Background Concepts - VMware VCM 5.3 - CONFIGURATION MANAGER SECURITY ENVIRONMENT REQUIREMENTS Configuration

2.0 Background Concepts

Numerous physical and conceptual objects make up a VCM installation. These are described in detail in the VCM
Hardware and Software Requirements Guide as well as in the VCM Installation and Getting Started Guide. For
convenience, a summary of that information is repeated here.
VCM is a distributed application with five main components:
Browser-based user interface (UI) that renders in Internet Explorer (IE) on user desktops
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Internet Information Services (IIS) web server that hosts the UI web application and accepts work requests
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Collector service that processes requests and receives results
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SQL Server database that stores both results and application control information
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Agents that inspect managed machines and return results in response to requests.
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In some installations there are also optional ancillary components such as an Agent proxy that works with VMware
ESX, ESXi, and vSphere servers, an orchestration host that coordinates with service desk applications such as
Remedy, VCM Remote service, Software Provisioning components, and alternate source file servers that store VCM
installation kits and VCM Patching patches.
With the exception of the UI, Agent, and alternate sources, all VCM components execute on Microsoft Windows
Server computers. The UI runs within IE on Windows desktops. The Agent executes on either Windows or one of a
variety of UNIX systems (Solaris, HPUX, AIX, Linux, or Max OS X). An alternate source can be any file server
exporting shares or ftp.
These components, with the exception of the UI Software Provisioning Repositories, and alternate source hosts, are
shown below.
These components, with the exception of the VCM Software Provisioning components, the UI, and alternate source
hosts, are shown below. Software Provisioning components are diagrammed separately in
signed by trusted parties on page
vCenter Configuration Manager Security Environment Requirements
26.
All published packages are
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