Mastering VMware vSphere™ 4

Chapter 3. Installing and Configuring vCenter Server

In the majority of today's information systems, the client-server architecture is king. This emphasis is because the client-server architecture has the ability to centralize management of resources and to provide end users and client systems with access to those resources in a simplified manner. Imagine, or recall if you can, the days when information systems existed in a flat, peer-to-peer model...when user accounts were required on every system where resource access was needed and when significant administrative overhead was needed simply to make things work. That is how managing a large infrastructure with many ESX/ESXi hosts feels without vCenter Server. vCenter Server brings the advantages ...