Creating and Managing a vCenter Server Inventory

As a vSphere administrator, you will spend a significant amount of time using the vSphere Client. Out of that time, you will spend a great deal of it working with the various inventory views available in vCenter Server, so I think it's quite useful that I first explain them.

Understanding Inventory Views and Objects

Every vCenter Server has a root object, the datacenter object, which serves as a container for all other objects. Prior to adding an object to the vCenter Server inventory, you must create at least one datacenter object (you can have multiple datacenter objects in a single vCenter Server instance). The objects found within the datacenter object depend on which inventory view is active. The navigation bar provides a quick and easy reminder of which inventory view is currently active. In the Hosts And Clusters inventory view, you will work with ESXi hosts, clusters, resource pools, and VMs. In the VMs And Templates view, you will work with folders, VMs, and templates. In the Datastores And Datastore Clusters view, you will work with datastor....