Virtualization Technology: Labs Gallery: Putting VMware vSphere 4 Host Profiles to the Test

The host profiles feature is one of the most significant additions to the VMware vSphere 4 platform. A host profile can automatically configure network, storage, security and other features on a physical host system running ESX 4.0 or ESXi 4.0. The host profiles feature also enables IT staff to check host systems for configuration compliance, and to easily remedy systems that have drifted out of compliance. This feature should significantly reduce operations costs associated with large vSphere 4 installations, although it does not lessen the need for VMware expertise; crafting a host profile requires expert virtualization knowledge to ensure that hosts created using a host profile will operate as expected.