Here are some best practices for maintaining a VMware environment:
Regularly update software: Keep all VMware software, including vSphere, vCenter, and ESXi, up-to-date with the latest patches and updates. This will ensure that you have the latest security and performance enhancements.
Backup and disaster recovery: Regularly backup your virtual machines and have a disaster recovery plan in place. Test your backups and disaster recovery plan regularly to ensure that they are working properly.
Monitor and maintain hardware: Monitor the health of your hardware, including servers, storage, and networking devices. Replace any failing or outdated hardware to prevent downtime.
Properly size virtual machines: Properly size virtual machines to ensure that they have enough resources to run their workloads. Over-allocating resources can lead to poor performance, while under-allocating resources can lead to downtime.
Use storage tiering: Use storage tiering to ensure that your virtual machines have the right type of storage for their workloads. For example, use fast storage for transactional workloads and slower storage for archival workloads.
Use security best practices: Implement security best practices, such as firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention, and encryption.
Use vSphere features: Use vSphere features such as vMotion, DRS and HA to automate and optimize your virtual environment.
Monitor and maintain virtual machines: Regularly monitor virtual machines for performance issues, and maintain them by patching and updating the operating systems and applications.
Use network virtualization: Use network virtualization features such as vSphere Distributed Switch and NSX to create isolated and secure virtual networks
Keep good documentation: Keep good documentation of your environment, including network diagrams, inventory of hardware and software, and configuration settings. This will make it easier to troubleshoot and maintain the environment.
These best practices are not exhaustive, but they are a good starting point for maintaining a healthy and stable VMware environment.