1.What is the VM Hardware version for vSphere 6.0 & 6.5?

Version 11 & 13

2.What VM Hardware version for vSphere 6.7 and vSphere 7.0?

Version 14 for ESXi 6.7, Version 15 for ESXi 6.7 U2, Version 17 for ESXi 7.0, Version 18 for ESXi 7.0 U1, and Version
19 for ESXi 7.0 U2

3.Virtual machine files?

o Each VM consists of several types of files usually stored on the host operating system.
o Here is a list and description of files that make up a virtual machine:
o Configuration file (<VM name>. vmx) – the primary configuration file that stores the settings of a virtual
machine
o BIOS file (<VM name>. nvram) – a file that contains the virtual machine’s BIOS
o Log files (vmware.log or <VM name>.log) – a virtual machine log file
o Paging file (<VM name>. vmem) – the virtual machine paging file
o Disk file (<VM name>. vmdk) – virtual disk file that stores the contents of the virtual machine hard disk.
o Snapshot data file (<VM name>. vmsd) – a file that stores information and metadata about snapshots
o Snapshot state file (<VM name>. vmsn) – a file that stores the running state of a virtual machine at the time
you take the snapshot
o Suspend state file (<VM name>. vmss) – a file that stores the state of a suspended virtual machine.
o Here is a list of files that make up an Ubuntu virtual machine.

4. What is vSS?

vSS stands for Virtual Standard Switch is responsible for the communication of VMs hosted on a single physical
host. it works like a physical switch that automatically detects a VM which wants to communicate with another VM
on the same physical server.

5. What is vDS?
vDS stands for Virtual Distributed Switch acts as a single switch in a whole virtual environment and is responsible
for providing central provisioning, administration, and monitoring of the virtual network.

6. How many maximum standard ports per host are available?

4096 ports per host are available either in a standard switch or distributed switch.
Vcenter Services Port Number:
Understand the Hostd and Vpxa in VMWare
hostd is an app that runs in the Service Console that is responsible for managing most of the operations
on the ESX machine.  It knows about all the VMs that are registered on that host, the luns/vmfs volumes
visible by the host, what the VMs are doing, etc.  Most all commands or operations come down from VC
through it.  i.e, powering on a VM, VM vMotion, VM creation, etc.

vpxa also runs on the Service Console and talks to VC.

Vmware hostd and vpxa on ESXi

HOSTD

The vmware-hostd management service is the main communication channel between ESX/ESXi hosts
and VMkernel. If vmware-hostd fails, ESX/ESXi hosts disconnects from vCenter Server/VirtualCenter and
cannot be managed, even if you try to connect to the ESX/ESXi host directly. It knows about all the VMs
that are registered on that host, the luns/vmfs volumes visible by the host, what the VMs are doing, etc.
Most all commands or operations come down from VC through it. i.e, powering on a VM, VM vMotion,
VM creation, etc.

Restart the management agent /etc/init.d/hostd restart

VPXA

It acts as an intermediary between VC and hostd. The vCenter Server Agent, also referred to as vpxa or
the vmware-vpxa service, is what allows a vCenter Server to connect to a ESX host. Specifically, vpxa is
the communication conduit to the hostd, which in turn communicates to the ESX kernel. Restart the
vpxa service

/etc/init.d/vpxa restart

hostd is the daemon for direct VIC connection (when you use Virtual Infra Client (VIC) to connect to your
ESX).

Also,

    vpxa is the VC agent (ESX side)

    vpxd is the VC daemon (VC side)

An ESXi host shows as Not Responding in vCenter Server – Now what might be the problem?
I don’t consider an exaggeration to say that each VMware vSphere admin at least once has had one or
several VMware ESXi hosts were showing as Not Responding in vCenter Server. A lot of things can
cause this, so, today, we’re going to take a look at the most frequent ones.
 First of all, verify that the ESXi host is in a powered ON state
It would help if you made sure it is turned on both physically in the rack and is available via remote
console (iLO/iDRAC). The problem is, your host might have met the infamous PSOD (Purple Screen of
Death, AKA Purple Diagnostic Screen).

If that’s the case (I hope not), you’ll have to deal with this issue according to this VMware KB article.
When the host is booted, add it to vCenter Server for a second time.
Now, in case the ESXi host is powered ON but still shows as Not Responding, try restarting the
Management agents (Restart Management Network)
This service is responsible for synchronizing VMware components and granting access to the ESXi host
through the vCenter Server. As for the restarting the Management agents – you can look it up here.

It won’t hurt if you run Test Management Network as well. Errors that you’re likely to get might just
explain what exactly went wrong:
 The next step is verifying that network connectivity exists from vCenter Server to the ESXi host
(both with the IP and FQDN)
Although it seems obvious, you’ll be surprised to find out how many people actually forget to do it
beforehand. To do so, just initiate a ping test from your ESXi host:

Verify that you can connect from vCenter Server to your ESXi host
The tricky thing about vCenter is that the ESXi host sends heartbeats, and vCenter Server has a window
of 60 seconds to receive the heartbeats. Once it doesn’t receive heartbeats from the host in 60 seconds,
vCenter Servers marks this ESXi as Not Responding and eventually Disconnected.
Sometimes it isn’t working out because the ESXi host just can’t see vCenter Server behind NAT:

In such a scenario, the ESXi hosts won’t be able to connect to vCenter Server. Moreover, this
configuration isn’t even supported by VMware, even though there is a workaround.
 Well, if the above has happened to you, now you have to allow connections to the vCenter Server from
the ESXi host via 902 (TCP/UDP) port:

You can easily test 902 port connectivity with Telnet.

Here VMware Knowledge Base will come in handy:
 Verifying the vCenter Server Managed IP Address (1008030)
 ESXi 5.0 hosts are marked as Not Responding 60 seconds after being added to vCenter Server
(2020100)
 ESXi/ESX host disconnects from vCenter Server after adding or connecting it to the inventory
(2040630)
 ESX/ESXi host keeps disconnecting and reconnecting when heartbeats are not received by vCenter
Server (1005757)
By the way, in the case of a congested network, you can increase the 60-second heartbeat interval to,
say, 120 seconds if necessary. It’s easy: just change
the config.vpxd.heartbeat.notrespondingtimeout parameter value in the vCenter Server Advanced
Settings as it has been described here.
Try disconnecting your ESXi host from vCenter Server inventory and then connecting back
There’s already a tutorial explaining how to do that. Just Disconnect your ESXi host in vSphere Client:

After that, add the ESXi host to vCenter Server once more.