Overview of vSphere Security
As with most other areas of security within information technology, securing a vSphere environment means securing all the various components of vSphere. Specifically, securing vSphere involves securing the following components:
- The ESXi hosts
- vCenter Server
- The virtual machines (VMs), including the guest operating systems (guest OSs) running inside the VMs
- The applications running in the VMs
In this chapter, we'll discuss the security considerations for the vSphere components: the ESXi hosts, Platform Services Controller, vCenter Server, and the VM data along with the guest OSs running in your VMs. Each of these components has its own unique set of security challenges, and each has specific ways of addressing those security challenges. For example, ESXi has a different set of security challenges than the Windows-based vCenter Server or the Linux-based vCenter Server virtual appliance. We won't address how to secure the applications within your...
