

The Windows PowerShell-based command shell that makes available the cmdlets that perform all functions in VMM.

VMM Self-Service Portal (optional)

Note
In System Center 2012 Service Pack 1 (SP1), the VMM Self-Service Portal has been removed.

A web site that users who are assigned to a self-service user role can use to deploy and manage their own virtual machines to private clouds.

Create user roles

Create self-service users, delegated administrators, and read-only administrators to ensure users can perform the appropriate actions on the appropriate resources in VMM.

Creating User Roles in VMM

Configure Run As accounts

Create Run As accounts to provide the necessary credentials for performing operations in VMM.

Configuring Run As Accounts in VMM

Virtual machine hosts

Microsoft Hyper-V, Citrix XenServer, and VMware ESX hosts and host clusters on which you will deploy virtual machines and services.

You can create host groups to organize your hosts based on physical site location, resource allocation, or some other criteria.

Adding and Managing Hyper-V Hosts and Host Clusters in VMM

Managing Citrix XenServer Overview

Managing VMware ESX Hosts Overview

Creating Host Groups Overview

Networking

Networking resources, such as logical networks, IP address pools, and load balancers that are used to deploy virtual machines and services.

Configuring Networking Overview

Storage

Storage resources, such as storage classifications, logical units, and storage pools that are made available to Hyper-V hosts and host clusters.

Configuring Storage Overview

Library servers and library shares

A catalog of resources (for example, virtual hard disks, templates, and profiles) that are used to deploy virtual machines and services.

Configuring the Library Overview

Create private clouds

Combine hosts and networking, storage, and library resources together to create a private cloud.

Creating a Private Cloud in VMM Overview

Create sequenced applications

Use Microsoft Server Application Virtualization (Server App-V) to sequence applications to be deployed by VMM.

Microsoft Server Application Virtualization

Create profiles

Create profiles (hardware profiles, guest operating system profiles, application profiles, and SQL Server profiles) that will be used in a virtual machine template to deploy virtual machines.

For example, an application profile provides instructions for installing Microsoft Server App-V applications, Microsoft Web Deploy applications, and Microsoft SQL Server data-tier applications (DACs), and for running scripts when deploying a virtual machine as part of a service.

Creating Profiles in VMM

Create virtual machine templates

Create virtual machine templates that can be used to create new virtual machines and to configure tiers in services.

How to Create a Virtual Machine Template

Create service templates

Use the Service Template Designer to create service templates that can be used to deploy services.

Creating Service Templates in VMM

Deploy virtual machines

Deploy virtual machines to private clouds or hosts by using virtual machine templates.

Creating and Deploying Virtual Machines in VMM

Deploy services

Deploy services to private clouds or hosts by using a service template.

Creating and Deploying Services in VMM

Scale out a service

Add additional virtual machines to a deployed service.

Scaling Out a Service in VMM

Update a service

Make changes to a deployed service.

Updating a Service in VMM

Manage update compliance of servers (for example, Hyper-V hosts and library servers)

Scan servers (for example, Hyper-V hosts and library servers) for update compliance, view update compliance status, and perform update remediation by using a Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) server.

Managing Fabric Updates in VMM

Monitor the health and performance of virtual machines and their hosts and provide reports

Use Operations Manager with VMM and enable Performance and Resource Optimization (PRO).

Configuring Operations Manager Integration with VMM