Is your VMware environment running slower than expected? Are virtual machines (VMs) using up too many resources without you being able to see why? You’re not the only one who has had problems with CPU spikes, memory contention, storage bottlenecks, or performance problems that come and go.
Virtual environments these days are very complicated. A single misconfigured VM or unnoticed resource imbalance can impact dozens or even hundreds of workloads. That’s when VMware’s vROps really makes a difference.
This complete guide will show you how to use vROps in VMware to keep an eye on performance, step by step. We’ll explain what VMware vRealize Operations (vROps) is, how it works, how to set it up, and how to utilize it well to improve performance in real-world situations.
Table of Contents
What does VMware vROps do?
VMware vRealize Operations (vROps) is a comprehensive tool for monitoring and analysing performance in VMware environments. It gives you smart information about:
- CPU, memory, disc, and network use
- Planning and predicting capacity
- Bottlenecks in performance
- Analysis of health and risk
- Optimising infrastructure
In short, vROps VMware lets you go from fixing problems after they happen to managing performance before they happen.
VMware vRealize Operations puts everything into a smart dashboard with AI-driven analytics, so you don’t have to verify metrics across vCenter, ESXi hosts, and VMs by hand.
Why it matters to monitor performance in VMware
Before we talk about how to use vROps in VMware, let’s talk about why it’s so important to keep an eye on performance.
If you don’t keep an eye on things, you can have to deal with:
- Resources that are too much (wasted money)
- VMs that don’t have enough resources (bad performance)
- Unexpected downtime
- Running out of space
- SLA breaches
In the Real World
Think about a business that has more than 200 virtual machines. Their ERP system suddenly slows down during business hours. The IT team looks at CPU utilisation by hand but doesn’t detect anything wrong.
Later, they find out:
- A test VM was using too many storage IOPS.
- Memory congestion was hurting important production workloads.
- Some VMs were too big and some were too small.
They could have found and fixed the problem before users noticed a drop in performance if they had set up vROps correctly in VMware.
Important Parts of VMware vRealize Operations
You can utilize vROps better if you know what its characteristics are.
1. Badges for Health, Risk, and Efficiency
vROps employs visual badges to make monitoring easier:
- Health: Current state of performance
- Risk: risks to future performance or capacity
- Efficiency—status of resource optimisation
2. Alerts that are smart
Instead of alert storms, vROps connects measurements to send alerts that can be acted on.
3. Predictive Analytics
Uses past data to predict trends in capacity and performance.
4. Dashboards made just for you
Make dashboards for:
- Teams that build infrastructure
- Owners of the application
- Leaders
5. Planning for Capacity
Before you run out of CPU, memory, or storage, you need to know when it will happen.
How to Use vROps in VMware to Keep an Eye on Performance (Step by Step)
Let’s go over the steps of setting up and using vROps VMware in real life.
Step 1: Set up the vROps Appliance
Most of the time, vROps is set up as a virtual appliance.
Overview of the installation:
- Get the VMware vRealize Operations OVA file.
- Use vCenter to deploy it:
- Right-click on the cluster and choose “Deploy OVF Template.”
- Set up:
- IP address , DNS
- NTP, and Admin credentials
- Finish the first setup via the web interface.
- After it is set up, you can get to it by:
- https://
Step 2: Link up vCenter Server
vROps must work with vCenter to keep an eye on performance.
How to Add vCenter:
- Click on Solutions under the Administration menu.
- Choose VMware vSphere
- Click on Configure
- Type in:
- IP address or FQDN for vCenter
- Credentials
- Check the connection
- Save
Once linked, vROps automatically starts gathering performance statistics from:
- Hosts for ESXi
- Groups
- Data stores
- Virtual Machines
Step 3: Get to know the Main Dashboard
When you sign in, you’ll see a few default dashboards.
Important Areas to Keep an Eye On:
- An Overview of the Environment
- Using Workload
- Most Important Alerts
- Remaining Capacity
- Resources that can be reclaimed
Concentrate on:
- How much CPU is being used (%)
- Memory Usage (%)
- Latency on the Disc
- Throughput of the network
- Latency in the datastore
Step 4: Keep an eye on how well the VM works
To check on a certain VM:
- Go to Environment
- Choose Virtual Machines
- Pick the VM
- Review:
- Demand for CPU vs. usage
- How much memory it uses
- Disc IOPS
- Latency measurements
Things to Look For:
- CPU Ready Time > 5% (potential conflict)
- Swapping or ballooning memory
- Latency on the disc is greater than 20 ms.
- Packet loss in the network
Step 5: Set up alerts to keep an eye on things ahead of time
One of the best things about VMware’s vROps is its smart alerting.
How to Set Up Alerts:
- Go to Alerts
- Sort by:
- Important
- Caution
- Right away
- Click on alert for:
- The main cause
- Things that were affected
- Suggested actions
For example:
Warning: Virtual Machine CPU Contention Detected Suggestion:
- Add more CPU power
- Migrate VM
- Less load
This saves a lot of time spent fixing things by hand.
Step 6: Optimize Resources with Reclaim Recommendations
vROps finds VMs that are too big or not doing anything.
Reclaim Opportunities Are:
- Allocation of too many CPUs
- Too much memory
- VMs that are not doing anything
- Machines that are turned off
A Case Study Example:
A medium-sized business used VMware vRealize Operations to look at 300 virtual machines.
Results:
- 40% of the VMs were too big.
- 20% were not doing anything.
- Saved 30% infrastructure cost by rightsizing
Step 7: Make your own performance dashboards
Make custom dashboards for improved visibility.
Steps:
- Go to the Dashboards
- Press the button that says “Create Dashboard.”
- Add widgets:
- Chart of metrics
- List of objects
- Alert list
- Map of heat
How to Set Up a Dashboard:
- The top ten VMs that use the most CPU
- Heatmap of memory utilisation
- Chart of storage delay
- Alerts that are crucial right now
This helps teams find performance hotspots rapidly.
How to Use vROps VMware in the Best Way
To get the most out of:
Allow for ongoing monitoring
Don’t depend on manual checks. Look at dashboards every day.
Change Alerts
Change the thresholds to avoid alert fatigue.
Keep an eye on trends, not just spikes
Problems with performance often get worse with time.
Use Capacity Forecasting
Use analytics to plan when to buy gear.
Work with automation
For automatic fixing, use vRealize Automation with this.
Performance Metrics That Are Common in vROps
To use vROps well, you need to know how to read metrics.
CPU Metrics
- Usage of the CPU (%)
- Time for the CPU to be ready
- Need for CPU
Memory Metrics
- Memory in Use
- Ballooning
- Switching
Metrics for Storage
- IOPS
- Latency
- Throughput
Metrics for Networks
- Loss of packets
- Throughput
- Errors
Using vROps in VMware has various benefits
Why should businesses spend money on VMware vRealize Operations?
1. Finding problems before they happen
Find problems before users have to wait.
2. Making the most of costs
Find resources that can be used again and don’t buy hardware you don’t need.
3. Planning for capacity
Make accurate predictions about future resource needs.
4. Better SLA Compliance
Make sure that the performance of the application is always the same.
5. Making better choices
Managing infrastructure based on data.
Example of a real-world use case: an e-commerce platform
During peak sales, an online store had random slowdowns.
They found out using vROps VMware:
- Memory contention spikes during checkout
- Latency in storage influencing database VMs
- Too many CPUs in a cluster
After making improvements:
- 25% better performance
- 15% less in infrastructure costs
- No downtime during the next sale event
Questions that are often asked (FAQs)
1. What is the difference between VMware’s vCenter monitoring and vROps?
vCenter provides basic performance metrics, while vROps VMware offers advanced analytics, predictive forecasting, smart alerts, and capacity planning.
2. Is VMware vRealize Operations only for big companies?
No. Resource optimisation and proactive monitoring help even small and medium-sized organisations.
3. How often does vROps get information?
It collects metrics every five minutes by default, however this can change based on how it is set up.
4. Is it possible for vROps to keep an eye on physical servers?
Yes, but only with the right management packs and connectors.
5. Does vROps assist cut down on infrastructure costs?
Of course. It finds VMs that are too big or not doing anything, which helps get back unneeded resources.
Final Thoughts: You Can Control How Well Your VMware Works
It’s like driving with your eyes closed to manage a VMware system without smart monitoring. You can keep going, but every step you take makes things riskier.
You may do the following by understanding how to use vROps in VMware to keep an eye on performance:
- Find problems before they cause downtime
- Cut down on infrastructure costs
- Make the application work better
- Plan capacity with confidence
- Don’t guess when it comes to IT operations.
If you really want to improve virtualisation performance, you need to use VMware vRealize Operations the right way.
Are you ready to make your VMware environment better?
Deploy vROps in VMware first, then connect your vCenter, look at your dashboards, and follow the reclamation advice right away.
Do you want more detailed recommendations on how to improve VMware and keep an eye on corporate performance? To improve your virtual environment, sign up for our blog or get in touch with our infrastructure experts.
