Securing ESXi Hosts
VMware ESXi sits at the heart of vSphere, so any discussion of how to secure vSphere includes information on how to secure ESXi. In the following sections, we'll explore securing your ESXi hosts using the AAA model as a guiding framework, starting with the concept of authentication.
Working with ESXi Authentication
The majority of what you need to do as a vSphere administrator involves working with vCenter Server. Even so, it's still necessary to examine how ESXi handles user authentication, because the mechanism vCenter Server uses to manage ESXi hosts also relies on ESXi authentication. Additionally, you may occasionally need to connect directly to an ESXi host. Although using vCenter Server eliminates the largest part of the need to connect directly to an ESXi host, the need does not go away entirely. There are instances when a task cannot be accomplished through vCenter Server, such as in the following situations:
- vCenter Server is not available or...
